The Certificate of Good Standing (COGS) is a formal document issued by Companies House. It is often requested by overseas authorities when commercial matters are being dealt with outside of the UK. There are many details that the Certificate of Good Standing can confirm. From November 2016 the information you can add to the certificate is changing.
Before ordering a Certificate of Good Standing, it is important to ensure that you know what information you need to include on the certificate. The person requesting the document may provide advice on what the certificate should state. If they do not, you may want to add as much information as possible.
As of November 2016 Companies House changes mean that it is no longer possible to include the Shareholders Details or any of the Issued Share Capital Details. If you are dealing with overseas authorities that insist you confirm the shareholders names you will need to explain this is not possible on the COGS. If you need to prove who the shareholders of a company are you may need to provide a copy of your last Confirmation Statement (previously called the Annual Return).
From November 2016 the information that can be added to Certificates of Good Standing includes: -
- Directors names
- Directors service addresses
- Directors date of birth (Only Month and Year will be shown for security purposes)
- Secretary names
- Secretary Service address
- Registered Office
You can no longer add the following information to the COGS-
- Shareholders names
- Shares held by each shareholder
- Issued share capital details
We are pleased to order certificates from Companies House on behalf of our customers. We offer two speeds of service which you can order online from our website. On receipt of your order we will contact you to discuss the information you require on the certificate.
7-10 Day Standard Service - Order here
2 Day Expedite Service - Order here
Once the Certificate of Good Standing has been obtained, we can also provide an apostille service for you if the overseas authorities are requesting this. We complete most apostille orders in just a few days. Once the apostille has been issued the Certificate of Good Standing will be internationally recognised by any country which is a member of the Hague Convention.
