Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told directors and head honchos yesterday that Singapore has been looking at updating the regulatory framework contained in the Companies Act.

At yesterday's 10th anniversary dinner of the Singapore Institute of Directors, Mr Tharman said that a robust regulatory framework will help Singapore become the most attractive place in Asia and globally in which to do business.

He referred to a steering committee set up in 2007 to do a fundamental review of the Companies Act and three of the areas it is looking at.

Firstly, it is considering introducing a new definition for 'small company'. The definition could be based on the level of sales, assets and number of employees.

There is no legal definition of a 'small company' in Singapore now, but there is one referring to an 'exempt private company'.

This generally refers to smaller companies now but its definition - firms with no more than 20 shareholders who are individuals - means that large companies are sometimes included.

For example, property developer Far East Organization, which is not a listed company, is an exempt private company.

It does not need to file its accounts with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.

But that could change if the 'small company' definition is introduced.

Such a move would be similar to existing practices in Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

Shook Lin & Bok partner Robson Lee said: 'If the SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) is very small, say a husband-and-wife company, we don't want to deploy resources to regulate them.

'Once they are bigger and are better equipped to deal with regulations, then they should comply with more rules and disclose more, which is appropriate as larger companies have many dealings with third parties.'

Mr Tharman said another aspect under review is whether to specify a detailed list of directors' duties.

Read the full story in today's edition of The Straits Times.