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Source:
www.mcys.gov.sg |
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THE COMMISSIONER OF CHARITIES
CONCLUDES PUBLIC CONSULTATION EXERCISE ON TIGHTENING OF CHARITY
REGISTRATION AND LAUNCHES CHARITY PORTAL |
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The Commissioner of Charities (COC) has
concluded the month-long public consultation exercise on the tightening
of charity registration. |
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At the same time, the COC will be launching
an online Charity Portal to help the charity sector fulfill various
registration and reporting requirements. |
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These moves are aimed at developing a more
robust regulatory framework as well as providing the charity sector a
convenient means of meeting the regulatory requirements. |
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Strong Support on the Tightening of
Charity Registration |
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The COC's office conducted a public
consultation exercise between 24 November and 24 December 2006 to seek
feedback on three areas where charity registration would be tightened. |
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These are increasing the rigour of assessing
charity applications by requiring more detailed background information,
monitoring newly registered charities more closely through semi-annual
reports in their first year of operations, and specifying conditions for
the COC to refuse registration of and to de-register charities. |
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The COC's office received 16 written responses on
the proposals. Overall, there was strong support to tighten the registration of
new charities. |
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The COC has implemented some proposals such as
enhancing the charity registration form and is in the process of implementing
the rest. |
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In addition to the public support for the
proposals by the COC's office, there were also several suggestions from
the public to further enhance the proposals to ensure greater
accountability to donors. |
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These included requiring charities to post
information such as their Annual Report and audited financial statements on
their websites and disclosing the qualifications of trustees and key executive
staff of the charities. |
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On the other hand, there were also
some concerns regarding over-regulation of the charity sector. |
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To address the concern of
over-regulation, the COC's office will not create additional rules
to implement the suggestions from the public. Instead, the
suggestions will be disseminated to the charity sector for
voluntary adoption as good practices. |
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Charity Portal Launched to Provide
One-Stop Resource Centre |
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In tandem with the tightening of
charity registration, the COC's office will also launch the
Charity Portal (http://www.charities.gov.sg)
to provide a convenient one-stop ''paper-less'' process for
application for charity status and institution of a public
character (IPC) status. |
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The Charity Portal provides a one-stop
resource centre for the public who want to know more about
charities in Singapore, including those interested in setting up
charities and IPCs. |
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Through the portal, they can
understand and seek advice on complying with the different
regulatory requirements, as well as learn about developments in
the charity sector. |
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Members of the public can also provide
feedback to the COC's office through the portal. |
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All existing charities and IPCs, as
well as applicants for charity and IPC status, would require
SingPass to transact with the Charity Portal. |
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SingPass is an individualised password
to transact with the Government's e-services. This helps to ensure
accountability and is in line with other e-Government websites
such as the Central Provident Fund (CPF)'s and Accounting and
Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA)'s websites. |
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The COC's office encourages all
charities and IPCs to apply for the SingPass, if they have not
already done so, at this website:
http://www.ecitizen.gov.sg/singpass/index.htm |
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The Portal will be progressively
enhanced over the next few months to allow charities and IPCs to
perform online financial reporting and submit annual tax returns. |
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It will also provide an online
Registry of Charities which discloses information on all
registered charities to help the public better decide which
charities to support. |
ISSUED BY
MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND SPORTS
9 February 2007 |
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Source:
www.mcys.gov.sg Press Release
9 Feb 2007 |
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FrontPage Edition: Sat 10 February 2007
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