The Importance of a Corporate Secretary

When incorporating a private limited company in Singapore, one of the roles that need to be appointed is that of the corporate secretary. As mandated by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) in Singapore, every company needs to appoint a corporate secretary and this position must not be left blank for more than 6 months at a time.

The role of the corporate secretary is mainly to ensure that the company is fully compliant with the current regulations and practice good corporate governance.

While there are no specific qualifications required to be appointed as a Corporate Secretary, it is important to appoint wisely as it is the duty of the corporate secretary to give advice to the company’s board of directors and shareholders, as well as to ensure that all the company documents are legal and correct. There can be legal implications if a dispute is raised due to incorrect documents.

The role of a corporate Secretary

In order to protect all the members of the company, it is the duty of the company secretary to ensure that all the documents are in order and properly kept inside the company’s minute book. At least one original signed copy of the company documents should always be kept inside the company minute book in order to ensure that all company documents remain well-maintained, recognized and legally binding to avoid any possible disputes.

At the same time, it is also the corporate secretary’s role to provide clear and proper advice to the members of the company on their queries related to their company structure and filings.

It is important to appoint a reliable corporate secretary

You should ensure that your corporate secretary and/or corporate secretarial provider are registered filing agents and qualified individuals approved by ACRA.

As filing agents, your corporate secretarial service provider will be legally be able to carry out, on behalf of any other person (for example, a customer), any transaction with the Registrar using the electronic transaction system, or via any other means allowed by the Registrar, if the electronic transaction system is unavailable.

While it is not required for corporate secretaries to also be lawyers, they must be well-versed with the varying corporate and compliance regulations and laws in Singapore. This is due to the fact that it is essential for any business to comply with these strict regulations to avoid penalties and fines.

This is why a corporate secretary or a corporate secretarial service provider is a highly professional and often well-qualified profession or service in contrast to many perceptions out there.

You need to maintain a corporate secretary

The position of corporate secretary cannot be left empty for more than 6 months at a time. The position needs to always be filled. As such, you need to maintain a corporate secretary in the company at all times.

However, it is not necessary to appoint a full-time corporate secretary for your company. This would incur high costs for the company, especailly if the company does not have frequent filings and changes that need to be filed to ACRA.

For small enterprises, it is more economical to appoint a corporate service provider as the company secretary instead. This way, you will be able to fulfill both the legal requirement as well as have a person to approach when you have queries about the legal implications and filing procedures for your company. This is a more economical way of managing costs and outsourcing your corporate secretarial requirements can aid your business’s bottom line while keeping your business’s statutory compliance and corporate governance in check.

Lionsworld as your corporate secretary

As a fully compliant secretarial service provider, Lionsworld has been operating in Singapore since 1982. With almost 40 years of experience in the industry, we are able to assist companies at all stages of growth to reach their maximum potential while staying compliant.

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