Following the recent amendments to the Marshall Islands Maritime Act permitting the electronic recordation of preferred mortgages and lease finance charters, the Marshall Islands Registrar of Corporations has adopted the Digital Signature Regulations, 2024 (the “DSR”), which permits the use of electronically transmitted signatures for documents filed pursuant to the Marshall Islands Business Corporations Act (the “BCA”).  Under the DSR, “electronically transmitted signature” as used in the BCA, now includes digital signatures, which are defined as “a signature that is attached to a document by a person with the intent to sign the document where the signature is generated by software using a digital certificate issued by a trust service provider.”  This means that signatures produced by software such as DocuSign on corporate documentation will be valid under the new legal regime.

The new regulations became effective as of February 15, 2024.  Under the DSR, digital signatures may be used to file corporate documentation with the Marshall Islands Registrar of Corporations including articles of amendment and amendments thereto, certificates of incumbency and corporate resolutions.

This new legislation will allow for fully digitalized corporate documentation that aims for more flexibility without impairing the legality of the transactions.