As you may be aware, the Government has decided to merge the Registry of Companies and Businesses (RCB) with the Public Accountants Board (PAB) to form a new Statutory Board with effect from 1 April 2004.

The new Statutory Board would provide a responsive and forward looking regulatory environment for companies, businesses and public accountants, conducive to enterprise and growth in Singapore. It will also allow the Government to better build up a central pool of specialised monitoring and enforcement capabilities.

To reflect its role as a regulator of corporate entities, businesses and public accountants, the statutory board will be called the Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority or ACRA for short.

You will be pleased to know that for the time being, there will be no change to the way you do business with us. ACRA will operate from the respective premises of the former RCB and PAB until further notice. The telephone numbers and facsimile numbers that you have been using to reach officers within the former RCB and PAB will also remain unchanged.

There will also be no change to the Information Technology (IT) application system “Bizfile” that you have been using to do business with the former RCB. ACRA's new website address which replaces the former RCB and PAB website is : www.acra.gov.sg.

ACRA's mission will be "To provide a responsive and forward looking regulatory environment for companies, businesses and public accountants, conducive to enterprise and growth in Singapore."

It will maintain a strong focus on issues concerning businesses, such as developing the corporate law framework, accounting, and corporate governance. It will also register and regulate public accountants who act as auditors of companies.

The Chairman and CE of ACRA are as follows:

Chairman : Mr. Lim Siong Guan, Permanent Secretary (Finance)
CE : Ms. Juthika Ramanathan, CE (ACRA)

Source: Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) News Release 31 Mar 2004