What is a Company search?
A company search is a search against the registered name or number of a legal entity recorded in the registers of the Companies Registration Office (CRO), which is the ‘…central repository of public statutory information on Irish companies and business names….’. This type of search can be conducted instantaneously for registered users via our proprietary website at www.ellis.ie.
What are the reasons for the purchasing solicitor/conveyancer to conduct a search for a company when investigating the title for a property/right/interest purchase?
There are several reasons why a company search might be conducted as part of the conveyancing process. The primary reason is to confirm that the company exists and what is the entity’s recorded status, i.e., normal. Other designations can include, in-liquidation, in-receivership, under examinership, whether its voluntary or in-voluntarily strike-off listed, dissolved, or has ceased to trade, etc.
Another fundamental concern should be whether a company, and its assets, are in the ownership and control of the vendors, i.e., its directors and/ or shareholders. As such, a company search will also return relevant associated information, which assist in establish its identity, and its right to sell.
Such details would include its registered offices, its document filing history and health, its shareholding, and its authorising officers (secretaries and directors). It will also reveal if there are any mortgages, charges (satisfied or unsatisfied), debentures, burdens or liens or other adverse matters effecting the property/ rights/ interests for sale.
In the matter of charges, these may or may not affect the premises for sale. Nonetheless the purchasing solicitor/ conveyancer can raise the matter with the selling solicitor/ conveyancer to show or provide acceptable declarations that any ‘unclear’ charges don’t affect the sale property.
What information will the company search result from Ellis & Ellis provide?
Ellis & Ellis’s Company search reports are designed to assist the conveyancing agents in their legal opinion forming, answering as they do some of the questions posed above and elsewhere.
Reports provide details of all Mortgages, debentures, forms of undertaking, and other charges registered against a company’s real assets; and sets out whether and when those charges have been satisfied or not.
As well as including details of current directors and secretaries, the search result reports on all statutory information filed by Irish companies, i.e., annual returns, accounts, resignations, and appointments, etc.
Other separate registers reported on in the Companies Office include the Register of Business Names, Register of Friendly Societies Searches for Registration details, Register of Beneficial Ownership Searches for companies, and the Register of Industrial and Provident Societies.
Searches for other legal entities recorded on registers held in the Central Bank of Ireland, such as Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle (ICAV) and Credit Unions are available upon request. See full list of registers searched in the Central Bank of Ireland here.
Worldwide: Ellis & Ellis also provide company searches in the UK and worldwide.
Note: Documentation (Scans) on the above are available upon request.
Choose a reliable Law Search provider.
Given the significant implications mentioned above of either not conducting a search at all, or worse, conducting an inadequate or erroneous company (legal entity) search; it is imperative that purchasing solicitors/conveyancers use a trusted law search provider such as Ellis & Ellis.
With our blend of a quick and easy-to-use ordering platform at www.ellis.ie, over 130 years of professional know-how, and a quality after-sales experience, we provide clients with a superior searching service.
For added peace of mind, Ellis & Ellis offer Professional Indemnity Cover of €10 million.
Why not join the thousands of users who rely on Ellis & Ellis to gain a competitive edge?
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