Introduction of Contact Address to Replace Alternate Address by end Dec 2024

The ACRA (Registry and Regulatory Enhancements) Bill was passed on 2 July 2024 by Parliament, following which, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory (“ACRA”) has introduced the use of Contact Addresses to enhance the protection of residential addresses filed with the Registrar.

As the national business registry, ACRA maintains and makes publicly available information about business entities and associated individuals, including their residential addresses. By the end of 2024, the Contact Address will be shown in ACRA’s public records instead of the residential address. However, the residential address must still be submitted to ACRA for its records.

Transitioning to the new Contact Address Regime 

Currently, there is an option to provide an Alternate Address at a fee of $40 which will be displayed in ACRA’s public records in place of the residential address. The Contact Address regime will replace the existing Alternate Address regime by the end of 2024.    To facilitate the transition to the new Contact Address regime, all existing Alternate Addresses filed with ACRA will be automatically converted to Contact Addresses by the end of the year.  ACRA strongly encourages individuals who have not previously opted for an Alternate Address to consider providing one to ACRA before the Contact Address regime commences by the end of 2024. Their residential address will remain publicly displayed as their Contact Address until a different address is provided to ACRA. ACRA has waived the $40 fee for filing an Alternate Address. No action is needed for individuals who prefer to use their residential address as their Contact Address.

(1) For Individuals who are solely Shareholders

Currently, individual shareholders who hold no other positions are not eligible to file an Alternate Address. They are, however, eligible for the Contact Address regime.  ACRA encourages them to engage their company secretaries or Corporate Service Providers (“CSP”) to access the eService to review their addresses. If the address can be used as the Contact Address, no action is required. If they wish to provide a new address, their company secretaries or CSP can file a new address to be displayed in ACRA’s public records. The new address will be publicly displayed upon successful submission and will automatically convert to the Contact Address upon the commencement of the Contact Address regime.

(2) For Individuals who are Position Holders (e.g. company directors, alternate directors, CEO)

Individuals who are position holders or both a position holder and a shareholder are encouraged by ACRA to provide an Alternate Address through the eServices in BizFile+. New position holders should provide an Alternate Address at the point of registration.  

As part of our responsibilities as a corporate service provider, Trusted Services will be checking with our clients on their preferred addresses and assist with updating ACRA accordingly. If you would like to know more about what we can do for you, visit us at Trusted Services' corporate business services portfolio

For more information on the ACRA contact address changes, read the full announcement by clicking : ACRA Announcement on Contact Address Changes