According to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) regulation, every incorporated firm has to have at least one corporate secretary in their company to ensure that it is compliant with statutory regulations. In addition, a corporate secretary also maintains the daily execution of the company’s tasks, streamlines them, and maintains proper coordination and effective cross-team communication.
Requirements of a corporate secretary
As per ACRA, a business needs to appoint at least one full-time corporate secretary, who must also be a resident of Singapore within six months of incorporation, or else they are also allowed to outsource to a professional firm that provides corporate secretarial services.
Corporate secretary’s administrative role
Corporate secretaries help to streamline the business’ administrative tasks, ensuring it is able to operate smoothly. Some examples of a typical corporate secretary’s job scope are:
- Recording and maintaining meeting minutes
- Maintaining business’s statutory registers
- Maintaining any document related to the business’s incorporation
- Commissioning and submitting Annual Returns to ACRA
- Ensuring the compliance of the company towards every applicable legislation
Hiring a corporate secretary is not only necessary, but also its benefits outweigh the necessities. Corporate secretaries enable the business director and owner to direct energy and time to focus on growing the firm. Having such focused help in the company does significantly increase the organisation’s effectiveness.
Corporate secretary’s advisory role
You need to ensure that the corporate secretary or service provider you hire is well-versed and kept up to date with the latest Income Tax and Singapore Company Act. They also need to have a fundamental understanding of the company constitution and its internal governance.
A corporate secretary who is experienced is one who is able to help the business director and managers develop effective business strategies and make quick decisions while being compliant with regulations.
Corporate secretary’s fiduciary role
Honesty, acting in good faith, and protection of the firm’s best interests are basic expectations of a corporate secretary. In addition, they must also come clean or avoid any potential conflicts of interest. All in all, a corporate secretary has to be dedicated, competent, and meticulous in their responsibilities.
AG Singapore’s corporate secretarial solutions
AG Singapore’s corporate secretarial team is led by a Chartered Secretary registered senior corporate advisor who is also an ACRA registered filing agent with over ten years of experience working in various SMEs and SGX-listed corporations.
Corporate secretarial services we provide
Some areas that our services cover include:
- Change in officers
- Register of charge
- Preparation of minutes
- Appointment of nominee director
- Allotment of shares
- Change in officers
- ACRA statutory filing
- Preparation of director resolutions
- Appointment of secretary
- Appointment of auditors
- Transfer of shares
Conclusion
Corporate secretaries are an essential part of the business’s growth. Not only do they help business owners in focusing on growing the company, but they also help to maintain order and communication between the various departments and teams. If you are looking for professional and experienced secretarial solutions, AG Singapore can help you with that. We pride ourselves in providing fast processing time, expert solutions and advice, and with our e-signature technology, you can sign resolutions anywhere you are.
Not only that, but we also are a one-stop solution, providing other services that will enable you to focus on running your business, such as SME accounting services, audit firm services, and payroll services. Contact us at johnwoo@ag-singapore.com to find out more about our corporate secretarial services.
