Singapore Companies (Amendment) Act 2017
The Singapore Companies Act was amended in 2017. The 2017 Amendment has made significant changes to the manner in which companies are regulated in Singapore. In summary, these changes are designed to improve transparency about the ownership and control of the company, reduce regulatory burden, improve the ease of doing business and simplify the restructuring of a company’s debt. These changes will impact the compliance requirements for Singapore based companies; therefore, officers and shareholders of such companies should be aware of these changes and should ensure that they comply with the new regulations.
The Ministry of Finance and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) plan to implement Amendment 2017 in three phases. The first phase comes into effect on March 31, 2017, and is intended to improve the transparency of companies and LLPs. The second phase is set to be implemented in the first half of 2017; it allows foreign corporate entities to transfer their registration to Singapore instead of setting up subsidiaries. The final implementation, targeted for early 2018, will allow companies to align company filings and Annual General Meetings with their financial year end.
Key Changes
Controllers & Directors
Financial Statements and Documentation
Shareholders
Financial Year End
Debt Restructuring
Final Note
The changes to the Companies Act improve transparency about the ownership of company and LLPs, provide new measures to ease the burden of doing business, and promote Singapore as an attractive jurisdiction for international debt restructuring.