A corporate registrar’s role is determined the context in which the title is used. The title can be used in two different ways. The government entity that authorizes business formations and regulates authorized entities until they are officially dissolved is known as a corporate registrar. Corporate registrars can also be financial institutions hired corporations to keep track of who owns the company’s outstanding stocks and bonds for record-keeping purposes and to prevent the company from issuing more stock than is authorized. The corporate registrar serves primarily as an information archivist in both cases, keeping track of the current registration list.
The corporate registrar is the government agency that licenses businesses to operate in countries with private business sectors, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It is the location where corporations file their articles of incorporation to officially start their business, as well as other types of entities. The public record of authorized business entities within a jurisdiction is maintained these agencies, which are known as registrars. A member of the public can usually inquire about the status of a company’s business registration contacting the registrar’s office.
Government registrars also handle businesses’ annual filing requirements and provide administrative services such as processing changes to a company’s registration, providing copies of documents, and certifying the status of a company. In this context, the corporate registrar also oversees company dissolution and removes a company’s authority to do business in the jurisdiction from the public record when it closes its doors. Each state in the United States, for example, has a corporate registrar, who is usually the secretary of state. Workers in the secretary’s office’s business division perform a variety of administrative tasks related to the public record of registered business entities.
The corporate registrar title is also commonly used when a financial institution is appointed to keep track of a corporation’s outstanding securities. In theory, a corporation can appoint anyone to keep track of this information. This task and title may be assigned to the secretary of the board of directors in many small businesses. However, for large corporations with millions of outstanding shares, having a specialist keep track of ownership is the only practical solution.
Corporate registrars are financial institutions that keep track of the names and addresses of current stock and bond owners. The change in ownership of a security is captured and recorded every time it happens. These organizations collaborate with brokers and traders to compile this data for the public record. The corporate registrar’s record does not determine ownership, but it does allow the company to send important notices to owners as required regulators. The financial institution also keeps track of the total number of outstanding shares to ensure that the company does not issue more shares than it is allowed to.