There is no clear agreement on this point. Most lawyers will therefore fail on the caution page and will say that two directors (or another combination of two authorized signatories) sign a document on behalf of a company that must sign copies of this document. The section of the Company Act, which deals with enforcement, refers to the execution of a singular document. Contracts and simple acts are often executed in the opposite stages. This means that each contracting party signs separate but identical copies of the same document. The signed copies together form a single binding agreement. In short, the safest way for simple contracts and deeds is for parties to exchange by email pdf copies of signature pages executed with – in the same email – a word or pdf version of the entire agreement that was executed. Registration to the equivalent means that contracts or double deeds are printed, so that there is a separate copy for the signature by each party. Conversely, a copy of the contract or the signing of the contract is printed and signed by all parties. If you have many parts in different places, this is a useful tool to allow completion without releasing a single copy of a document to all parties to sign. Often, a clause is displayed in the agreement that allows the signatories to sign it as an equivalent. In short, contracts and deeds can usually be signed nearby. The absence of a specific counter-value clause should not affect the validity of an act when an act has been performed in return.
Such a clause may, however, help prevent another party from arguing that an agreement is not binding. They could argue that in the absence of a counter-clause, they did not know that they had entered into a binding contract by signing an agreement not signed by the other parties. Documents are most often executed in the form of simple contracts. A contract becomes mandatory on the date on which both parties intend to implement it, which is generally demonstrated by both parties who sign the agreement. There is no need to testify to the signature. Oppositions are also useful when the parties to an agreement want to ensure that each copy of the agreement is recognized as original. Parties often require more than an original copy of an agreement for tax, regulatory or other purposes. Technically, all parties, when executing a certain number of copies of the same document, are more duplicates than counter-parties, and, as a result, some lawyers also refer to duplicates in the counterparty clause. However, an act requires an additional execution formality that goes beyond a simple signature. Acts must be written and, as a rule, performed in the presence of a witness, whereas, in the case of a company, an act can be performed effectively by two directors or by a director and by the secretary of the company. Specific formulations should also be included above the signature blocks. Counterparty clauses are often used when the parties to an agreement execute separate copies of the agreement.
They are mainly used: this is supported by the jurisdictional position that a “counterpart” is an autonomous act in itself, which forms an act with the essential and all other counterparties. This means that a document purported to be a valid counterpart must be properly executed by the party, which would probably not be the case if the two signatories signed separate copies.