On 8 Oct 2014, the Companies (Amendment) Bill was passed in Parliament, containing the largest number of changes to the Companies Act since it was enacted in 1967. The changes aim to reduce the regulatory burden on companies, provide for greater business flexibility and improve the corporate governance landscape in Singapore. Stakeholders from the industry, professional bodies, societies and academia provided feedback through various public consultation exercises held during the review of the Act. 

To learn more about the development and milestones of the Companies Act Reform, please click here. 

Reforms to the Companies Act saw key changes in five broad areas: directors' duties; shareholders' rights and meetings; capital maintenance (including amalgamations and takeovers); accounts and audit; and the administration of companies. The changes are targeted to take effect in the second quarter of 2015. 

Please click here (PDF, 534KB) for a broad overview of the key legislative changes under the Companies Act.

Key changes impacting Stakeholders

The following are some of the significant changes impacting the various key stakeholders, please click on the links for details. 

• Key changes impacting Directors and CEOs
• Key changes impacting Company Administrators 
• Key changes impacting Shareholders
• Key changes impacting Foreign Companies and Authorised Representatives
• Key changes to Companies Act relating to Audit and Preparation of Financial Statements
• Key changes relating to Share Capital, Capital Maintenance, Schemes of Arrangements and Amalgamations