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In United States business law, a registered agent, also known as a resident agent〔''E.g.'', Nevada Revised Statutes (§ 14.020 ).〕 or statutory agent,〔''E.g.'', Ohio Revised Code (§ 1701.07 ).〕 is a business or individual designated to receive service of process (SOP) when a business entity is a party in a legal action such as a lawsuit or summons. The registered agent's address may also be where the state sends the paperwork for the periodic renewal of the business entity's charter (if required). The registered agent for a business entity may be an officer or employee of the company, or a third party, such as the organization's lawyer or a service company. Failure to properly maintain a registered agent can affect a company negatively.〔 ==The function of a registered agent== Most businesses are not individuals but instead business entities such as corporations or limited liability companies (LLCs). This is because there are substantive (and substantial) liability protections as well as tax advantages to being "incorporated" as opposed to being "self-employed". Most jurisdictions in the United States require that any business entity that is formed or doing business within their borders designate and maintain a "Registered Agent".〔''e.g.'', Code of Virginia, Section 13.1-634; Pennsylvania law refers only to the "agent who maintains the registered office for the corporation", 15 Pa.Consol.Stat. §108(a), but this person is customarily referred to as the "agent".〕 This person may be known as the "Resident Agent"〔''e.g.'', Code of Maryland, Corporations and Associations Article, Section § 2-108.〕 or "Statutory Agent",〔''e.g.'', Arizona Revised Statutes, Section 10-501.〕 depending on the laws of the individual jurisdiction in which the business entity is registered. The purpose of a Registered Agent is to provide a legal address (not a P.O. Box) within that jurisdiction where there are persons available during normal business hours to facilitate legal service of process being served in the event of a legal action or lawsuit.〔''e.g.'', California Corporations Code, Section 1701.〕 Generally, the registered agent is also the person to whom the state government sends all official documents required each year for tax and legal purposes, such as franchise tax notices and annual report forms. It is the registered agent's job to forward these suit documents and notices to the entity itself.〔''e.g.'', Code of Virginia, Section 13.1-634(B).〕 Registered Agents generally will also notify business entities if their state government filing status is in "Good Standing" or not. The reason that these notifications are a desired function of a registered agent is that it is difficult for a business entity to keep track of legislative changes and report due dates for multiple jurisdictions given the disparate laws of different states. Penalties for not maintaining a registered agent generally will cause a jurisdiction to revoke a business’s corporate or LLC legal status as well as in some cases, assess additional penalty fees on the entity. If a Registered Agent fails to perform their function, it can have dire consequences for the business entity. For example, if a customer fell inside a store and sued the store, and the store's registered agent failed to notify the business entity of a summons to appear in court to respond to the lawsuit, then when the case went to trial, nobody would appear to defend the store and the customer would win by a default judgment. Additionally, the store would likely not be able to get the judgment overturned on appeal because they had been properly served. This is one of the most common reasons that business entities generally will utilize a third party as their Registered Agent be it a commercial service company, an attorney, or in some cases, a CPA. The person at the business entity that maintains contact with the registered agent is the corporate secretary or governance officer. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「registered agent」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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