Facts and Figures

Key facts about ICSA

The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators was founded in 1891 and was granted its Royal Charter on 4 November 1902. ICSA has 36,000 members and students worldwide and is represented in over 70 countries. HQ is in London but we have separate operating units in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

ICSA is the qualifying body for company secretaries and a leading authority on corporate governance. It publishes guidance notes and best practice guides and through its subsidiaries provides events, information and training, boardroom performance evaluation and dedicated software.

ICSA’s Qualifications

The ICSA International Qualifying Scheme is unique in offering broad based training in corporate governance, law, finance, administration, company secretaryship and management. No other professional body offers the breadth of training which the ICSA’s qualification provides. Upon completion of the ICSA International Qualifying Scheme graduates become Chartered Secretaries (Grad ICSA) and once they have more experience they can upgrade their membership to Associate or Fellowship status.

As well as the International Qualifying Scheme, ICSA offers a range of alternative qualifications including the Certificate and Diploma in Business Practice which is designed for those, seeking all round business skill. For more information on all ICSA’s qualifications, including the self-standing awards tailored for specific markets, click here. 

The Chartered Secretary

Chartered Secretaries benefit from a career that is both flexible and well-renumerated.  With their wide array of skills, Chartered Secretaries are highly valued by employers and work in all sectors, from listed and private companies to charities and the public sector. They are the primary source of advice on the conduct of business and this can span everything from legal advice on conflicts of interest through to the development of strategy and corporate planning. They are, in effect, an organisation’s ‘corporate conscience’ and are trained to uphold the highest standards of corporate governance. The Chartered Secretary profession is highly versatile, and many ICSA members say that the variety of their roles is what makes it an enjoyable career.

"My typical day is rarely the same from one day to the next. It can encompass anything from attending board meetings to designing a new share scheme or executive salary scheme, discussing pension matters with actuaries, responding to requests for information, working with brokers, dealing with questions on corporate governance from the Chairman and drafting a paper on how the organisation will be affected by changes in the new Companies Act that is currently being implemented."

Mark Peters FCIS , Xansa plc

Salaries of company secretaries

The average base salary of a company secretary as at October 2009 is as follows:

FTSE 100: £193,105

FTSE 250: £114,030

Other PLCs: £95,680

Source: 'Salary Survey Company Secretaries', Chambers & Partners 2009/10

Guidance notes and best practice guides

ICSA is renowned for the quality of its guidance notes which cover a range of corporate governance topics in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. ICSA also publishes a number of best practice guides providing an in depth analysis of some key topics. For further details please click here.