Public Consultation on Corporate Service Providers Bill and Proposed Amendments to Companies Act and Limited Liability Partnerships Act

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) have proposed a new Corporate Service Providers (CSP) Bill to enhance the regulatory regime for the CSP sector, and legislative amendments to the Companies Act 1967 and Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005 to enhance the transparency of beneficial ownership of companies and limited liability partnerships. Members of the public are invited to provide their feedback on the proposals from 12 to 25 March 2024. 

2.       The key proposals aim to: 

a.              Enhance the regulatory regime for CSPs by:

• Requiring all business entities carrying on a business of providing corporate services[1] in and from Singapore to register with ACRA; and 

• Introducing fines of up to $100,000 on registered CSPs and their senior management upon conviction for non-compliance with obligations for the purpose of detecting and preventing money laundering, the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism financing.

b.              Combat the misuse of nominee directorship arrangements by prohibiting persons from acting as nominee directors by way of business unless their appointments are arranged by registered CSPs and they have been assessed as fit and proper by the registered CSPs; and 

c.              Enhance corporate transparency by requiring nominee directors and shareholders to disclose their nominee status and identities of their nominators to ACRA, and increasing the penalties for breaches of obligations pertaining to the Register of Registrable Controllers, Register of Nominee Directors and Register of Nominee Shareholders. 

3.       The public can access the public consultation documents of the new CSP Bill and the Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill here and on the REACH consultation portal. The public consultation documents are also available on the MOF website. 

4.       Interested parties can submit their comments via FormSG. 

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[1] These corporate services include forming of corporations on behalf of other persons; acting or arranging for other persons to act as directors or nominee shareholders; providing registered office or business addresses; carrying out designated activities in relation to the provision of accounting services; and carrying out transactions with ACRA on behalf of other persons or as a secretary of a company by way of business.

Issued by:

Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority
Ministry of Finance
Singapore
12 March 2024

Annex 

• Infographic on the CSP Bill

   (PDF, 574KB)