Duties of the Singapore Company Secretary
Singaporean law mandates that the position of a company secretary must be appointed within the first six months of being incorporated. In addition, the Singapore company secretary must be a resident of Singapore. The services of a company secretary are retained to comply with the Singapore Companies Act. The company secretary has many compliance duties and responsibilities. The minutes recorded and maintained from the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) are the sole obligation of the company secretary. The company secretary may also prepare written resolutions for presentation at the meetings of the Board of Directors. These resolutions include mergers or changes in corporate positions which require formal authorization by the Board of Directors. The corporate secretary is also appointed to advise the directors of their responsibilities. An important role of the Singapore corporate secretary is to ensure proper reporting of information for annual returns to be submitted to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). Most submissions would be to notify ACRA of changes in personal particulars, disqualification, changes to appointments of company directors, resignation, or death. In order to fulfil a proper change in personal particulars, ACRA will need the following information: address changes, name changes, changes in Foreign Identification Number (FIN), or changes of the National Registration Identity Card (NRIC). Plus, the company secretary files the annual return along with any of these changes which have been approved by the Board of Directors. For reporting maintenance purposes, the company secretary coordinates publication and distribution of the company’s annual report, accounts and statement, and preparing the Director’s report by the accountant. Although, these are not all of the duties of the company secretary, they are the most important responsibilities of the company secretary in Singapore. The company secretary works closely with the directors of the company to keep all lines of communication open and clear. This also fulfils legal and charter requirements. The person who takes on the position of company secretary must be able to meet the highest ethical and professional standards, be adaptable, have excellent communication skills and be willing to accept a high level of responsibility in an increasingly complex business environment. If a Singapore company secretary is able to meet all of the professional requirements and can fulfil all duties, they will be able to secure employment by a corporation or even be retained through any professional firm in Singapore.
Company Secretary Singapore: bizcom.asia offers a Company Secretary, which according to Section 171 of the Singapore Companies Act, is mandatory to appoint within 6 months of its incorporation.