Symbol or representation of Authority
Open ↗36.—(1) The Authority has the exclusive right to the use of such symbol or representation as the Authority may select or devise and thereafter display or exhibit such symbol or representation in connection with its activities or affairs.[18/2014]
(2) A person who —(a)
uses, without the prior written permission of the Authority, a symbol or representation identical to that of the Authority; or
(b)
uses a symbol or representation which so resembles the Authority’s symbol or representation as to deceive or cause confusion, or to be likely to deceive or to cause confusion,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $250 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.
[30
[18/2014]
[Act 36 of 2022 wef 01/04/2023]
Use of name, etc., of Authority
Open ↗37.—(1) The Authority may conduct its operations under its full name or under the acronym ACRA.[18/2014]
(2) A person other than the Authority must not —(a)
use, without the prior written permission of the Authority, the name of the Authority or the acronym ACRA; or
(b)
use a name or an acronym which so resembles the name of the Authority or the acronym ACRA as is likely to deceive or cause confusion —(i)
in connection with a business, trade, profession or occupation;
(ii)
as the name, or as part of the name, of any firm, body corporate or institution; or
(iii)
in relation to —(A)
services or products; or
(B)
the promotion, by any means, of the supply of services or products.[Act 36 of 2022 wef 01/04/2023]
(3) Any person who contravenes subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $250 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.[30A
[18/2014]
False statements
Open ↗38. Any person who, in relation to any application under this Act —(a)
makes any false statement which the person knows to be false or does not believe to be true or which the person makes recklessly; or
(b)
intentionally suppresses any material fact,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
[30B
[18/2014]
Powers of enforcement
Open ↗39.—(1) In addition to the powers conferred on him or her by this Act or any other written law, an officer or employee of the Authority may, in relation to any offence under this Act or any written law specified in the Second Schedule —(a)
require any person whom the officer or employee reasonably believes to have committed that offence to provide evidence of the person’s identity;
(b)
issue a written order to require any person to provide any information, book or document, or a copy or an extract thereof, which is —(i)
in the possession of the person;
(ii)
within the knowledge of the person; or
(iii)
in the custody or under the control of the person,
by the time specified in the order and in such form and manner and at such place as may be specified in the order;
[Act 24 of 2025 wef 06/05/2026]
(ba)
in respect of any information, book or document, or a copy or an extract thereof, in the possession, within the knowledge, or in the custody or under the control of a company, issue a written order to require a director of the company to provide the information, book, document, copy or extract by the time specified in the order and in such form and manner and at such place as may be specified in the order;[Act 24 of 2025 wef 06/05/2026]
(c)
issue a written order to require the attendance before the officer or employee of any person within the limits of Singapore who, from any information given or otherwise obtained by the officer or employee, appears to be acquainted with the circumstances of the case;[Act 24 of 2025 wef 06/05/2026]
(d)
examine orally any person reasonably believed to be acquainted with the facts or circumstances of the case or with any other matter that the officer or employee specifies, and reduce into writing the answer given or statement made by that person;
(e)
take any photographs or video recordings, that the officer or employee thinks necessary, of the premises in which or in connection with which he or she reasonably believes an offence has been committed and the persons reasonably believed to be acquainted with the facts or circumstances of the case or with any other matter that the officer or employee specifies; and
(f)
require the owner or occupier of any premises in which or in connection with which the officer or employee of the Authority reasonably believes an offence has been committed to give the officer or employee access to such premises without charge for the purpose of investigating that offence.[18/2014]
(1A) The power to issue a written order to a person under subsection (1)(b) or (ba) includes the power to issue a written order —(a)
to require that person to produce or grant access to the information, book, document, copy or extract;
(b)
to inspect, make copies of or take extracts from the information, book or document, without fee or reward;
(c)
to require that person to provide an explanation of the information, book, document, copy or extract;
(d)
if the information, book, document, copy or extract is not provided, to require that person to state, to the best of that person’s knowledge and belief, where it is; and
(e)
if the information, book, document, copy or extract is recorded otherwise than in legible form, to require the information, book or document, copy or extract to be made available to the officer or employee of the Authority in legible form.[Act 24 of 2025 wef 06/05/2026]
(1B) An officer or employee of the Authority is entitled without payment to keep any information, book or document, or any copy or extract thereof, provided to him or her pursuant to a requirement imposed by him or her under subsection (1)(b) or (ba).[Act 24 of 2025 wef 06/05/2026]
(2) The person mentioned in subsection (1)(d) is bound to state truly what the person knows of the facts and circumstances with which the person is acquainted except that the person need not say anything that might expose the person to a criminal charge, penalty or forfeiture.[18/2014]
(3) A statement made by the person referred to in subsection (2) must —(a)
be reduced to writing;
(b)
be read over to the person;
(c)
if the person does not understand English, be interpreted in a language that the person understands; and
(d)
after correction, if necessary, be signed by the person.[18/2014]
(4) An officer or employee of the Authority when exercising any power under this Act must declare his or her office and must produce to the person against whom he or she is acting such identification card as the Chief Executive may direct to be carried by officers or employees of the Authority.[18/2014]
(5) An officer or employee of the Authority may also, in relation to an investigation into —(a)
a breach of a condition of registration of a registered corporate service provider or registered qualified individual under the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024; or
(b)
a contravention of or a failure to comply with any provision of that Act, the contravention of or non‑compliance with which is not an offence under that Act,
exercise the powers under subsection (1) in the same manner as if the breach, contravention or non‑compliance were an offence under this Act.
[Act 22 of 2024 wef 09/06/2025]
(6) Any person who —(a)
refuses to give access to, or assaults, obstructs, hinders or delays, an officer or employee of the Authority in the discharge of the duties by such officer or employee of the Authority under this Act or that written law;
(b)
wilfully misstates or without lawful excuse refuses to give any information or produce any book, document, copy or extract required of the person by an officer or employee of the Authority under subsection (1) or (5); or[Act 24 of 2025 wef 06/05/2026]
(c)
fails to comply with a lawful demand of an officer or employee of the Authority in the discharge by such officer or employee of his or her duties under this Act or that written law,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
[31
[18/2014]
(7) No liability shall lie against a person who, in good faith and with reasonable care, does or omits to do anything in complying with any written order issued under subsection (1)(b) or (ba).[Act 24 of 2025 wef 06/05/2026]
Offences committed by bodies corporate, etc.
Open ↗40.—(1) Where an offence under this Act which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a director, manager, secretary or any similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he or she, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as if the member were a director of the body corporate.
(3) Proceedings for an offence under this Act alleged to have been committed by a partnership are to be brought in the name of the partnership and not in the names of the partners; but without affecting any liability of the partners under subsection (5).
(4) A fine imposed on a partnership on its conviction in such proceedings is to be paid out of the partnership assets.
(5) Where a partnership is guilty of an offence under this Act, every partner, other than a partner who is proved to have been ignorant of or to have attempted to prevent the commission of the offence, shall also be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(6) Where an offence under this Act which has been committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership) is proved —(a)
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the unincorporated association or a member of its governing body; or
(b)
to be attributable to any neglect on the part of the officer or member,
the officer or member (as the case may be) as well as the unincorporated association shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
[Act 36 of 2022 wef 01/04/2023]
(7) In subsection (6), “officer”, in relation to an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), means the president, the secretary, or any member of the committee of the unincorporated association, or any person holding a position analogous to that of the president, secretary or member of the committee, and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity.[32
[Act 36 of 2022 wef 01/04/2023]
Proceedings conducted by officers of Authority
Open ↗41.—(1) Proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act or under any written law specified in the Second Schedule may, with the authorisation of the Public Prosecutor, be conducted by an officer of the Authority who is authorised in writing in that behalf by the Chief Executive.[15/2010]
(2) Despite the provisions of any written law, a legal officer of the Authority who has been admitted as an advocate and solicitor under the Legal Profession Act 1966 may —(a)
appear in any civil proceedings involving the Authority or any Registrar in the performance of the functions or duties of the Authority or Registrar under any written law specified in the Second Schedule; and
(b)
make and do all acts and applications in respect of such proceedings on behalf of the Authority or any Registrar.
(3) In this section, “Registrar” means —(a)
the Registrar of Public Accountants and any Deputy or Assistant Registrar of Public Accountants appointed under the Accountants Act 2004;
(b)
the Registrar of Business Names and any Deputy Registrar or Assistant Registrar of Business Names appointed under the Business Names Registration Act 2014;
(c)
the Registrar of Companies and any Deputy or Assistant Registrar of Companies appointed under the Companies Act 1967;
(d)
the Registrar of Limited Liability Partnerships and any Deputy or Assistant Registrar of Limited Liability Partnerships appointed under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;
(e)
the Registrar of Limited Partnerships and any Deputy or Assistant Registrar of Limited Partnerships appointed under the Limited Partnerships Act 2008; and
(f)
the Registrar of VCCs and any Deputy or Assistant Registrar of VCCs appointed under the Variable Capital Companies Act 2018.[33
[4/2010; 29/2014; 44/2018]
Preservation of secrecy
Open ↗42.—(1) A person who is or has been —(a)
a member, an officer, an employee, a consultant or an agent of the Authority; or[Act 36 of 2022 wef 01/04/2023]
(b)
a member of a committee of the Authority,
must not disclose any information relating to the affairs of the Authority or of any other person which has been obtained by the firstmentioned person in the performance of that person’s duties or the exercise of that person’s functions unless such disclosure is made —
(c)
with the permission of the person from whom the information was obtained or, where the information is the confidential information of a third person, with the permission of that third person;
(d)
for the purpose of the administration or enforcement of this Act or any written law specified in the Second Schedule;
(e)
in compliance with the requirement of any court or as required or allowed by the provisions of any written law;
(f)
with the prior authorisation from the Authority to do so;
(g)
for the purpose of assisting any public officer or officer of any other statutory board in the investigation or prosecution of any offence under any written law;
(h)
for the purpose of assisting a public officer, or an officer of another statutory board, who is responsible for administering or enforcing any written law, to administer or enforce that written law;
(i)
in connection with any civil proceedings to which the Authority is a party;[Act 24 of 2025 wef 06/05/2026]
(j)
with a view to the institution, or otherwise for the purposes, of any disciplinary proceedings or investigation in connection therewith under any written law; or[18/2014; 5/2018]
[Act 24 of 2025 wef 06/05/2026]
(k)
for the purpose of providing any information under an arrangement between the Authority and a foreign audit regulator (as defined in section 59B(5) of the Accountants Act 2004), to which section 59B of that Act applies.[Act 24 of 2025 wef 06/05/2026]
(2) A person who is or has been —(a)
a member, an officer, an employee, a consultant or an agent of the Authority; or[Act 36 of 2022 wef 01/04/2023]
(b)
a member of a committee of the Authority,
must not, for the person’s own personal benefit or for the personal benefit of any other person, make use of any information, whether directly or indirectly, which has been obtained by that firstmentioned person in the performance of that person’s duties or the exercise of that person’s functions.
(3) For the purpose of this section, the reference to the person disclosing or making use of any information includes the person permitting any other person to have any access to any record, document or other thing which is in the firstmentioned person’s possession or under that person’s control by virtue of that person being or having been a member, an officer, an employee, a consultant or an agent of the Authority or a member of a committee of the Authority.[Act 36 of 2022 wef 01/04/2023]
(4) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
(5) The provisions of this section are in addition to, and not in derogation of, any provision in any written law specified in the Second Schedule that regulates or restricts the disclosure of information by any member, officer, employee, consultant, agent or member of a committee of the Authority.[34
[Act 36 of 2022 wef 01/04/2023]
Service of documents
Open ↗42A.—(1) A document that is permitted or required by this Act to be served on a person may be served as described in this section.
(2) A document permitted or required by this Act to be served on an individual may be served —(a)
by giving it to the individual personally;
(b)
by sending it by prepaid registered post to the address specified by the individual for the service of documents or, if no address is so specified, the individual’s residential address, contact address or business address;[Act 21 of 2024 wef 09/12/2024]
(c)
by leaving it at the individual’s residential address with an adult apparently resident there, at the individual’s contact address with an adult apparently resident or employed there, or at the individual’s business address with an adult apparently employed there;[Act 21 of 2024 wef 09/12/2024]
(d)
by affixing a copy of the document in a conspicuous place at the individual’s residential address, contact address or business address;[Act 21 of 2024 wef 09/12/2024]
(e)
by sending it by fax to the fax number last known to the person giving or serving the document as the fax number for the service of documents on the individual; or
(f)
by sending it by email to the individual’s last email address.
(3) A document permitted or required by this Act to be served on a partnership (other than a limited liability partnership) may be served —(a)
by giving it to any partner or other similar officer of the partnership;
(b)
by leaving it at, or by sending it by prepaid registered post to, the partnership’s business address;
(c)
by sending it by fax to the fax number used at the partnership’s business address; or
(d)
by sending it by email to the partnership’s last email address.
(4) A document permitted or required by this Act to be served on a body corporate (including a limited liability partnership) or an unincorporated association may be served —(a)
by giving it to the secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or unincorporated association, or the limited liability partnership’s manager;
(b)
by leaving it at, or by sending it by prepaid registered post to, the registered office or principal office in Singapore of the body corporate or unincorporated association;
(c)
by sending it by fax to the fax number used at the registered office or principal office in Singapore of the body corporate or unincorporated association; or
(d)
by sending it by email to the last email address of the body corporate or unincorporated association.
(5) Service of a document under this section takes effect —(a)
if the document is sent by fax and a notification of successful transmission is received, on the day of transmission;
(b)
if the document is sent by email, at the time that the email becomes capable of being retrieved by the person to whom it is sent; and
(c)
if the document is sent by prepaid registered post, 2 days after the day the document was posted (even if it is returned undelivered).
(6) However, service of any document under this Act on a person by email may be effected only with the person’s prior consent (express or implied) to service in that way.
(7) This section does not apply to —(a)
documents that are permitted or required by any written law specified in the Second Schedule to be served on a person; or
(b)
documents to be served in proceedings in court.
(8) In this section —“business address” means —(a)
in the case of an individual, the individual’s usual or last known place of business in Singapore; or[Act 21 of 2024 wef 09/12/2024]
(b)
in the case of a partnership (other than a limited liability partnership), the partnership’s principal or last known place of business in Singapore;
“contact address”, in relation to an individual, means an individual’s contact address kept or maintained by the Authority under this Act or by the Registrar under any scheduled Act;[Act 21 of 2024 wef 09/12/2024]
“last email address” means the last email address given by the addressee concerned to the person giving or serving the document as the email address for the service of documents under this Act;
“residential address” means an individual’s usual or last known place of residence in Singapore.[Act 36 of 2022 wef 01/04/2023]
Jurisdiction of District Court
Open ↗43. Despite any provision to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, a District Court has jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and has power to impose the full penalty or punishment in respect of the offence.[35
Composition of offences
Open ↗44.—(1) The Chief Executive or any officer of the Authority who is authorised by the Chief Executive may compound any offence under this Act which is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding the lower of the following:(a)
one half of the amount of the maximum fine that is prescribed for the offence;
(b)
$5,000.[18/2014]
(2) On payment of the sum of money, no further proceedings are to be taken against that person in respect of the offence.[36
Amendment of Schedules
Open ↗45. The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, amend the Second, Fourth and Fifth Schedules.[37
[18/2014; 40/2018]
Rules
Open ↗46.—(1) The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, make rules to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, make rules for or with respect to all or any of the following matters:(a)
the manner of appointment, conduct and discipline and the terms and conditions of service of the officers and employees of the Authority;
(b)
the establishment of funds for the payment of gratuities and other benefits to officers and employees of the Authority;
(c)
the fees to be charged in respect of anything done or any service rendered by the Authority under or by virtue of this Act, other than Part 6A or 6B, or any other written law;[Act 36 of 2022 wef 01/04/2023]
(d)
the offences which may be compounded under section 44.[38
[18/2014]
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
