Company Secretarial Practice
Corporate Secretarial Practice
Sample paper
Suggested answers
Important notice When reading these answers, please note that they are not intended to be viewed as a definitive „model‟ answer, as in many instances there are several possible answers/approaches to a question. These answers indicate a range of appropriate content that could have been provided in answer to the questions. They may be a different length or format to the answers expected from candidates in the examination.
Case study
Trymore plc You have just joined Trymore plc („Trymore‟), a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, as company secretary. This is the first time that a company secretary has been appointed as a separate role in Trymore, as the position had previously always been held by the finance director. Trymore manufactures and sells luxury jewellery and the business has suffered as a result of an economic downturn. Several issues have arisen with certain stakeholders of the company, including unions, shareholders, auditors and the media. The board of directors is very worried about these problems and has convened a special board meeting to discuss what to do. The chairman believes that some of the issues will require input from the company secretary, as a senior member of the company‟s management team. You hold a series of meetings with your senior colleagues to find out more about the problems. The matters set out below are discussed with you. Firstly, you hold a meeting with Ms People, the director of human resources. Ms People provides you with an update on a number of matters, including staffing numbers, future wage proposals and relationships between staff, management and the Employees‟ Union („the Union‟). She also tells you that the Union is concerned about some of the decisions and actions taken recently by the directors and the effectiveness of the board generally. In particular, the Union: Has accused several directors of planning to “help themselves” to the
Sample paper
Suggested answers
Important notice When reading these answers, please note that they are not intended to be viewed as a definitive „model‟ answer, as in many instances there are several possible answers/approaches to a question. These answers indicate a range of appropriate content that could have been provided in answer to the questions. They may be a different length or format to the answers expected from candidates in the examination.
Case study
Trymore plc You have just joined Trymore plc („Trymore‟), a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, as company secretary. This is the first time that a company secretary has been appointed as a separate role in Trymore, as the position had previously always been held by the finance director. Trymore manufactures and sells luxury jewellery and the business has suffered as a result of an economic downturn. Several issues have arisen with certain stakeholders of the company, including unions, shareholders, auditors and the media. The board of directors is very worried about these problems and has convened a special board meeting to discuss what to do. The chairman believes that some of the issues will require input from the company secretary, as a senior member of the company‟s management team. You hold a series of meetings with your senior colleagues to find out more about the problems. The matters set out below are discussed with you. Firstly, you hold a meeting with Ms People, the director of human resources. Ms People provides you with an update on a number of matters, including staffing numbers, future wage proposals and relationships between staff, management and the Employees‟ Union („the Union‟). She also tells you that the Union is concerned about some of the decisions and actions taken recently by the directors and the effectiveness of the board generally. In particular, the Union: Has accused several directors of planning to “help themselves” to the