Singapore’s Corporate Service Providers Act: What Changed, and How to Check If Your Agent Is Registered (2026)

Singapore’s Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 (CSP Act) took effect on 9 June 2025, and the grace period for previously-unregistered providers ended 9 December 2025 — so as of today, every incorporation agent, company secretary firm, registered office provider and nominee director arranger operating in or from Singapore is legally required to be registered with ACRA as a CSP. You can check any provider’s registration status yourself, for free, in under a minute on ACRA’s Bizfile portal — most founders don’t know this is possible, or that it matters.

TL;DR

• The CSP Act 2024 (with the Corporate Service Providers Regulations 2025) came into force 9 June 2025.
• Every business providing corporate services in/from Singapore — incorporation, company secretary, registered office, nominee director arrangement — must be a registered CSP with ACRA.
• The 6-month grace period for previously-unregistered providers ended 9 December 2025. There is no more grace period.
• Operating unregistered: fine up to S$50,000 and/or up to 2 years’ jail, plus S$2,500/day for continuing breach.
• Nominee directors must now be vetted as “fit and proper” by a registered CSP before being placed, and nominee status is publicly disclosed on the company’s Bizfile profile.
• You can verify any provider’s CSP registration yourself on Bizfile, free, before engaging them.

What the CSP Act actually changed

Before the CSP Act, corporate service providers in Singapore were regulated mainly through ACRA’s Registered Filing Agent (RFA) scheme, which was narrower in scope and enforcement. The CSP Act 2024 replaced that patchwork with a single registration regime covering everyone who provides corporate services “by way of business” — company incorporation, company secretarial services, registered office/address services, and arranging nominee directors or nominee shareholders.

Timeline: from law to full enforcement

How to check if your provider is registered

This takes about a minute and costs nothing. It works for any provider — including us.

1. Go to Bizfile (ACRA’s official public registry at bizfile.gov.sg) and use the free Entity Search.
2. Search for the provider’s registered company name (not just their trading/brand name — check what’s on their invoice or engagement letter).
3. Open the entity’s profile and click through to “More information.”
4. If the entity is a registered CSP, its CSP registration details appear on that profile. If nothing shows, the entity is not currently a registered CSP.
5. For a company you’re incorporating (yours or someone else’s), the same Bizfile profile will also show whether any of its directors or shareholders are flagged as nominees, once that information has been filed.

If a provider can’t point you to their own CSP registration, or gets vague when you ask which entity actually holds it (some groups run multiple related entities and only one may be registered), that’s a legitimate reason to ask more questions before engaging them.

Nominee directors: fit-and-proper checks and public disclosure

Singapore law requires every private company to have at least one locally resident director. Foreign founders who don’t yet hold an Employment Pass or don’t want to relocate immediately often use a nominee director to satisfy this while they get established.

Under the CSP Act, arranging a nominee director “by way of business” is now restricted to registered CSPs, and the CSP must assess the proposed nominee as fit and proper before the arrangement goes ahead. Factors considered include:

• Whether the person has been convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty
• Bankruptcy status
• Prior conduct and compliance history as a director
• Competency and capacity to actually fulfil the duties of a director (not just lend a name)

Separately, once nominee arrangements are filed, the nominee status of a director or shareholder becomes visible on the company’s Bizfile business profile — it is no longer hidden. Detailed information about who nominated a nominee director (the actual beneficial party) is still restricted to law enforcement, not shown publicly, but the fact that a director is a nominee at all is now on the public record.

What happens if a provider isn’t registered

If your incorporation agent turns out to be unregistered, that doesn’t automatically invalidate your company’s incorporation — but it does mean the party responsible for your company secretarial filings, registered office, or nominee director arrangement is operating outside the regulatory system meant to catch exactly the kind of shortcuts that go wrong later: missed filings, an unreachable nominee, or a registered office that turns out to be a mail drop with nobody actually checking it.

Why VIVOS — and what to verify about any provider

“We’d rather a founder check our CSP registration on Bizfile before signing with us than take our word for it. The whole point of this law is that you shouldn’t have to trust a provider’s marketing — you can verify it yourself in a minute, for free. We tell clients to do that with us, and we’d tell them to do it with anyone else they’re considering too.” — Ray Tay, Co-Founder and Managing Director of VIVOS

VIVOS holds ACRA registration (Registered Filing Agent FA20240323) and a Ministry of Manpower Employment Agency Licence (24S2425) for the immigration side of the business. We handle company incorporation, company secretary and accounting work directly — we do not provide services that require a separate licence we don’t hold, such as tax advisory, legal advice, or financial advisory, and we’ll tell you plainly when a matter needs a specialist rather than take it on anyway.

If you’re incorporating in Singapore or reviewing who handles your company secretarial work, see our company secretary requirements guide and our guide to resident and nominee director options, or start with our step-by-step incorporation guide.

Sources

• ACRA — Corporate Service Providers Act 2024
• ACRA — Checking if you must register as a CSP
• ACRA — Compliance and enforcement for CSPs and RQIs
• ACRA — Suspended and cancelled CSP/RQI registrations
• Morgan Lewis — Singapore Corporate Service Providers Act now in effect as of 9 June
• VIVOS Editorial and Accuracy Policy

Frequently asked questions

What is the CSP Act in Singapore?

The Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 is a Singapore law, in force since 9 June 2025, that requires anyone providing corporate services by way of business — company incorporation, company secretarial services, registered office services, or arranging nominee directors — to register with ACRA as a Corporate Service Provider (CSP) and comply with AML/CFT obligations.

Is the CSP Act grace period still open?

No. The 6-month grace period for previously-unregistered providers ended on 9 December 2025. Since then, operating as a CSP without registration is a criminal offence, not a compliance gap you can fix later.

How do I check if my incorporation agent or company secretary is a registered CSP?

Search their exact registered company name on Bizfile’s free Entity Search (bizfile.gov.sg), open the entity profile, and check for CSP registration details. It takes about a minute and doesn’t require an account.

What happens if I use an unregistered CSP?

The provider itself faces the legal risk — fines up to S$50,000, possible imprisonment, and daily penalties for continuing breaches — but practically, an unregistered provider is also one operating outside the oversight designed to catch missed filings, unreachable nominees, or registered offices that aren’t actually monitored. It’s worth checking before you engage anyone, not after something goes wrong.

Are nominee directors still legal in Singapore under the CSP Act?

Yes. Nominee directors remain a legitimate way to satisfy Singapore’s resident director requirement. What changed is that they must now be arranged through a registered CSP that has assessed the nominee as fit and proper, and the fact that a director is a nominee is now disclosed on the company’s public Bizfile profile.