Appointment of New Chief Executive at The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority

1.     The Minister for Finance has appointed Mrs Chia-Tern Huey Min as the next Chief Executive (CE) at the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). Mrs Chia-Tern, who is currently the Deputy Commissioner (International, Investigation & Indirect Taxes) at the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), will take over from the incumbent CE, Mr Ong Khiaw Hong, on 22 April 2024. Mr Ong, who has served as CE since April 2017, will be retiring from the Public Service upon completion of his current term.

2.     Under Mr Ong’s leadership, ACRA embarked on the “OneACRA Redefined” transformation journey to build a digital and data-driven organisation. The OneACRA team has achieved significant milestone changes in its multi-year transformation journey and made impressive progress in building ACRA’s capabilities to be a future-ready organisation. ACRA has embarked on the development of the mission-critical new Business Registry and Regulatory IT System, a key pillar to support ACRA’s shift from being an information provider to business enabler.

3.     Mr Ong contributed to efforts in enhancing the effectiveness of regulatory regimes in corporate governance, financial reporting and audit, and in combating money laundering and terrorism financing, through several major legislative and operational changes. These improvements contributed to strengthening Singapore’s reputation as a trusted financial hub. In support of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, ACRA took on a key role in driving sustainability reporting by businesses. The Singapore Accountancy Commission (SAC) and the Accounting Standards Council (ASC) were merged as a strengthened accountancy function under ACRA to further reinforce regulatory effectiveness, standards-setting, and development of the accountancy sector. The Data analytics, Digital Technology and user-centred Design (D3) framework was established to develop and deepen data and digital competencies in ACRA.

4.     Prior to his appointment as the CE of ACRA, Mr Ong served as Deputy Commissioner (Corporate & Services) at IRAS. He developed IRAS’ corporate strategies and policies, and put in place the systems and business processes to support IRAS’ operations. The improvements that Mr Ong made in IRAS’ human resource policies, Information Technology (IT) systems and process re-engineering have resulted in better end-to-end service to taxpayers and enhanced Singapore’s tax competitiveness.  

5.     Mrs Chia-Tern Huey Min has been with IRAS for nearly 36 years. She has served in various senior positions in tax administration, tax policy, operations and regulations. Mrs Chia-Tern was seconded to Ministry of Finance as its Chief Tax Policy Officer from 2003 to 2005. She was concurrently the Chief Executive Officer of the Tax Academy of Singapore from 2007 to 2013.

6.     As Deputy Commissioner (International, Investigation & Indirect Taxes) of IRAS, Mrs Chia-Tern represented Singapore in international discussions on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, and chaired the Peer Review Group of the Global Forum for Transparency and Information Exchange in 2016 to 2022. She advanced Singapore’s interests and expanded its influence in the tax domain. She also played a pivotal role in strengthening Singapore’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, including implementing the taxation of imported services through Reverse Charge and Overseas Vendor Registration, as well as taxing imported Low-Value Goods.

7.     Mrs Chia-Tern steered the Property Tax Division to innovate in its service delivery, such as the provision of a consolidated tax notice to owners of multiple properties. She was also instrumental in supporting businesses in their rental costs, including implementing the Rental Support Scheme (RSS) during the Covid-19 pandemic. On Investigation, Mrs Chia-Tern significantly strengthened IRAS’ capabilities and powers to combat tax crimes.

8.     A brief write-up on the incoming and outgoing CE is attached at Annex A.

9.     The Ministry of Finance and ACRA would like to express our deepest appreciation to Mr Ong for his dedication and invaluable contributions to ACRA, and extend our warmest welcome to Mrs Chia-Tern to ACRA.

Issued by:
Ministry of Finance
Singapore
22 November 2023