Commencement of Key Changes under the Corporate and Accounting Laws (Amendment) Act 2025 on 20 October 2026

The key amendments are:

1. Updated annual return filing requirements

Companies filing annual returns will need to confirm that the latest particulars provided to ACRA are accurate for their directors, chief executive officers, secretaries, auditors and relevant members.

These include particulars such as names, identification details, nationality, contact address, appointment dates, registered office address and shareholding details, where applicable.

There will also be an additional question in the annual return eform for the filer to indicate if there are any individuals performing the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in the company.

Companies and authorised filers should review their records in Bizfile and update any particulars before submitting the annual return.

For companies limited by guarantee, filers will need to confirm that the total number of members last provided to ACRA through Bizfile is accurate.

2. Reduce regulatory burden for companies

Certain filing requirements will be removed to ease regulatory burden for companies. The requirement to file a statement in lieu of prospectus under prescribed circumstances in the Companies Act, as well as the requirement for public limited companies with a share capital to convene statutory meetings and prepare statutory reports will be abolished.

3. Registered office and record inspection updates

The requirement for a company’s registered office to be open and accessible to the public for specified minimum hours during ordinary business hours on each business day will be removed, to provide greater flexibility for companies to determine their registered office’s opening hours. However, companies must continue to make company records available for inspection in accordance with the law.

Persons who wish to inspect company records must give the company reasonable notice of their intent to do so. Upon being given such notice, companies must then make such records available for inspection for at least two hours during each of the relevant business days.

Companies must also continue to file any change in registered office address within 14 days after the change.

4. Streamlined striking-off and restoration processes and enhancement of regulatory framework for restoration

The striking-off ↗ (opens in new tab) and restoration processes for companies, LLPs and VCCs and sub-funds will be streamlined, and the regulatory framework for restoration will be enhanced.

For voluntary and Registrar-initiated striking-off, the timeline of the striking off processes will be shortened with the Gazette notices being published as early as the same day the notice is sent or 15 days after the letter is sent to companies respectively.

An entity is legally dissolved or restored on the date and at the time when the Registrar strikes off or restores its name on the register. The Registrar will publish the name, date and time that the entity has been struck off or restored, in the Government Gazette.

For applications to restore struck-off entities made to the Court or to the Registrar, the Court or the Registrar must refuse an application for restoration where (i) the restored entity is likely to be used for an unlawful purpose or for purposes prejudicial to public peace, welfare or good order in Singapore; or (ii) it would be contrary to the national security or interest for the entity to be restored.

5. More flexible renewal options for public accountant registration

Public accountants will be able to choose to renew their registration for 1, 2 or 3 years, instead of renewing annually. This will reduce the administrative effort required of public accountants and give them greater flexibility in managing their registration.

6. Extension of professional indemnity insurance requirements

Professional indemnity insurance (PII) requirements will be extended to accounting firms operating as sole proprietorships or partnerships, in addition to public accounting corporation and accounting limited liability partnerships. This aligns requirements across all accounting firm structures.

The quantum of the PII is based on the highest of:

• $1 million;

• $500,000 per public accountant in the accounting firm; or

• Two and a half times the gross income of the accounting firm in the last financial year, subject to a maximum sum of $50 million.

For more information, please refer to Corporate and Accounting Laws (Amendment) Act 2025.