CGF ARTICLES, OPINIONS & EDITORIALS
More than a Secretary: The keeper of secrets (2012-02-29)
February 19,
2015 3491 3491 
The role of the company secretary has in past times been referred to as the “keeper of secrets”. This title was aptly attached to the person responsible for recording the minutes of a (business) meeting containing sensitive or legal information, and being discussed amongst a privileged few.
What few people, and businesses realise is that the term secretary (derived from the medieval word secretarius), finds its origins from the 15th century when it was first used to describe a piece of furniture wherein confidential documents could be locked away for safe-keeping.
Whilst the role of a company secretary has become a highly demanding job within a company, with many personal liabilities attached to this position, many companies today still disregard the critical value and function of this role. The modern-day company secretary is certainly not to be regarded simply as a piece of inherited furniture. Today many company secretaries are highly qualified legal individuals who serve on the board, with possibly a better and broader understanding of the company’s affairs as compared to their director counterparts. Often ‘institutional memory’ may vest in the company secretary, which is extremely valuable to the company. Amongst their many duties, company secretaries may assist the chief executive officer in reminding them of the shareholder’s or other stakeholder’s expectations from either the company, or the chief executive officer themselves. Progressive boards regard the company secretary as their most senior administration officer, and indeed the value ascribed to this person is just one of the reasons why the King Report on Governance for South Africa 2009 (‘King III’) describes their role as ‘pivotal’ in a company.
