The Certificate of Good Standing is a Companies House document that is often requested by authorities overseas. The certificate is used to confirm the company registration details, the fact the company is up to date with their filing requirements and can also confirm the company structure.

The Certificate of Good Standing (COGS) is created by Companies House, the UK’s registrar of companies, and confirms the status of the company. In addition to confirming the company name and number the COGS can also be used to provide evidence of the company's structure. At the time of ordering you can request that additional information is added to the COGS. This can include the following options-

• Directors names
• Directors service addresses
• Directors date of birth
• Secretary names
• Secretary service address 
• Registered Office
• Objects of the company if detailed

Following the introduction of the Statement of Capital in 2016, shareholder's details and issued share capital can no longer be added to a COGS. An alternative is to request a certificate of incumbency from an agency like us. Please contact us for more information.

Many UK companies are asked to provide a COGS when entering into business agreements with foreign companies. It is also requested when a UK business wants to open an overseas branch or foreign bank account.

Once the COGS has been created it is normal procedure to arrange for the document to be legalised with an apostille certificate. The apostille will confirm the signature of the registrar that created the certificate.

We are pleased to support customers by ordering the COGS for you and legalising the document with the apostille. This can be done in just 2 to 3 working days. For the latest fees and processing times please contact one of the team for assistance.

If you have any other questions regarding company documents we will be happy to answer your questions.