Bynder provides advanced digital asset management solutions to more than 4000 customers and over 1.7m users worldwide. It has more than 550 employees spread across eight offices in six countries, and a customer base that includes 20% of Fortune 500 companies. With a lean legal team in the Netherlands and abroad, Bynder reached out to Legadex for help with corporate housekeeping for its business as a whole.
Challenge: optimal corporate housekeeping in a multi-jurisdiction context
With multiple legal entities in various jurisdictions, Bynder lacked a comprehensive overview of the “good standing” or health of its entities. In our experience, this situation often arises when data is stored in multiple locations. This was the case at Bynder, with the result that it was difficult for the legal team to access the information they needed. Complicating things further and another common factor, the combination of a lean legal team and heaps of work to do meant the team lacked the time to take on a project to manage corporate housekeeping.
Solution: Legadex Corporate Managed Services
Our Corporate Managed Services solution combines two aspects: a client’s need for oversight with their need for practical hands-on support. Think of notifying board changes, adoption of annual accounts, KYC requests, UBO support and official company registrations. To do this, we liaise with local advisors where necessary or required. It’s a combination of legal tech and outsourcing.
In Bynder’s case, we began by onboarding the Dutch and foreign entities into our Corporate Housekeeping system. The first step was to assess the client’s existing corporate structure, including identifying all group companies with their shareholdings, directors and other officers. This comprehensive overview provides the foundation for the corporate housekeeping system.
Simultaneously, we gathered all the documents necessary to manage Bynder’s corporate housekeeping: articles of association, shareholder agreements, board and shareholders resolutions, shareholders registers and other relevant corporate documents and uploaded them into the corporate housekeeping system. This stage requires meticulous attention to detail and organisation as it is the basis for future easy access and management.
Throughout, Legadex and Bynder called and corresponded regularly to report on progress and address any concerns. As well as being a sensible good practice, structured communication helps to build engagement with the various stakeholders whose support we require, particularly with gathering the required documents and information.
Results: confidence of knowing it’s all under control
As Bynder is now experiencing, having a corporate housekeeping system provides Bynder with a single source of truth and enables us to provide our corporate housekeeping services. The system likewise supports the provision of advice on topics like corporate governance and corporate matters like board changes, the adoption of annual accounts, KYC procedures and company registrations.
Conclusion
The process of creating a corporate housekeeping solution for Bynder involved detailed planning, cross-discipline collaboration and a commitment to continuous improvement. The payoff is a clear overview of all group entities and flexible, tailored corporate services. Plus, the inhouse team can focus on their main priorities without having to worry about squeezing corporate tasks into already overfull calendars.