WHAT IS SEARCH REPORT
Search Report as the name suggests denotes to a report which is based on facts and figures of
a particular thing. It is a measure for Stakeholders to know the details of the company. Since
all the documents, filed with registrar of Companies, are public documents and available for
general public, which lay over the Portal of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, any stakeholder
can view and search the records over there by making a specified amount of fees.
Who Demands Search Report.
Since, there are a no. of public departments, Government authorities, Financial Institutions
which require the certified report by any Professional viz CA/ CS/ Advocate. Also The
various stakeholders of a company are interested in the matters and activities of a company
for their personal benefits as regards investment, repayment etc is concerned. Hence, the
report being prepared by such Professional, after detailed inspection from the records of the
Registrar of Companies on MCA Portal/ From Physical Records at office of Registrar of
Companies (If needed) is called as Search Report (of Company)
Whether Search Report also includes information other than available over the MCA
Portal
Since, the Search Report means to search every record of the company and now a days
everything is on MCA Portal, but even then a Professional Feels that some specific
information has not been available over the portal which belong to the years when the
documents used to be filed manually and physically in paper form, then such Professional
may approach the Concerned Registrar of Companies’s Office in person with fees paid
challan who shall allow you physical inspection of documents filed by the company from
where we can note down the required details.
Why Banks emphasis more on Search Report
Banks, now a days, are more emphasizing on demanding Search Reports from Companies
while sanctioning the loan/ Limits to the companies or may be at time of renewal of the
limits. Most of time, the banks get the search reports certified from the Professionals who are
on panel of Bank. This ensure the banks to be updated with
The company’s past history
Detail report on appointment and resignation of directors,
Defaulting status of directors and companies,
Capital structure of the company,
The loans taken by the company since incorporation,
Present records etc.
So instead of searching books and records of the company, the banks generally relies over
such Search Report and make the loans/ Limits disbursed to the companies and get
themselves safe from the non-certified records, which is being provided by the companies to
the banks.
What Search Report Includes
1. Name of Company
2. Registered Office Address of the Company
3. Capital Structure of the Company
4. List of Directors of the company
5. List of Shareholders of the company
6. List of Registered Charges
7. Any other matter as may be required by the Client/ Stakeholder
How Search Report helps Banks to know about Property mortgaged with them
The intent of the Banks is to provide the loan to the customers for earning the interest. Hence
the Banks always need to know the present status of the assets/ property mortgaged with
them by the companies. And via Search Report the Banks come to the conclusion about the
viability of their customer who approach the banks for CC Limits, Term Loans or otherwise.
A good search report provides the banks the history of the property held by the company i.e.
who is the original owner of the property and how it has mortgaged with various banks over a
period of time, complete information about the loans already taken by the company, property
mortgaged etc..
What Information is being given by Professional about a charge in Search Report:
In Case of Creation of Charge:
The basic information given in Search Report about the existing Loans is as follows:
1. The date of Loan taken by the company and the charge created in such respect
2. The name and Address of the Charge Holders i.e. Bank
3. The type of Charge i.e whether joint charge or consortium charge
4. The Amount of loan
5. The property Charged or pledged against such loan including Latitude and Longitude of
the property
6. The terms and conditions of such loan including Rate of Interest, Terms of Repayment etc.
In Case of Modification of Charge:
In case of Modification of Charge along with above information, the details are also provided
that on which date the charge had been modified and what was the nature of such
modification.
In Case of Satisfaction of Charge:
If any time any charge is satisfied, i.e the whole amount is paid back by the company to the
Bank, the Search Report generally depicts the complete information about such charge from
the date of creation to modification and till the date of repayment and satisfaction of such
charge from the records of the Registrar of Companies
Conclusion: Hence, we can say that the Search Report is basis tool in hands of the Banks to
provide the complete information about the loans of the company, structure and status of the
company. And also help the stakeholder’s to know about the company in which they are
going to invest, control, manage, provide loan, enter into a contract etc.
Disclaimer: The author is based at Jalandhar and is practicing company
Secretary and a Certified CSR Professional who deals in matters pertaining to
Corporate Social Responsibility. The information contained in this write up, as provided by
the author, is to provide a general guidance to the intended user. The information should not
be used as a substitute for specific consultations.
Authors recommend that professional
advice is sought before taking any action on specific issues. The author can be however
contacted for further clarification via mail at csmohitsaluja@gmail.com
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