No. A third-party courier or delivery service employee who only delivers documents to a secretary of state or similar office is not a company applicant provided they meet one condition: the third-party courier, the delivery service employee, and any delivery service that employs them does not play any other role in the creation or registration of the reporting company.
When a third-party courier or delivery service employee is used solely for delivery, the individual (e.g., at a business formation service or law firm) who requested the third-party courier or delivery service to deliver the document will typically be a company applicant.
Under FinCEN’s regulations, an individual who “directly files the document” that creates or registers the reporting company is a company applicant. Third-party couriers or delivery service employees who deliver such documents facilitate the documents’ filing, but FinCEN does not consider them to be the filers of the documents given their only connection to the creation or registration of the reporting company is couriering the documents.
Rather, when a third-party courier or delivery service is used by a firm, the company applicant who “directly files” the creation or registration document is the individual at the firm who requests that the third-party courier or delivery service deliver the documents.
- For example, an attorney at a law firm may be involved in the preparation of incorporation documents. The attorney directs a paralegal to file the documents. The paralegal may then request a third-party delivery service to deliver the incorporation documents to the secretary of state’s office. The paralegal is the company applicant who directly files the documents, even though the third-party delivery service delivered the documents on the paralegal’s behalf. The attorney at the law firm who was involved in the preparation of the incorporation documents and who directed the paralegal to file the documents will also be a company applicant because the attorney was primarily responsible for directing or controlling the filing of the documents.
In contrast, if a courier is employed by a business formation service, law firm, or other entity that plays a role in the creation or registration of the reporting company, such as drafting the relevant documents or compiling information to be submitted as part of the documents delivered, the conclusion is different. FinCEN considers such a courier to have directly filed the documents—and thus to be a company applicant—given the courier’s greater connection (via the courier’s employer) to the creation or registration of the company.
- For example, a mailroom employee at a law firm may physically deliver the document that creates a reporting company at the direction of an attorney at the law firm who is primarily responsible for decisions related to the filing. Both individuals are company applicants.
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