Who is Legally Responsible for the Affairs of a Company?

Who is legally responsible for the affairs of a company? The nominee director or the beneficiary owner? At Coddan, we have many years of experience in registration of new limited companies. When a client approaches us to initiate this type of arrangement, we are able to provide expert levels of insight into the best approach for this, and a popular route to incorporation is to name a nominee director - this is something that we can provide for reporting purposes. Although this named individual appears on official records that are kept by Companies House, it is very important to remember that the beneficiary owner will always remain in complete control of the limited company, and this means that they will also be legally responsible for company affairs at all times.

With this arrangement, the nominee director is the named party on a power of attorney letter, and this document will also contain the details of the actual individual or individuals that are in full control of the business - the beneficiary owner. At Coddan, when we arrange for the appointment of a nominee director, we carry out the legal formalities professionally and diligently, and this ensures that you have complete control over private company affairs, bank accounts and other processes.

By making this distinction 100% clear from a legal perspective, that also means that you are legally responsible for any actions of your company limited by shares - this will always be backed up by documentation to this effect. While this type of business set-up is entirely legal, providing the necessary levels of anonymity for you and your business partners, it cannot legally be used to remove levels of responsibility from those that are in charge of the company.