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The register of directors is the official list of who runs a Singapore company. For a local company ACRA holds it as an electronic register on Bizfile. The company has 14 days to update it after a change, and anyone can read it, so a stale entry is visible to your bank, your clients and your competitors.
Checked against ACRA's company registers pages and the Companies Act listings.
What is the register of directors?
It is one of the statutory registers a Singapore company must keep. ACRA lists the electronic registers as members, directors, secretaries, chief executive officers and auditors, all maintained through Bizfile. When you file an officer change on Bizfile, the electronic register updates for you. This differs from the older practice of keeping a paper book.
A secondary source we read says the Companies Act deals with this register in section 173 together with CEOs and secretaries. We could not load the statute directly, so confirm the section on Singapore Statutes Online.
Who keeps it and how fast must it be updated?
The company is responsible. ACRA's rule is plain: update any change within 14 days of the change to avoid penalties. A director or company secretary normally files for the company.
Use this table as a quick guide to the registers around it.
| Register | Where it lives | Public? | Update deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Directors | Electronic, on Bizfile | Yes | 14 days |
| Secretaries | Electronic, on Bizfile | Yes | 14 days |
| Members | Electronic, on Bizfile | Yes | 14 days |
| Nominee directors (ROND) | Private, registered office or provider | No | 7 days, then 2 business days to the central register |
Singapore citizens and permanent residents do not need to tell ACRA about changes to their own name, address or ID, because those details come through the immigration authority. Others should file their own changes.
What does an entry show?
ACRA's pages describe the registers as holding key personnel details, so stakeholders can verify a company before dealing with it. You can see the current officers by buying a Business Profile, which costs S$5.50 and lists position holders. The free entity search gives status and address only. To trace one person across companies, ACRA's paid People Profile costs S$33, while the free people search lists the entities a person is linked to.
Our check guide walks through each search.
How do you update the register?
- Log in to Bizfile for the entity.
- Choose the officer change: appointment, cessation or change of particulars.
- Enter the person's details and the effective date.
- Submit within 14 days of the change.
- Check the entity profile afterwards to confirm the new list.
The steps for adding or removing a person are in our change director guide. The rule that at least one director must be ordinarily resident in Singapore is in the resident director guide. Do not remove the only resident director before a replacement is in place.
What about nominee directors?
If a director acts on instructions from another person, the company must also keep a register of nominee directors, known as ROND. ACRA says it is a private register kept at the registered office or at the corporate service provider's office. It is updated within 7 days and the central filing follows within 2 business days for companies registered after . Read the nominee director guide for the duty to disclose.
What goes wrong most often?
Late filing is the first problem: a director leaves, nobody files, and the register still names them. The second is a company that changed its director on paper but never on Bizfile. The third is forgetting that a nominee must be disclosed. Each is easy to avoid with a rule that every board change triggers a Bizfile filing within the week.
How do you check someone else's register?
Search the entity on Bizfile and buy the Business Profile for S$5.50. You see the live position holders and can match the signatory on a contract to a listed director. For ownership, see the register of members guide. For beneficial owners, see registrable controllers.
Want a provider to keep it current?
Providers that act as company secretary file these changes for you. If you want quotes, use the quote form on this page. We are an independent guide, not ACRA, and may earn a referral fee when a request becomes a client.
Sources
- ACRA, maintaining company registers: https://www.acra.gov.sg/how-to-guides/setting-up-a-local-company/maintaining-company-registers (list of registers, deadlines).
- ACRA, company registers: https://www.acra.gov.sg/manage/companies/legal-requirements-common-offences/maintaining-local-companys-information-registers/company-registers/ (14 days, public access, private register locations).
- ACRA, types of ACRA information products: https://www.acra.gov.sg/resources/buying-business-information/types-of-acra-information-products/ (Business Profile S$5.50, People Profile S$33).
- ACRA, using Bizfile's search functions: https://www.acra.gov.sg/resources/guides-forms/using-bizfiles-search-functions/ (free entity and people search).
