Billion-dollar money laundering probe: Firms must ensure registered office address is up to date
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A warehouse unit at Kewalram House at Bukit Merah registered to Daily Glory International.
ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
SINGAPORE - Companies must ensure that their registered office is open and accessible to the public for at least three hours during ordinary business hours on each business day.
Under the Companies Act, firms and directors that fail to comply with the requirement may be fined up to $5,000.
They are also required to ensure that information on the company, including its registered office address, in the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s (Acra) registers is up to date.
This is to ensure that the company remains reachable and can continue to receive correspondences from government agencies, business partners and stakeholders, said Acra on its website.
Checks by The Straits Times showed that of the 10 suspects in an anti-money laundering probe here, seven are linked to companies in Singapore, with many appointed to various roles in the firms between 2017 and 2023.
Of the 20 firms linked to the suspects, 11 were not at their registered addresses, despite being listed as “live”.
Photo taken at 101 Upper Cross Street, of a unit registered to Golden Eagle Assets and Golden Eagle Family Office. Employees of Evergrowth Partners say the firm could have been a former client but not a tenant.
ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
They included Golden Eagle Assets and Golden Eagle Family Office. Both listed Zhang Ruijin, 44, as a director. The Saint Kitts and Nevis national, who is believed to be from Fujian, China, is facing a fraud charge.
Three companies – HiCloud Technology, SG-Gree and Tian Yi Technology – appeared to be conducting business operations when ST visited their registered addresses.
Easy to register
It takes only a few minutes and $300 to register a company in Singapore, one of the easiest places in Asia to do business in.
Professor Lawrence Loh from the National University of Singapore Business School said an application to register a business with Acra can be completed in 15 minutes, after payment of a name application fee, which is $15.
“At least one director must be locally resident in Singapore, and this can be a citizen, permanent resident, or entrepreneur pass or employment pass holder,” he said, adding that the registered office must be a Singapore address.
An entrepreneur pass from the Ministry of Manpower is required for foreigners who wish to start and operate a business in Singapore.
Acra figures showed that the number of businesses registered here, even during the Covid-19 pandemic years, remained fairly consistent.
There were 64,305 businesses registered in 2022, compared with 65,438 the previous year, 63,480 in 2020, and 61,573 in 2019.
Said Prof Loh: “The number of company registrations does not necessarily connote economic activities, as there may be dormant companies that do not have any income or trading activity.
“It’s actually quite easy to create a business and not conduct transactions.”
He said there may be instances when entrepreneurs register a company but do not initially conduct transactions, preferring instead to wait for the right time to launch their business.
But a company that is dormant must declare it to Acra, he added.
