August 2023

7th November 2023 is an important day for our clients. From 7 November, documents for China will only need to be notarised and then apostilled by the Foreigin and Commonsesalth Development Office (FCDO). China Embassy no longer required. Why the change? Well, China has joined the Hague (or Apostille) Convention which harmonises legalisation of documents between signatory countries. This change will be welcomed by many of our clients with China business. This is a big improvement.  It will give clients much needed certainty and access to very quick urnaround times.  We can notarise and get the apostille arranged in 24 hours.  As the E-Apostille gathers momentum, we will see more streamlining of legalisation. This legalisation change will also save costs.  For China, this removes a barrier for businesses based in the UK wanting to deepen their PRC presence and relationships.  We anticipate, like when India joined the Apostille Convention, for there to be a period of transitiion as those in China may still believe full China Embsassy legalisation is needed.  The Company Notary team are on hand to help clients with any of these challenges as they arise.

At Company Notary, we work alongside legal, company secretariat, treasury and finance teams, supporting them and document stakeholders in the process of document execution. Our involvement means we get insight into document approval workflow processes. Here are our key take-aways: All stakeholders to a document (and the underlying transaction, project) should be identified. Your notary support is a stakeholder – engage early to understand and notarisation and legalisaiton ramificatons. Implement a well-defined document approval workflow process, linked to your corporate governance policy.  Be intentional about applying rigour to that process.  Don’t impose the process – collaborate across the document stakeholders for a process which works for your organisation. Collaboration, communication and transparency are vital components in risk management and decision-making for corporate and commercial documents. Allow time for feedback – not doing so can increase risk, cost or result in a document which does not meet the objective or commercial intent, or is not aligned with compliance policies. Do not think of legal as ‘business prevention’; instead consider them custodians of profit, reputation  and collaboration.  It is far better to iron out issues pre-signature. Sounds obvioius, but do you know can sign, on what basis will they sign and are the going to be available?  Are other approval and governance steps necessary to authorise that person?  We have seen deadlines missed and transactions paused due to these easily addressed matters. Back to the future – do you look at these activitieis through the lens of M&A and transactions? What documents would I need to present in a due diligence exercise on deal? What would you need to have in place to support your valuation or the asset’s prospects that is being acquired? We are corporate commercial practioners, with decades of integrity experience. With Floodight Business, Twe provide support to teams in developing their protocols and toolset for document riigour, approval and signature.  That activity also extends to facilitation sessions with teams (across departments) to help team members get their ‘why’ for document governance.  Speak to Dawn for more information.

In a flash, Dawn’s notary practice will be 25 years young in 2024.   To mark the occasion, we will have various charitable initiatives recognising the international flavour of our work, as well as charities local to our main areas of Epsom, Cobham, Weybridge, Dorking, Farnborough and London.  We will also have a specific 2024 stamp.  Dawn will be interviewing some of her longstanding clients to discern key insights during 2024 and speaking to the next generation about how they see the world – please contact her if you would like to be involved.  When Dawn first started, documents always had to be sewn (!) and notarial practice was considred archaic.  Whilst numbers of notaries remain less than 750 in England and Wales, there remains a steady flow of new entrants to the profession and with that new approaches to delivering notarial practice.  Dawn remembers a time in 1999 when a client remarked on opening their door ‘But you can’t be the notary, you are a young woman’.  Since 1999, countries have split, political diplomacy has changed, borders have changed, countries have gone in and out of transaction favour (we have been around long enough to see trends), UK is out of EU, and being ‘international’ is commonplace for UK business.  All of this has impacted the work Dawn and her team do.  We are seeing technology compliment practice management, and electronic notarisation and e-Apostille beginning to make its mark. As with all progress, there are teething problems and unforeseen challenges, but there are also welcome efficiencies and improvements in rigour, best practice and client experience.  Dawn remarks “Whilst I doubt I will be a practising notary 25 more years from now, I am committed to continuing to ensure Company Notary and Family Office Notary play its part in document integrity and responds to both the client need and evolving notarial practice and legalisation, and supports the next generation of new notaries as well as those retiring from mainstream law firm practice.  Through our notary and legalisation work, we meet the most fascinating people and dynamic businesses.  Rarely is a conversation ”void” – every interaction counts and we are grateful for all our eperiences these past quarter century.”