This CAcert sub-policy extends the Organisation Assurance Policy ("OAP") by specifying how the CAcert Organisation Assurance Program ("COAP") is to be conducted by the assigned Organisation Assurer ("OA") under the supervision of the Assurance Officer ("AO") for entities within the defined scope.
</p>
<h2>
1. Scope
</h2>
<p> This sub-policy is applicable to:
<ul>
<li>organisations registered in Europe with an official Trade Office Registry (CAcert "Approved Registry", also denoted as "Registry").
</li>
</ul>
<p>
Approved Registries are tabled in
paragraph Appendix 1 of this sub-policy.
<br>
The table will denote for every Approved Registry a date of acceptance (<strong>Registry Entry Draft</strong> status. Six months after the date of acceptance of an Approved Registry the status of acceptance will become to the same status as of this sub-policy.
Addition of new Registries is by means of the routine
Policy on Policy process,
and is controlled by the policy group,
on submission by Organisation Assurer.
</p><p>
Registries subjected to acceptance as Approved Registry are tabled in paragraph Appendix 2. Appendix 2 is not a formal part of this sub-policy and considered to be Work in Progress.
<li>The organisation must be registered with an Approved Registry.
</li>
<li>The Approved Registry must have a mandate to register certain types of organisations (e.g. private companies, clubs Societies & Associations, partnerships, cooperatives, mutual societies, foundations, etc.)
The named entity may not be capable of legally becoming
a Member of CAcert,
<i>independently and separately from the individuals within</i>.
The Organisation Assurer (OA) must then take care to identify which individuals
are Members, and which are therefore the natural legal
entities behind the names.
</p>
<p>
The general standard for assurance of an unincorporated entity
with a Registered Name is that the result is
equivalent to assurance of an individual Member, or Members,
with the addition of the Registered Name.
</p>
<p>
There is no limit to the number of Registered Names that
a Member may have.
</p>
<p>
<b>Foreign Entities.</b><br>
Where a local Registry requires foreign entities to register,
<fontcolor="green"><br>
this registration may be used for Organisation Assurance.
</font>
<br>OR
<fontcolor="green"><br>
they must apply for Organisation Assurance where they are based; foreign registrations are not valid for Organisation Assurance.
</font>
<br>
<i>
For example: companies are frequently incorporated in the United Kingdom,
but operated primarily in another European country.
These foreign entities may require to register locally
and submit financial and/or yearly reports, extracts of home documents,
reports from professionals such as accountants, etc,
to authorities in the operating country.
</i>
</p>
<h3>
2.2 Records
</h3>
<p>
Records supplied by the Registry must be one of the following forms:
</p>
<olstyle="list-style-type: lower-alpha;">
<li>
Formal originals on paper,
where they are extracted from the Registry
in an independent manner by the OA;
</li>
<li>
Digital statements from an online service provided by the Registry,
acquired by the Organisation Assurer by the OA
in an independent manner;
</li>
<li>
Historical supplemental documents may be accepted
where it can be shown that
material changes have not been made
(e.g., via absence of subsequent
submissions in official document listings).
Such acceptance should be applicable to the particular
jurisdiction, as documented by the Organisation Assurer,
and under any process he determines.
</li>
</ol>
<p>
The set of records supplied by the Registry is called the Extract.
</p>
<h2>
3. The Trade Office Registry
</h2>
<p>
Approved Registries follow the European style of Chambers of Commerce (e.g Chambers of Commerce in continental Europe, Companies House in the United Kingdom and Ministry of Justice, Finance, or Commerce in Eastern Europe).
<li><i>Licensing Authority</i> must be specified as the Approved Registry which issued the Extract;</li>
<li><i>The unique registration Identifier</i> must be provioded where issued (a Registry may not issue a unique Identifier for sole traders and partnerships);</li>
<li><i>Type</i> of entity that is registered, according to the classification created by the Registry.</li>
The essential purpose of the information is to permit
the Organisation Assurer and others to clearly and accurately identify the Organisation as actively registered within the Registry, as well as its Representatives.
</p>
<strike>
<h2>
5. Roles and Responsibilities
</h2>
<h3>
5.1 Organisation Assurance Officer
</h3>
<palign="center"><i><fontcolor="green">
It is an open question as to whether there is
a separate Org AO as opposed to just one Assurance Officer.
<br>If not, then s/Organisation Assurance Officer/Assurance Officer/g .
</font></i></p>
<p>
The Organisation Assurance Officer is to maintain an
accessible file or frequently asked questions (FAQ)
for each Registry showing:
</p>
<ol>
<li>
The <i>type</i> or form of each entity that is registerable;
</li>
<li>
The <i>location</i> and conditions of access to the Registry's
search facility;
</li>
<li>
The Extract <i>form</i> or manner;
</li>
<li>
The unique registration <i>Identifier</i> or number <i>form</i> or manner,
as allocated to each registered organisation;
</li>
<li>
A <i>list of Organisation Assurers</i> currently authorised to conduct
organisation assurances against the Registry;
</li>
<li>
The nature or <i>regime of any supplemental / historical documents</i>
that may be acceptable;
</li>
<li>
The form of <i>due diligence for verifying
signatories</i> that are not identified in the Extract;
</li>
<li>
<i>Any restrictions applicable</i> to the Registry,
as decided by Policy Group, the Arbitrator,
or as advised by the Organisation Assurer.
</li>
</ol>
<p>
The Organisation Assurance Officer is also to maintain training
and testing material applicable. Elements of the challenge
may be confidential, but only for the purposes of
maintaining the efficacy of the challenge.
</p>
<h3>
5.2 Senior Organisation Assurers
</h3>
<p>
The Organisation Assurance Officer may delegate local
senior Organisation Assurers to lead
activities within the areas of each Registry,
or within countries in general.
The powers of such a delegate are undefined,
and the responsibility remains with the Organisation Assurer Officer.
</p>
<h3>
5.3 Organisation Assurer (AO)
</h3>
<p>
The Organisation Assurer (OA) is to be tested according to Organisation Assurance Policy.
Such testing is to include above documents kept by Organisation Assurance Officer.
<h2>Table of accepted Trade Office Registries for EU countries</h2>
<p>
The following table defines the accepted Registries for Europe. The table is followed by a table marked as <i>not part of thies sub-policy</i> with official trade office Registries in the process of being accepted.
<h2>Table of Trade Office Registries for EU countries which Registries are in process of acceptation</h2>
<p>
The orange diamond <fontcolor="orange"size="+2">♦</font> denotes a Registry being accepted. The red bullit <fontcolor="red"size="+2">•</font> denotes a Registry awaiting feedback from that country to be accepted for organisation registration Extracts.
<td><atitle="Department of Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver"href="http://www.mcit.gov.cy/mcit/drcor/drcor.nsf/aboutus_en/aboutus_en?OpenDocument">www.mcit.gov.cy</a></td>
