Client update: Proposed amendments to reduce regulatory burden for companies 客户简报：拟议修订以减轻企业监管负担
To reduce the regulatory burden for companies in Singapore, the Ministry of Finance (“MOF”) and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (“ACRA”) are proposing various amendments to the current regulatory regime, among other things. Key amendments include:
为减轻新加坡企业的监管负担，财政部（“MOF”）与会计与企业管制局（“ACRA”）正提议对现行监管制度进行多项修订（包括但不限于）。主要修订内容包括：
Current requirements | Proposed Amendments | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Currently, the sole director of a company is prohibited from being appointed as the company secretary to ensure separation of duties. 目前，为确保职能分离，公司唯一董事被禁止担任公司秘书一职。 | Allow a sole director to be appointed as the company secretary. 允许公司唯一董事兼任公司秘书。To safeguard statutory compliance, a sole director acting as company secretary must demonstrate the requisite knowledge and experience required of a company secretary to fulfil the role effectively. 为保障法定合规，担任公司秘书的唯一董事必须具备履行公司秘书职责所需的相应知识与经验。 | This amendment aligns with practices in jurisdictions like the United Kingdom, which have repealed similar prohibitions, and could help reduce compliance costs for smaller companies. 此项修订与英国等司法管辖区的做法一致，这些地区已废除类似的限制规定，并有助于降低中小企业的合规成本。 |
| A company’s registered office is required to be open and accessible to the public for not less than three hours during ordinary business hours on each business day. 公司注册办事处须在每个营业日的正常办公时间内对公众开放不少于三小时。In addition, any company record which is required to be available for inspection must be available for inspection during the hours in which the registered office of the company is accessible to the public. 此外，任何须供查阅的公司记录，均须在公司注册办事处对公众开放的时间内供予查阅。 | (1) Remove the requirement for a company’s registered office to be open and accessible to the public for not less than three hours during ordinary business hours on each business day, and other related requirements. 取消公司注册办事处在每个营业日正常办公时间内对公众开放不少于三小时的要求及其他相关规定(2) Allow companies to provide for the hours during which the rights of inspection of a company’s records may be exercised and to provide that a person entitled to inspect any company record must give the company reasonable notice of the person’s intent to inspect, with specified exceptions where inspection powers are exercised by, for example, the Minister or the Registrar. 并规定有权查阅公司记录的人士须向公司提前合理通知其查阅意图，但在某些特定情况下，如部长或注册官行使查阅权时，则不受此限。允许公司自行规定行使查阅公司记录权利的时间， | The proposed amendment will provide companies with flexibility to determine their registered offices’ opening hours without compromising those who have rights to inspect company records or serve documents to companies. 拟议修订将赋予公司更大灵活性，自行决定注册办事处的开放时间，同时保障有权查阅公司记录或送达文件的相关人员的权益不受影响。 |
The proposed amendments, if passed into law, would ease the compliance burdens for companies (particularly for small medium enterprises (SMEs)) to some extent while demonstrating a commitment to corporate governance, and would be much welcome.
若拟议修订获通过并成为法律，将在一定程度上减轻企业（尤其是中小企业）的合规负担，同时体现对公司治理的重视，实属值得欢迎的举措。
It should be noted that the above are only proposals being considered by the relevant regulatory authorities and have not been enacted into law at this point in time.
应注意，以上内容仅为相关监管机构正在审议的提案，尚未在目前阶段被正式立法通过。
The contents of this article do not constitute legal advice or any other advice and should not be relied on as such. Specific advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. Copyright in this publication is owned by Silk-Connections Consulting Pte Ltd. This article may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, without prior written approval.
本文内容不构成法律建议或其他任何建议，不应作为此类建议的依据。具体建议应根据您具体情况寻求。本出版物的所有版权归 Silk-Connections Consulting Pte Ltd。未经事先书面批准，不得以任何形式或任何方式复制或传播本文的全部或部分内容。
Silk-Connections Consulting Pte Ltd is a registered CSP with ACRA in Singapore. If you need any assistance with incorporation and other post-incorporation compliance related corporate secretarial services, please feel free to reach out to us.
Silk-Connections Consulting Pte. Ltd. 是新加坡 ACRA 登记注册的 CSP。如果您需要任何公司注册以及后续合规方面的服务，请随时联系我们。
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