Minute books are binders or bound books that contain detailed accounts of company meetings or legal events. They are traditionally handwritten and must be kept up-to-date by law. Loose-leaf books are susceptible to tampering, so precautions should be taken to ensure their security. The books may also contain important company documents and records.
A minute book is a binder or bound book that houses permanent, detailed accounts of deliberations and resolutions. Minutes are written during a company’s official meetings or legal events. They can also be used in businesses to record meeting proceedings.
Traditionally, these books are handwritten and have sequentially numbered pages that have been securely bound. This process is intended to safeguard against fraudulent activity. Some legal practices still preserve handwritten books, both as a nod to tradition and as a reliable means of discouraging tampering.
By law, incorporated and registered companies are required to keep an up-to-date record of minutes. These books must be kept at the officer, registered office or legal address of the company. They must be made accessible to all members of an enterprise.
Court delegates may also be charged with the maintenance of a record book. Deputies can update the book as hearings and trials take place under a judge. Deputies are chosen as trusted custodians of these registers.
The dawn of the technological age has changed the way some people handle small books. Businesses, for example, might rely on someone to write minutes on a computer, print them out, and then affix the printouts into books with sequentially numbered pages. Businesses with large numbers of official meetings may find this way of keeping books perfectly acceptable.
Company record books may contain company documents and records. These may include articles of association, articles of association, annual reports and resolutions of directors and shareholders. They may also contain information on the conduct of meetings between shareholders and directors, including the actions agreed and the resolutions adopted.
Deviation from the standard and traditional record-keeping procedure can make tampering with the record books relatively easy. For example, keeping a loose-leaf binder like a minute book invites tampering because anyone can simply pull out one page and put another in the binder. If an organization prefers to keep a loose-leaf book, certain precautions must be taken to ensure that the book is kept secure and that opportunities for tampering are minimized.
To protect the integrity of a loose-leaf book, archivists should seek to incorporate a system in which each minute page is consecutively numbered. Similarly, individual meetings should have sequential numbers associated with them. The minute items themselves should also be numbered. Finally, the signature of an authorized person who has read the report and verified its authenticity should be required on each page.
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