Foreign Company Record Maintenance

Key Points

ACRA’s directory links updates to company, representative and director information with the public register of members. The particulars guide identifies a 30-day update period. Controller and nominee-register requirements are linked separately. Check each applicable register rather than assuming that one general information update completes every foreign-company record obligation.

Separate Foreign-Company Updates from Register Maintenance

Classify the event before selecting a filing. A change in the overseas head office’s name involves an approved name application followed by an entity-information update. Changes to representatives, directors, business details or constitutional documents follow their relevant update routes. As practical preparation, record the event date and the supporting document so the applicable 30-day notification period can be monitored.

Constitutional-document changes require supporting copies certified or notarised as specified by ACRA. Where a document is not in English, the translation must meet the applicable certification requirements; simply attaching an informal English summary is not equivalent. Representative and director records also distinguish the residential address used for official letters from the contact address shown publicly. The latter must be in the same country and cannot be a P.O. Box.

Maintain the public register of members as a separate record, checking any listed-foreign-company exemption and the rules applicable to the listing arrangements. The register may be electronic or hardcopy but must be kept in Singapore; it is not routinely submitted to ACRA. Notify ACRA of its location and report a location change within 30 days. Controller and nominee-register obligations require their own applicability checks, rather than being completed by updating the public member register.