Summary of responses to public consultation on the draft Corporate Registers (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2021

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) invited the public to provide feedback on the draft Corporate Registers (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2021 (“the Bill”) from 2 to 30 July 2021[1] .

2. The proposed amendments in the Corporate Registers (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2021 aim to enhance Singapore’s regime on the transparency and beneficial ownership of companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs). These amendments serve to reduce any opportunities for the misuse of corporate entities for illicit purposes and are in line with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force for combating money laundering, terrorism financing and other threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

3. The proposed legislative amendments in the public consultation are as follows:

a. Specify a 14-day time frame for foreign companies to update their register of members;

b. Require local companies, foreign companies and limited liability partnerships (“LLPs”) to enter the particulars of the individual(s) with executive control in their registers of controllers if no individual or legal entity having significant interest in or significant control over the company or LLP has been identified;

c. Clarify that local companies should update their register of nominee directors within 7 days after receiving information from the directors; and

d. Require local and foreign companies to keep non-public registers of nominee shareholders. 

4. The key feedback received in response to the amendments, and our responses to the feedback, are in Annex A. ACRA will address the clarifications sought in the feedback by publishing guidance on compliance when the legislative amendments are implemented. Feedback received on areas not under the scope of the Bill may be considered by MOF and ACRA in a future review.

5. The proposed legislative amendments in the Corporate Registers (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2021 will be presented in Parliament in November 2021.

6. MOF and ACRA would like to thank all respondents who have provided their feedback in this public consultation. 

[1] The public consultation documents on the draft Corporate Registers (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2021 are accessible here. 

Please click here for a summary of the feedback received and ACRA’s responses to the feedback.