As the primary authority on all business activity in Singapore, ACRA (Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority) is required to maintain a ledger of all information related to the business entities that are registered with it. Any company that conducts business in Singapore must register with ACRA. While the primary purpose of this is to ensure that companies adhere to local regulations, the dual objective is also to ensure a transparent system for all businesses and to create an open environment of data sharing, which is why this information is now available to buy from ACRA in Bizfile, ACRA’s online repository of company information.
What Information Can Individuals Buy from ACRA?
It is possible to view the basic company registration details of any company in Singapore for free, via the Bizfile portal or the ACRA mobile app. ACRA also offers direct access to its wealth of company information through its API.
On occasion, businesses may seek additional, in-depth information regarding other companies for the purposes of market research, decision making, or partnerships. For this, ACRA offers a multitude of purchase options for companies and individuals seeking to carry out due diligence on other businesses. The information available to buy from the ACRA Bizfile portal includes:
- Business profile: This electronic report includes information about a company’s unique entity number, entity name, business activities, registration dates, owners, and more. It is like purchasing a comprehensive report of the company’s Bizfile profile and can provide a top-level overview of a company.
- Business profile with certificate of production: Apart from the information included in the entity’s business profile, this additional report provides a certificate of production that is attested by the Assistant Registrar of ACRA, which can be used as evidence for any official purposes, including in a judiciary context.
- Corporate Compliance and Financial Profile (CCFP): When conducting a financial audit of a company, the CCFP report from ACRA comes in most handy. This report provides at least two years of data on the financial statements of a business entity, including its revenues and expenditures. This report can be used to assess whether an entity is in good financial health and that it is compliant with local regulations.
- People profile: This report informs on the various business entities, whether public or private that an individual is or was a part of.
- Extracts: These are copies of the forms and attachments that have been filed by an entity, including the Memorandum and Articles of Association, company constitution, annual returns, or audited accounts that were filed with ACRA. Any form filed before 13th January 2003 is only available in microfilm format, whereas newer records are maintained in electronic format, and are easier to obtain.
- Certificates: Documents such as a Certificate of Good Standing, Certificate of Compliance, Certificate of Conversion, Certificate confirming Registration and Incorporation, etc. are available to buy from ACRA as well.
- Registers: These reports inform on the various individuals and parties associated with an entity, including the Register of Members, Directors, Chief Executive Officers, Secretaries, Auditors, and more.
How to Buy Memorandum and Articles of Association from ACRA
One of the most common requests received by ACRA is the memorandum and articles of association of an entity, in order to trace the history of a business entity. It is relatively easy to buy this information using Bizfile+.
The product that needs to be purchased in order to view the memorandum and articles of association, as well as the company constitution, financial statements, incorporation of local companies and annual returns is an Extract Report.
The cost of purchasing an Extract report is $11 for a form without any attachments and $26 for a form with attachments. It costs an additional $1 per page for certification.
The steps to buy the memorandum and articles of association from ACRA are as follows:
- Login to Bizfile+ using your SingPass or CorpPass.
- Go to the Buy Information tab.
- For documents filed before 13th January 2003, ACRA will respond whether the extract is available within a day. Using the Extract Transaction Number that ACRA sends, you can access the unique link where the payment needs to be made, and ACRA will send a link to access the report.
- For documents filed after this date, you can simply buy the Bizfile extract, and upon successful payment, you will receive a link to download the file.
- These reports can also be accessed in the Messages section after logging into the Bizfile interface.
- The link to access the documents will expire 7 days after purchase.
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