Singapore keeps one national registry for every company, sole proprietorship, partnership and foreign company operating in the country. It is run by ACRA, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, and reached through BizFile, the central portal at bizfile.gov.sg. A basic search by company name or UEN (Unique Entity Number) is free and public, and it returns the entity's status, type, registration date and registered office. That is the backbone of a Singapore check, and unlike in the US there is a single place to look rather than fifty state systems.
ACRA is the national registrar for all Singapore entities. Its portal, BizFile, was relaunched on 9 December 2024, replacing the older BizFile+ system, and it is the single gateway for both filing and public search. You search by the exact company name or by its UEN, the Unique Entity Number printed on invoices and contracts.
A free public search returns the legal name, the UEN, the entity type (Private Limited, Public Company, LLP and so on), the current status (Live, Struck Off, In Liquidation, Dissolved), the registration date and the registered office address. For most counterparty checks this free layer is enough to confirm the company exists and is alive.
Keep the date you ran it. A company that was Live last quarter can be Struck Off for failing to file its annual return, and a struck-off entity cannot legally trade or invoice you.
The free search confirms identity and status. To see the people, you order the ACRA Business Profile, a paid document anyone can buy through BizFile. It adds the names and particulars of directors, the company secretary, shareholders and their shareholdings, the principal business activity (SSIC code), and filed documents such as the constitution and annual returns.
The Business Profile is the document banks and counterparties rely on, because it is issued by the registry itself rather than self-reported. For a first-order check it is the closest thing to a definitive answer on who is formally on record as running the company.
It still does not show everything. Shareholder percentages are shown, but sensitive personal identifiers are withheld, and the deeper ownership chain behind a nominee is not in the profile.
Since 31 March 2017 every Singapore company must keep a Register of Registrable Controllers (RORC) for anyone with significant control, generally 25% or more of shares or voting rights. Since July 2020 that register has been lodged with ACRA electronically, and since 16 June 2025 newly formed companies must file it on incorporation. The same 16 June 2025 change added registers of nominee directors (ROND) and nominee shareholders (RONS).
None of these registers are open to the public. Only public agencies and law enforcement can read them. Singapore has no public beneficial-ownership register, so you cannot look up the ultimate owner of a Singapore company the way you might check a UK PSC entry. For a nominee structure - common in Singapore holding companies - the public record stops at the named director or shareholder.
That is the gap a contract and your own KYC have to close: ask the counterparty for the controller in writing, and compare the bank account to the entity on the Business Profile. The registry will not do it for you.
| Field | Where it lives | What a problem looks like |
|---|---|---|
| UEN | Free BizFile search | The UEN on the invoice does not match the one on the company's own formation records |
| Status | Free BizFile search | Reads Struck Off or In Liquidation while the company is still taking orders |
| Entity type | Free BizFile search | An LLP or nominee-held Pte Ltd introduced as the operating manufacturer |
| Registration date | Free BizFile search | A company formed weeks ago invoicing a large first order |
| Registered office | Free BizFile search | An address that does not match where business is actually done |
| Directors / secretary / shareholders | Paid Business Profile | No officers on record, or a director shared across many unrelated entities |
| Beneficial owner | RORC - not public | No public entry exists; ownership must be obtained from the entity directly |
| The five official lists | Separate list check | A name match on OFAC, UN, EU or other lists, run against the legal name from BizFile |
The registry answers identity, status and the officers on record. It does not answer who ultimately controls the company or whether the bank account belongs to the entity on the invoice. Run the list check against the legal name BizFile gave you, and get the controller and payment details from the counterparty in writing.
Yes. Unlike the US, Singapore has a single national registry run by ACRA through BizFile (bizfile.gov.sg). A free search by name or UEN returns status, type, registration date and registered office for any Singapore entity.
No. The free search shows identity and status. Director, secretary and shareholder details sit in the paid ACRA Business Profile. Beneficial ownership (the RORC) is not public at all - only agencies and law enforcement can read it.
No. It confirms the company is real and live and who is on record, not who ultimately controls it or whether the bank account belongs to that entity. Run the sanctions list check separately and compare the payment details to the registered name.