SINGAPORE - Companies, variable capital companies and business trusts in Singapore will no longer have the blanket option of conducting official meetings online from July 1, 2023.

The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) will be revoking the Meetings Orders, which enable various types of entities to convene, hold or conduct meetings through electronic means. These include general meetings of companies, meetings for unit holders of a registered business trust, or general meetings of registered societies.

The advance notice gives entities six months to resume meeting arrangements in accordance with written law or their governing instruments, said MinLaw in a statement on Thursday.

“Singapore has progressively transitioned towards living with Covid-19, and meetings can now take place physically,” it said.

In a separate statement, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and the Monetary Authority of Singapore are working on legislative amendments to provide companies, variable capital companies and business trusts with the option of conducting general meetings by electronic means after the Orders are revoked.

Details of the amendments are expected to be out by early 2023.

The Meetings Orders were introduced in April 2020 as part of the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020, to minimise physical interactions and transmission risks amid the pandemic.

They were supposed to expire on Sept 30 that year. But due to the pandemic situation at the time, MinLaw extended them.

Entities that need more information or have inquiries may check the websites of their respective regulators or approach them.

A list of guidance notes and regulators’ contact information can be found on MinLaw’s website.

Correction note: The headline has been changed from “Blanket option for companies to hold official meetings online” to ‘”temporary option”. Minlaw clarified that the Meetings Orders were more of a temporary stop-gap measure that was introduced in April 2020 to allow meetings to take place virtually amid safe distancing measures, even if the applicable law or the entity’s governing instrument did not allow for virtual meetings.