As part of the Ministry of Finance’s (MOF) and ACRA’s regular review of legislation administered by ACRA, the ACRA (Registry and Regulatory Enhancements) Bill (the Bill) was passed by Parliament on 2 July 2024. The amendments hope to address 5 key points, and below are what we think are the most significant. To read the full content, please visit ACRA’s site or the full FAQ relating to this bill.
Introduction of contact addresses
The purpose is to balance corporate transparency and enhancing personal data protection. This is done so by ensuring that the individual’s residential address is no longer shown to the public (unless it is also set as a contact address).
This means, ACRA will now also require a contact address, which will be shared publicly. Residential address will continue to be required to be filed, except that they will not be made public. This amendment will apply only in respect of documents that are filed with the Registrar on or after the commencement date of the provision as well as the information that will be presented in the registers that are kept by the Registrar.
Facilitate digital communications with businesses and other stakeholders
This allows the Registrar or the Authority to send document and information, other than summons, by way of sending such document and information digitally to the digital mailbox in Bizfile
Recipients may be notified via electronic means on how and when to access information and document sent by the Registrar or the Authority.
This will allow ACRA to transition from sending of hard copy documents to sending document and information digitally via a secure digital mailbox in Bizfile. Access to this system will be restricted to authorised individuals using Singpass/ Corppass, ensuring the security and privacy of the content of these documents and information.
Summons sent by the Registrar, however, will continue to be sent via hard copy to the registered address of the entity or the residential address of an individual.
Improvement to filing convenience and data accuracy
By empowering the Registrar or the Authority to obtain and use information from prescribed public agencies, a person will not need to input the data with ACRA during the filing of a transaction and the person will be deemed to have complied with the filing requirement.
In addition, ACRA may use the information to maintain, rectify or update ACRA’s repository or registers (e.g. changes in particulars of a director such as full name, residential address and nationality).
