Introduction to Contact Address Regime

With the enactment of the ACRA (Registry and Regulatory Enhancements) Bill (Enhancement Bill) on 2 July 2024, the Contact Address Regime has been introduced with the goal of enhancing protection of residential addresses lodged with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).

As the national business registry, ACRA maintains and makes publicly available information about the business entities and associated individuals to faciliate regulatory and enforcement actions. One of such information collected is the residential address.

Under the new Contact Address Regime, ACRA will be displaying the designated Contact Address in place of residential addresses in its public records by the end of 2024.

The Contact Address must be located within the same jurisdiction as the individual’s residential address and cannot be a P.O. Box. As the Contact Address is intended to protect the privacy of individuals' residential addresses, it does not apply to corporate shareholders.

• For individuals who are position holders (e.g. company directors, business owners) and public accountants

Presently, individuals can provide an Alternate Address to be displayed in ACRA’s public records instead of their residential address. A fee of US$30 (S$40) is levied for provision of Alternate Address.

By the end of 2024, the Contact Address Regime will replace the existing Alternate Address system. As part of this transition, all existing Alternate Addresses on ACRA’s record will automatically be converted to Contact Addresses by the end of 2024.

ACRA strongly encourages individuals who have not yet provided an Alternate Address to do so before the formal implementation of the Contact Address Regime. Until a different address is submitted, an individual’s residential address will continue to be publicly displayed as the contact address upon commencement.

In relation to updating of Alternate Addresses before the transition:

1. Individuals holding positions in multiple entities only need to file their Alternate Address once, and it will automatically update for all associated entities.
2. Individuals who are both position holders and shareholders can update their Alternate Address in a single filing. For instance, when a director updates his Alternate Address, it will also apply as his Contact Address as individual shareholder once the regime commences.

The filing fee for submitting an Alternate Address will be waived from 23 August 2024 until the commencement of the Contact Address Regime. No action is required for individuals who prefer to continue using their residential address as their contact address.

• For individuals who are solely shareholders

These individuals may consider engaging their company secretaries or Corporate Service Providers (CSPs) to review the address registered with ACRA. If it reflects their residential address, they may consider providing another address to be reflected as Contact Addresses upon commencement.


This article was offered by Janziel Licayan and Yonn Yong.