Singapore regulatory reference
A plain-English map of the agencies, laws and statutory requirements a Singapore corporate service provider works under — with every citation labelled by how firmly it has been verified.
This reference is general information for Singapore CSPs, not legal advice. Statutory statements come from CorpSec AI’s verified citation table; anywhere a sub-clause or figure could not be confirmed against the official statute portal (SSO), it is labelled “to be confirmed by counsel”.
The three agencies
Most of a corporate secretary’s regulated life runs through three bodies.
| Agency | What it is | What it means for a CSP |
|---|---|---|
| ACRA — Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority | The national company registrar; runs the BizFile+ filing portal and central registers. | You file incorporations, officer and address changes, annual returns, share transactions here — and, since 2025, ACRA registers and inspects CSPs. |
| MAS — Monetary Authority of Singapore | The central bank and integrated financial regulator; anchors the national AML/CFT framework. | Sets the AML/CFT expectations a CSP’s due-diligence, screening and reporting duties flow from. |
| IRAS — Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore | The tax authority. | Corporate tax and ECI, and stamp duty on share transfers via the e-Stamping portal. |
The primary laws
- Companies Act 1967 — directors, secretary, shares, resolutions, annual return, registers. See ACRA & the Companies Act 1967.
- Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 (in force 9 June 2025) — registration, the RQI requirement, CDD before service, and 5-year record-keeping. See MAS, AML/CFT & the CSP Act.
- Stamp Duties Act 1929 — stamp duty on instruments of transfer of shares (0.2%; 14/30-day windows).
- CDSA 1992 — the statute under which suspicious transactions are reported.
For the compliance rules themselves in explainer form, the Resources hub carries deep-dives (annual return, director appointment, the CSP Act, the RQI, AML/CFT obligations, and a glossary).
The statutory requirements
The recurring and event-driven obligations — annual return, AGM exemption, RORC, CDD, record-keeping, filing deadlines — are collected, each with its basis and cycle, on the requirements page.
- Event-driven filings: mostly ACRA within 14 days of the effective date.
- AGM: exempt for a private company that sends financial statements to members within 5 months of FYE (s175A, verified).
- RORC: internal within 7 days, ACRA central within 2 business days.
- CDD: completed before service; kept current on a risk-driven cycle; records kept 5 years.
Full table with every deadline and its basis: Statutory requirements & deadlines.
How to use this reference
Each regulatory page states the rule, cites the provision, and marks how firmly we verified it — verified (checked against the source) or to be confirmed by counsel (rule confirmed, exact sub-clause not). Anywhere a feature relies on demo data (screening, ACRA pull), the product and these pages say so.
- ACRA & the Companies Act 1967 — directors, secretary, shares, resolutions, registers, BizFile+ touchpoints, who carries the duty, and the cost of a missed filing.
- MAS, AML/CFT & the CSP Act 2024 — the full obligation framework: firm risk assessment, CDD, EDD, monitoring, screening, record-keeping, STR, policies/training/MLRO.
- Statutory requirements & deadlines — every deadline, who is responsible, and what a miss can cost.
- CSP practice & the RFA / QI regime — what a CSP is, how it is registered and qualified (RFA/QI → CSP Act 2024, RQI), its duties and liability risks.
- Singapore CSP glossary — every term defined, with its verified basis where we have one.
- CSP business scenarios — the rules applied to real jobs, step by step.
Frequently asked questions
Is this legal advice?
No. It is general reference information for Singapore CSPs, drawn from a verified citation table. Where a sub-clause or figure could not be confirmed, it is labelled and you should confirm it with qualified counsel before relying on it in a filing.
What is the difference between this and the Resources hub?
Resources are SEO explainers of the Singapore rules themselves. This regulatory reference sits inside the Help Center to connect those rules to how CorpSec AI works, and it links out to Resources for the deep-dives.
Why are some things marked “demo data”?
Because we label honestly. Screening runs on demo data until a provider is connected, and live ACRA/BizFile data pull is on the roadmap — both are badged where they appear.
This is a product guide for CorpSec AI. Where a feature runs on demo data or is not yet released, it is labelled as such. Compliance references are general information for Singapore corporate service providers, not legal advice.