Company Documents and Commercial Powers of Attorney

If you are a company doing business overseas, you may opt to give power of attorney to an employee or advisor based in that country to enable documents to be signed on behalf of the company. To do this, the document will be prepared by a lawyer qualified in the jurisdiction that you are dealing with and it will be signed in the UK by a director before a notary public.

The notary will check the director’s identification and also verify that the signatory is registered as a director of the company. The usual practice is to securely attach a notarial certificate to the power of attorney that confirms the company’s legal status in the UK and that the director is authorised to represent the company. It is essential that the notary directly witnesses the signature and confirms that the director understands the document that he is signing and is willing to bind the company.

Other documents that the company may be asked to provide are board resolutions, affidavits and shareholder resolutions. If these documents are not yet filed at Companies House, then the notary will need to witness the signature on the documents directly or prepare an affidavit to be signed by a director or the company secretary.

Notarial fees for commercial documents start at £150 plus VAT. We offer a full notarisation, legalisation and attestation service. Click here to get a specific fee quote for commercial documents.