Authorised Signatory

An authorised signatory can bind an organisation only within the authority that applies to the act. A board may authorise a director to sign a facility letter, while a bank mandate permits named staff to approve payments, and these are not always the same powers.

Authority can come from company law, constitutional documents, a board resolution, power of attorney or a formal delegation, so finance and legal teams should identify the document that grants each permission, because a title on a business card is not enough. A "finance manager" might be able to initiate payments but not sign a property deed, while a director may have statutory execution powers under particular legal rules.

The United Kingdom's Companies Act section 44 provides an example of statutory ways a company executes documents, but it is specific to UK companies and does not set the rule for a UAE entity. The relevant jurisdiction, legal form and document type must be checked, since some documents have witness or seal requirements.

Banks maintain mandates for operating accounts, stating which people may sign, whether they act alone or jointly and what transactions they may authorise. A specimen signature is a way to verify identity but not the entire permission record, and online banking may use roles and digital approvals rather than a handwritten signature.

The UAE central bank's rulebook includes authorised-signatory requirements in a regulated context, and individual banks can demand board resolutions, identity documents and mandate forms to update an account, so check the bank's current instructions because a corporate approval does not mean the bank's systems have already applied the change. Set limits by action and amount.

A company may allow one person to approve small routine expenses but require two for large transfers or borrowing, and different risk categories can have different rules, since a supplier onboarding form should not carry the same authority as a guarantee of another company's debt. Joint signatures provide a check only if approvals are independent and current, because two people clicking "approve" after one shared password was used gives little control.

An authority matrix can link common actions to roles, covering contract signing, purchase orders, bank transfers, tax filings and employment documents. Name the source of authority and any required second approval, and review the matrix after restructurings, since it helps staff but should not contradict the legal documents or bank mandate.

Changes in personnel create a time-sensitive risk: when a signatory leaves or changes role, revoke access and update external mandates promptly, keep evidence of the bank's acceptance and effective date, and verify the live account settings, because merely emailing a bank manager may not disable an online token. A signature can be valid in one capacity but not another, so the same person might sign for a subsidiary and also for its parent, each under separate authority, with the correct legal entity and capacity beside the signature.

For an illustrative transfer, the bank mandate might permit either of two directors to approve up to $50,000 and require both above that amount, so a transfer of $80,000 needs two authorised approvals, although the actual rule could be stricter or use other roles. Review signatory records periodically and whenever people or activities change, remembering that authority is a scoped permission, not a permanent personal status.