ACRA's Measures Against Overseas Subcontracting to Circumvent Corporate Service Provider Registration under Act

Parliamentary Question by Mr Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik:

To ask the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance since the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 came into force (a) whether the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) has identified any Singapore entities that contract with clients for corporate services but subcontract all substantive work to overseas entities without registering as corporate service providers; and (b) what steps ACRA is taking to ensure that such arrangements are not used to circumvent the registration requirements under the Act.

Parliamentary Reply by Second Minister for Finance, Mr Jeffrey Siow:

Section 7 of the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 (“CSP Act”) requires entities which carry on a business in Singapore of providing any corporate service to register with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (“ACRA”) as Corporate Service Providers (“CSPs”). This requirement applies regardless of whether the entities perform the services themselves or subcontract work to overseas entities.

Only CSPs registered with ACRA can lodge transactions through Bizfile. Since the CSP Act came into force on 9 June 2025, ACRA has not identified any cases of Singapore entities which did not register as CSPs, but provided corporate services and subcontracted all substantive work to overseas entities.

ACRA adopts a risk-based approach to supervising the CSP sector, including conducting compliance reviews and inspections. ACRA will investigate and take appropriate enforcement action against entities which do not comply with the Corporate Services Providers Act.