Janus Welcomes ACRA's Decision to Review Singapore Business Registration Act

Online, October 21, 2010 (Newswire.com) - In line with Singapore's drastically evolving business landscape the national regulator of business entities and public accountants, Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), has rolled out a public consultation exercise to appraise and update the Business Registration Act (BR Act) Cap 32. The feedback must be submitted before November 30th. The aim of the review process is to revamp the BR Act in order to make it more relevant for the new age business entities, such as home based and internet based businesses. Interestingly, ACRA is also evaluating if it is necessary to expand description of 'online' to include communication medium such as mobile phones.

Welcoming ACRA's call for a public consultation before the Act is updated Jacqueline Low of Janus Corporate Solutions, a leading Singapore business registration agency, said "It is important to assess the relevance of the Act for the contemporary business landscape because the new age commerce allows for business setup to operate and churn revenue sans office, paper, physical address, inventory etc., which are otherwise the usual features of a business conventionally".

The BR Act, which was enacted in 1974, outlines the fundamental framework of governance for sole proprietors and partnerships in Singapore. According to the BR Act every person, including individuals and corporate entities, before carrying on "business" in Singapore, must register with the ACRA except for those who come under the list of exempted categories under Section 4 of the Act.

The act defines "business" as any form of trade, commerce, craftsmanship, calling, profession and any activity carried on for the purposes of gain but does not include any office, employment or occupation, or any of the businesses specified in the exempted category. Failure to register is an offence punishable with a fine of up to $5,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or both.

The reviewing process aims to analyze the relevance and comprehensiveness of various key elements of the Act. Some of the aspects which will be scrutinized include the following

- Definition of "business"
- The types of businesses that need exemption or to be removed from the exempted category (especially online businesses)
- Information required for business registration and the extent of public access to registered information
- Business registration validity period
- Conversion of registered business name to a company

"Our company recently released an analytical report on the businesses that were registered in September 2010 and it was revealed that sole proprietorship is the second most preferred entity type among registrants. We help our clients in registering businesses as well as in company incorporation and in the process we have also identified certain areas that could be improved. Janus will play its part in the public consultation exercise by sharing our clients' feedback with ACRA", added Ms. Low.

More information about Janus Corporate Solutions can be found on its website at http://www.guidemesingapore.com/.