JD Supra Singapore

Publisher

Law Firm

Latest documents

• Establishing a Business Entity in Singapore (Updated)

  Registration of Business Entities - Unless exempted, business entities must be registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) via their business filing portal: BizFile+. A foreigner residing overseas would need to engage the services of a registered filing agent (for example, a law firm, accounting firm or corporate secretarial firm) to submit the online application on his behalf. Goodwins Law Corporation is a registered filing agent.

• Singapore’s New Significant Investments Regime Comes Into Law

  The Significant Investments Review Bill (the Bill), introduced by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), was passed by parliament on 9 January 2023 and is likely to enter into force in mid to late 2024. The Bill aims to protect the national interests of Singapore by regulating significant investment in, and control of, critical entities.

• Singapore’s New Significant Investments Regime

  The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) introduced the Significant Investments Review Bill (the Bill) to parliament on 6 November 2023. The Bill aims to protect the national interests of Singapore by regulating significant investment in, and control of, critical entities. Entities that are considered critical to Singapore’s national security will be designated under the regime and will be regulated accordingly. The Bill also provides scope for the Minister of Trade and Industry to review transactions involving entities that have acted against Singapore’s national interests, even if such entities are not designated under the Bill. Therefore, the scope of the proposed new legislation is not finite.

• Singapore Expands Scope of Shareholders Excluded for Calculating Compulsory Acquisition Threshold

  New legislation strengthening the compulsory acquisition regulatory framework in the Companies Act 1967 is welcome news for minority shareholders. On 9 May 2023 the Parliament of Singapore passed the Companies, Business Trusts and Other Bodies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill (the Bill), which, among other changes, excludes shares held by certain persons connected with the offeror from the computation of the 90% threshold for compulsory acquisition under section 215 of the Companies Act 1967 (the CA). The Bill is expected to come into law later this year. Please see full Alert below for more information.

• Establishing A Business Entity In Singapore (Updated)

  Registration of Business Entities - Unless exempted, business entities must be registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) via their business filing portal: BizFile+. A foreigner residing overseas would need to engage the services of a registered filing agent (for example, a law firm, accounting firm or corporate secretarial firm) to submit the online application on his behalf. Goodwins Law Corporation is a registered filing agent. Please see full Chapter below for more information.

• Buying and Selling Real Estate in Singapore (Updated)

  KEY FACTS OF REAL ESTATE ACQUISITIONS UNDER SINGAPOREAN LAW - INTRODUCTION - There are two systems of land registration in Singapore: registration under the Registrations of Deeds Act, known as “unregistered land”, and registration under the Land Titles Act, known as “registered land”. Currently, most land in Singapore has been converted and brought under the latter registration system. As such, most of this article will be concerned only with land registered under the Land Titles Act. The entity overseeing the land registration in Singapore is the Singapore Land Authority (“SLA”). Please see full Chapter below for more information.

• The Variable Capital Company (VCC): a new corporate structure for funds in Singapore (UPDATED)

  The Variable Capital Company (VCC) is a new corporate entity structure under which several collective investment schemes (whether open-end or closed-end) may be gathered under the umbrella of a single corporate entity and yet remain ring-fenced from each other. Please see Publication below for more information.

• Singapore allows “No-Win, No-Fee” and “No-Win, Less-Fee” arrangements for arbitration and SICC proceedings from 4 May 2022

  Historically, Singaporean law prohibited third party funding arrangements and outcome-related fee structures (ORFS) such as “No-Win, No-Fee” or “No-Win, Less-Fee”. However, other common law jurisdictions, such as England and Wales and Australia, have relaxed their equivalent laws and now permit some third party funding and ORFS to some extent. Singapore took its first steps towards levelling the playing field when it legalised third party funding for arbitration and the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) proceedings in 2017 and 2021 respectively. However, the prohibitions on ORFS remained. Please see full Publication below for more information.

• Establishing A Business Entity In Singapore (Updated)

  Registration of Business Entities - Unless exempted, business entities must be registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) via their business filing portal: BizFile+. A foreigner residing overseas would need to engage the services of a registered filing agent (for example, a law firm, accounting firm or corporate secretarial firm) to submit the online application on his behalf. Goodwins Law Corporation is a registered filing agent. Upon successful registration, the business entity will be issued with a system-generated Unique Entity Number (UEN). The UEN is an identification number that all business entities need to use when transacting with government agencies. Please see full Chapter below for more information.

• Buying and Selling Real Estate in Singapore (Updated)

  KEY FACTS OF REAL ESTATE ACQUISITIONS UNDER SINGAPOREAN LAW - INTRODUCTION - There are two systems of land registration in Singapore: registration under the Registration of Deeds Act, known as “unregistered land”, and registration under the Land Titles Act, known as “registered land”. Currently, most land in Singapore has been converted and brought under the latter registration system. As such, most of this article will be concerned only with land registered under the Land Titles Act. The entity overseeing the land registration in Singapore is the Singapore Land Authority (“SLA”). Other relevant legislation governing real estate law in Singapore include the Land Titles (Strata) Act, the State Lands Act, the Land Acquisition Act, the Planning Act, the Residential Property Act, and the Housing and Development Act. Please see full Chapter below for more information.

Featured documents

• Singapore Issues Bitcoin Tax Guidance

  The Singapore tax authority has issued guidance which confirms the viability of certain Bitcoin transactions. Like the central bank in China, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) took the position that Bitcoin is not a type of money or currency. This is still an unsettled question in...

• Planting The Seeds For An International Rule Of Law -The Commercial Court Of England And Wales And The SICC

  The Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) was launched on 5 January 2015 to complement international commercial arbitration services provided by the internationally recognised Singapore International Arbitration Centre and international commercial mediation services provided by the newly...

• Singapore budget 2016

  The Singapore Budget Statement 2016 (“Budget 2016”), delivered by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat on 24 March 2016, has been described as balanced and transformative, focusing on both medium to long term restructuring (such as the development of the Jurong Innovation District (“JID”), introduction...

• Singapore Bond Market: Issuing Retail Bonds without a Prospectus

  New regulations facilitate retail investor participation in the Singapore bond market. On May 19, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) promulgated two new regulations, effective immediately, to facilitate retail investor participation in the Singapore bond market....

• Remission of stamp duty on certain conveyance directions - Licensed housing developers

  Introduction - 1. Where a party (Vendor) enters into an agreement (Main Contract) to transfer any immovable property (Property) to another party (Initial Purchaser), and before having obtained a conveyance of the Property, the Initial Purchaser issues a direction in writing (Conveyance...

• A new dawn for summary determination in international arbitration: the revised SIAC Rules

  The new edition of the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), which come into effect today, introduces a novel procedure for the early determination of claims or defences that are manifestly without legal merit. The new SIAC procedure is an innovation in...

• Tax Amnesties and STRs

  While the monetary authorities in Singapore insist that participation in a tax amnesty program would not automatically trigger a criminal investigation, they could still use STRs filed in connection with tax amnesty to flag potential issues....

• Singapore: Third-Party Funding for International Arbitration

  Civil Law (Amendment) Bill 2016 will permit third-party funding of international commercial arbitrations and provide a regulatory framework for funders. Following a public consultation exercise conducted earlier this year, the Singapore Ministry of Law has now submitted Civil Law (Amendment)...

• Singapore to Permit Third Party Funding of International Arbitration

  The Singapore Parliament passed on Tuesday a bill to allow third party funding of international commercial arbitration proceedings seated in Singapore. The bill, known as the Civil Law (Amendment) Bill – Third Party Funding for Arbitration and Related Proceedings, reverses a prior ban on third ...

• Revisions to Companies Act (Cap.50) of Singapore - New requirements with effect from 31 March 2017

  Service providers who used to face grouses or challenges when asked for details on companies’ shareholders and ultimate beneficial owners would now have an easily understandable and frequently-quoted legislation to point to when asking for details on controllers and nominee directors....