Singapore Private Company Maintenance and Compliance Guide (12) – Striking Off /Deregistration of a Singapore Company

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The Singapore Companies Act allows the ACRA (Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, company registration authority in Singapore) strike a company off the Register if there is reasonable cause to believe that a company has ceased operation.

 

  1. Conditions for striking off

The ACRA will strike a company off the Register only if the company can meet the following conditions:

  • The company has ceased operation;
  • The company is not and will not be involved in any court proceedings, whether in or outside Singapore;
  • The company has no assets and liabilities;
  • The company has no outstanding penalties or offers of composition owing to ACRA and not indebted to other government departments; the company has no outstanding tax liabilities owing to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (“IRAS”);
  • The company has no outstanding charges in its charge register e.g. no mortgages etc.;
  • none of the officers of the company have outstanding ACRA summonses.

 

  1. If the application is approved
  • a “striking-off notice” will be sent to the company at its registered office address, its directors at their residential address and IRAS, within 14 days of the receipt of the application;
  • A period of 1 month is given in the “striking-off notice” to anyone that may wish to raise any objection to application;
  • After the 1-month period has expired, a notification of the intention to strike this company off the Register 3 months later will be made in the Government Gazette. Any interested person can still raise an objection to the application during these 3 months;
  • After the 3 months have expired, a final notification will be made stating that the company has been struck off the Register. The date that the company is struck off will also be stated in the final notification.
  • The entire striking off process will therefore take about 5 months.

 

  1. If the application is NOT approved

If the application is not approved, for example, the documents submitted are incomplete or there are still outstanding assets and liabilities etc., the application will be returned to the applicant so that the necessary changes can be made, or action taken. The application can then be re-submitted for our consideration again.

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