Lawyers in Singapore see proposed amendments to the Singapore Companies Act as symbolic of a move away from a UK-centric to a more locally-customised corporate law.
Singapore’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) last month ended a public consultation period on suggested revisions to the Act, which had not been reviewed since December 1999. The proposed changes aim to promote an efficient and transparent corporate regulatory framework within Singapore.
Some of the more idiosyncratic amendments include a repeal of section 201 (8) pertaining to company directors’ duties.
Globally, company regulation has been moving towards increasing supervision and disclosure of conflicts of interest between directors and their related parties. But this amendment benefits directors by lowering their disclosure obligations on transactions in which they have an interest.
The relaxing of the whistleblowing requirements on auditors elsewhere in the Act also bucks the international...