Company Secretarial Assistant

Job description

Role Title: Company Secretarial Assistant
Business: Global Company Secretaries
New or Existing Role? Existing
 
Role Purpose
Global Company Secretaries vision statement. Driving Excellence in Governance
Global Company Secretaries mission statement: by developing our people, processes and systems, we drive the highest standards of corporate governance globally to support the delivery of Group strategy and to satisfy the expectations of our stakeholders.
 
Roles

To provide support in the provision of a company secretarial service to the HSBC Holdings plc.
To assist the Assistant Group Company Secretary in supporting the Board of Directors and its committees, and corporate governance framework.
To contribute to the delivery of the strategic and operational objectives of the Global Company Secretarial function.
 
Key Accountabilities
Impact on Business

Assisting the Assistant Group Company Secretary in providing support to the Board of Directors, its committees and senior management of HSBC Holdings plc on corporate governance and statutory, regulatory and governmental requirements as well as best practice requirements and standards.
Assisting the Assistant Group Company Secretary with managing board and committee meetings.
 
Customers / Stakeholders

Providing advice, guidance and support to the Board of Directors and senior management of HSBC Holdings plc.
Maintaining and developing positive relationships with colleagues in other key functional departments such as Finance, Legal, Compliance and Risk.
 
Leadership & Teamwork

Maintaining and developing positive professional working relationships with directors and managers within the businesses.
Contributing to discussions on how to improve engagement.
Contributing to a cooperative and flexible working environment.
 
Operational Effectiveness & Control

Assist in monitoring the effectiveness of the corporate governance framework for HSBC Holdings plc.
Helping to reduce the costs and expenses of the department.
Consider whether any existing processes should be re-engineered to deliver efficiencies within the Department.
Undertaking ad hoc projects as and when required.
 
Major Challenges

The role holder will need to continually review and reassess priorities in response to frequently changing situations and deadlines.  In addition new projects/assignments may be allocated at short notice deliver tasks accurately, reliably and to a high standard.
 
Role Context

HSBC Holdings plc is listed on the London, Hong Kong, New York, Paris and Bermuda stock exchanges.  By market capitalisation, it is one of the largest listed companies in the world.  Shares in HSBC Holdings plc are held by about 200,000 shareholders in over 100 countries and territories.
·         The role holder is responsible for providing support to the Assistant Group Company Secretary in delivering a high standard of support to the board and committees to the holding company and will liase closely with the Directors, Executive, senior members of the Global Secretary’s Office and other Global functions and businesses.
·         It is essential that the Company Secretarial Assistant has a good working relationship with, and is trusted by, the Assistant Group Company Secretary which he/she supports.
 
Role Dimensions
·         HSBC Holdings has 17 Directors, comprising 4 executive Directors and 13 non-executive Directors.  The market capitalisation of HSBC Holdings is approximately GBP110 billion.  HSBC Holdings shares are listed on the London, Hong Kong, New York, Paris and Bermuda stock exchanges.  There are over 220,000 HSBC Holdings shareholders and 80,000 registered holders of American Depositary Shares.
·         HSBC Holdings' dividends are paid quarterly in three currencies and a scrip dividend alternative is offered on each occasion.  Over the last four quarters, cash dividends paid out totalled USD6 billion and over 250 million scrip dividend shares have been issued. There are two mailings to shareholders for each dividend.  In 2010, a further 25 million shares have been issued as a result of the exercise of employee share options
·         The Global SCY function comprises qualified company secretaries/ lawyers and support staff for the more than 1300 subsidiary companies in the Group. 

The role holder will typically seek guidance from the Assistant Group Company Secretary to whom they report on significant matters that arise which have implications for HSBC Holdings plc, its Directors or its subsidiary companies and from other members of the BCM team on day to day matters.
 
Management of Risk
·         The role holder (i) contributes to the provision of support to the Board and its committees against the backdrop of both the external legal and regulatory framework and the internal control framework of the Group Standards Manual; and (ii) works with colleagues in GRP SCY and other GBL regions to ensure that HSBC Holdings plc, Committees, their Directors, Members and Officers comply with all relevant statutory and regulatory obligations.
·         The role holder will also continually reassess the operational risks associated with the role and inherent in the business, taking account of changing economic or market conditions, legal and regulatory requirements, operating procedures and practices, management restructurings, and the impact of new technology.
·         This will be achieved by ensuring all actions take account of the likelihood of operational risk occurring.
·         Also by addressing any areas of concern in conjunction with line management and/or the appropriate department
·         The Company Secretarial Assistant is responsible for ensuring that any areas of concern regarding company secretarial operational risk are brought to the attention of their line manager and/or relevant department, and addressed accordingly.
 
Observation of Internal Controls

An "insider" for dealing purposes and subject to strict controls and confidentiality.
Maintains HSBC internal control standards, including timely implementation of internal and external audit points together with any issues raised by external regulators relating to corporate governance or company secretarial related matters.

Desired profile

Strong written and organisational skills
Communication and inter-personal skills including the maintenance and development of relationships  across the organistion as well as within the team
Proficient in the use of Word, Excel and Powerpoint .
Some practical experience of using Blueprint/other corporate databases  and board portals is useful.
Experience of working within the company secretariat of a large organisation. 
Experience of working with boards and committees. 
 
  
We are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to creating a diverse environment.
 

About HSBC

HSBC est l’une des plus grandes banques internationales avec une présence dans plus de 85 pays dans le monde. Elle a été créée en 1865 sous le nom de « The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation », et son siège social est basé à Londres. En France, HSBC totalise environ 400 agences et près de 10 000 salariés, avec une spécialisation dans plusieurs activités : une banque pour les particuliers, spécialisées notamment dans la gestion de patrimoine, une banque privée (gestion de fortune), une banque d’entreprises, qui s’appuie sur le réseau de l’ensemble du groupe HSBC dans le monde, et une banque de financement, d’investissement et de marchés. En 2012, HSBC France a réalisé un résultat avant impôt de 450 millions d’euros.