STEP Advanced Certificate in Company Law and Practice

The course is designed to develop and enhance your understanding of how companies are used as offshore asset-holding vehicles. It ensures that practitioners understand how to incorporate and manage a private, asset-holding company, including the practices and procedures involved, and are familiar with relevant company law rules that regulate a company and its affairs.

You will be able to:

• Appreciate and describe the features, characteristics and uses of private asset-holding companies incorporated offshore
• Know how to incorporate a private company and draft required documentation
• Comply with the procedural requirements to migrate a company by continuation
• Construe the constitutive documents of a typical company, namely its memorandum and articles of association, and be able to amend their provisions
• Understand funding and the capital structure of a company and how capital is allocated to comply with capital maintenance provisions
• Appreciate the limitations upon what is available to justify a dividend and that the same restrictions to not apply to repayment of debt
• Comply with the duties of a director of a managed company and reduce risk for the firm providing directorships, company secretary and/or registered agent
• Convene, hold and conduct (and waive) meetings of the board and general meetings of shareholders, conduct a variety of common corporate actions and draft accompanying resolutions
• Balance beneficial owner control with the risks involved
• Understand the role of receiver, liquidator
• Conduct a members' voluntary winding-up or voluntary striking-off (and reinstatement).

The course is designed for all professionals moving into or working in financial services (specifically trusts and corporate services), who wish to develop their understanding and knowledge of this area.

Students of this course typically include:

• Trust Assistants/Officers/Administrators
• Trust Managers (Senior)
• Trustees/Fiduciaries
• Corporate Administrators
• Lawyers/Solicitors/Attorneys
• Wealth Managers
• Accountants
• Tax Advisors
• Compliance Officers/Managers
• Private Bankers
• Secretarial/Administration
• Client Relations/Marketing/Sales
• Financial/Estate Planners

• Ideal for practitioners looking for professional accreditation.
• A recognised ‘gold-standard’ professional qualification for those working in the industry, globally recognised by employers, regulators, clients and professionals.
• Can be taken as a standalone qualification or as part of the STEP Diploma in International Trust Management.
• Blended delivery, written and taught by practitioners, focusing on everyday matters encountered in private company management from incorporation, modern usage and administration of companies and the provision of corporate services.
• Access to specimen examination papers and solutions to support you in your assessment preparation.
• Ability to grow your own professional network, meeting students from a range of professions providing an opportunity for networking, building relationships and sharing study tips/support as a cohort.
• Students have the opportunity to submit academic queries to a dedicated programme content team.
• Successful completion of the course will award students with 30 Diploma-Level credits towards STEP membership.
• The course is subject to the rigorous quality assurance procedures of Manchester Business School, a Faculty of the University of Manchester

This Advanced Certificate forms part of the STEP Diploma in International Trust Management, combined with three additional STEP Advanced Certificates.

• Advanced Certificate in Trusts: Law and Practice (International)
• Advanced Certificate in Company Law and Practice
• Advanced Certificate in Trustees’ Duties: Investment and Management of the Trust Fund
• Advanced Certificate in Principles of International Taxation, AML and Compliance

Each of these Advanced Certificates can be taken as a standalone qualification or as part of the Diploma Programme.

This course is available for study all year round, with intakes at different points throughout the year (depending on your location). The core programme is delivered through a blend of distance-learning and four virtual workshops as part of a revision-week series provided online by experts in the field who possess vast amounts of professional experience and practical knowledge.

 We recommend that you spend four to six hours per week on private study for the duration of this course.

Enrolment onto this course will provide access to an online learning platform that contains: 

• bespoke soft copy course manual
• supplementary resource material, including over 50 company-related documents
• self-assessment material
• distance learning support
• four days of online tuition
• examination fees.

Thanks to our online classroom, students can take this course from anywhere. You can select any of the dates indicated in the 'Booking and Fees' section below.

The regions listed are indicative of the locally focused content of the workshops. Where possible, we encourage students to pick the region nearest to where they are studying from, as they reflect the time zones of the teaching.

• UK & Crown Dependencies
• Europe
• Asia
• Caribbean & The Americas

The course is assessed by way of a five-hour open-book written examination which comprises 25 compulsory multiple-choice questions (each worth 1 mark), followed by three 25-mark essay/problem style questions chosen from a selection of five questions. The questions will be drawn from across the syllabus and candidates must achieve 50% in order to pass the Advanced Certificate.

Additional charges will apply for re-sit attempts and deferrals.

Once you have successfully completed this course, you will gain 30 Diploma-Level credits towards STEP membership and be awarded the STEP Advanced Certificate in Company Law and Practice.

Course Timetable - 2022

Course Timetable - 2023

Please note that all regions are indicative of time zone only. Applications from students globally are accepted onto all courses, subject to satisfying the entry criteria. 

Please note all courses are delivered fully online.

Thank you for your interest in CLTI or STEP products. Due to government regulations, we are unable to accept online payments from, or, on behalf of students from certain countries and territories without prior agreement. Please contact us for further details on cltinternational@centlaw.com, +44 (0) 121 362 7733.

Singapore Funding:

Eligible Singapore-based students can now receive funding of 50% of the course fees. Visit Funding and Support for further details.

If you are based in Hong Kong or Singapore, please choose either Hong Kong Based or Singapore Based Course start date. All other students should select from the 2022 Course start date.