Compliance with corporate and regulatory requirements is a complex yet a must-do job. In Singapore, it might be a bit more complicated because the businesses’ have to comply with intricate statutory obligations framed by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (or more commonly known as “ACRA”). This might be a reason that Singapore’s Companies Act, makes it mandatory for the companies to appoint at least one local company secretary within six (6) months from the date of incorporation of the company.
Now, who should be the company secretary? ACRA regulations state that a company secretary should be a person:
“Who appears to have the requisite skills and knowledge to perform the functions of the company secretary”.
Tan, Chan & Partners not only fulfills the above criteria of having requisite skills and knowledge, but it also holds hands-on experience of handling secretarial requirements for more than 20 years. Our professional and dedicated team of experts deals with each business within its own context and according to industry practice. We do understand that some businesses and entities need more regulatory compliance than others and it can be somewhat challenging to navigate the technical legal requirements of statutory compliance in Singapore.
Our range of services
Maintenance of statutory registers
This shall include preparation and maintenance of following types of registers:
- Changes in company’s directors, auditors and other officers;
- Share transfer registers;
- Registers of all debentures issued by the company;
- Board resolutions decided by the board of directors of the company; and
- Minutes registers of Annual General Meetings (AGM) and Extra-Ordinary General Meetings (EOGM).
documentation of board meetings
Our firm can help you in:
- Preparing and circulating agenda of the board meetings;
- Attending meetings, drafting minutes and maintaining minute books;
- Preparing Directors’ resolutions and circulating it to all members and directors
- Providing legal advice on technical matters and defining timelines for holding of required meetings.
annual general meetings
An Annual General Meeting or AGM is a mandatory annual meeting of shareholders of a company. Company’s financial statements are presented in this meeting and are accepted /endorsed by all the shareholders. In this regard, our firm can assist you in:
- Circulating annual reports and financial statements to shareholders;
- Preparing and circulating meeting agenda;
- Attending meeting, drafting minutes and maintaining minute books;
- Presenting financial statements before the shareholders;
- Filing of statutory returns with ACRA;
- Ensuring that the right procedure as defined by ACRA is being followed.
monitoring of mandatory communications among shareholders
We shall monitor movements of shareholders’ registers and maintain general shareholders’ relations.
protection of company seal
A company seal is an official seal used by the companies as official signatures on important documents in order to show that the subject document is certified by and agreed upon by the Board of directors of the company. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to protect company seal from an un-authorized use.
We help the clients to design proper measures and controls for protection and appropriate use of the company’s seal.
changes in registered office and mailing address
Every local company registered in Singapore needs a registered office and mailing address, where all official and legal documents from the court, tax authorities and ACRA are dispatched. This registered address does not have to be the place where the trading activity of the business is actually conducted.
If any change occurs in registered office and mailing address, this needs to be communicated to relevant authorities so that the official documents don’t get misplaced. Our firm can also help the companies to update their current registered and mailing addresses to respective authorities.
act as nominee director for foreign entities
ACRA requires all private limited companies to have at least one local resident director on their board of directors. Such director, in addition to having an address in Singapore, needs to be any of the following:
- Singapore Citizen;
- Entrepass holder;
- Permanent resident;
- Employment pass; or
- Dependent pass.
If your company is a foreign based entity and does not have a local director, we can provide you with a nominee director. This nominee director can act as non-executive director on the board of directors. This way, he/she will not be directly involved in matters including operations, management and finances of the Company. However, he may have the right to examine and review company’s bank statements and financial statements as a part of his/her duties as a trustee.
More Information on Company Secretary Services?
Simply fill up the online enquiry form below or give us a quick call at +65 6533 7393; to receive a non-obligatory consultation by our specialist to help you in complying with all the regulatory requirements.