How to fulfill residence adress requirement for a local director?

[Aparna62]

1. Can a local director give the company's registered address as his "Alternate Address" as per section 370A of Companies Act?

2. What address proof is generally required from a local director as residence proof? Is it tenancy agreement or utility bills or just Singapore I-card is enough?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Another one trying to scam the system?

[Aparna62]

Another one trying to scam the system?

Oh yeah? You are too smart, aren't you? I don't see any line-jumping question here, so what exactly is your point Mr. Sunday Morning Sherlock Staple?

[Strong Eagle]

To be "normally resident" means that the person has the legal right to live in Singapore. That means the person will have a FIN or NRIC. That information must be supplied to ACRA Bizfile when recording directors.

The address you have entered in Bizfile will be matched against the address information associated with the NRIC or FIN number records. If they do not match, both agencies will contact you wanting to know why. If the address in Bizfile is not in Singapore, ACRA will contact you to tell you that you need a normally resident director.

Section 370 refers to foreign companies. What does that have to do with you?

[Aparna62]

Thanks, Eagle. It is section 370A which I am referring, it talks about provision of alternate address instead of residence in case Director wants to maintain privacy and not put residence on public document.

So would you know if Alternate address can be registered address of the company or it has to be a residence premises? Keeping in mind that the purpose is to locate the director when needed which can be done at registered address to maybe..

[Aparna62]

Sorry, I should have quoted the section earlier. Here it is:

"Alternate address
370A.—(1) Despite sections 12 and 12A, the Registrar must not disclose or make available for public inspection the particulars of a director’s or an authorised representative’s residential address that is lodged with the Registrar under this Part or transmitted to the Registrar by the Commissioner of National Registration under section 8A of the National Registration Act (Cap. 201) if the requirements of subsection (2) are satisfied.
(2) The requirements referred to in subsection (1) are that the director or authorised representative referred to in that subsection maintains with the Registrar an alternate address that complies with the following conditions:
(a)
it is an address at which the director or authorised representative can be located;
(b)
it is not a post office box number;
(c)
it is not the residential address of the director or authorised representative; and
(d)
it is located in the same jurisdiction as the director’s or authorised representative’s residential address."

[Strong Eagle]

The requirements that a director or authorized representative be normally resident in Singapore is easy to understand. If someone wants to file a lawsuit, or the government wishes to make enquiry, they want a local person to talk to or to receive civil summonses.

In any event, it is items (a) and (d) that are salient...

(a) it is an address at which the director or authorised representative can be located;
(d) it is located in the same jurisdiction as the director’s or authorised representative’s residential address

So... if you have a local director, she/he must be normally resident and any alternate address must also be in Singapore, and he/she must be locatable at the alternate address. Therefore, you could use the registered address so long as, for example, an officer of the courts could go to that address and serve the director with court papers.

So... let's say your idea is to use the registered address as the alternate address for a director even though the director is not in Singapore. You are in violation of the law in at least two ways. First, the alternate address is not in the same jurisdiction as the registered address of the director, and second, the director is not locatable.

If you have a foreign director with a foreign registered address, then the alternate address must also be foreign and in the same country as the registered address.

[Aparna62]

Thanks, Eagle. That helps