Alternative Arrangements for Conducting Electronic General Meetings to be Revoked on 1 July 2023

11 Jan 2023 LegisWatch

On 15 December 2022, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) announced, among other things, that the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Alternative Arrangements for Meetings for Companies, Variable Capital Companies, Business Trusts, Unit Trusts and Debenture Holders) Order 2020 (Order) will be revoked on 1 July 2023. The Order was introduced in early 2020 to facilitate the holding of general meetings through electronic means during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) has also announced that, with the revocation of the Order, issuers listed on Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited which intend to conduct general meetings from 1 July 2023 should return to conducting such meetings physically. The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) are presently working on legislative amendments which will provide entities with the option to conduct general meetings by electronic means after the Order is revoked.

As a related point of interest, on 24 November 2022, SGX RegCo, the Singapore Institute of Directors, and the Chartered Secretaries Institute of Singapore published a set of standards for service providers who provide systems that enable the holding of virtual and hybrid general meetings.

• The MinLaw press release can be found here.

• The SGX RegCo press release can be found here.

• The ACRA press release can be found here.

• The MAS press release can be found here.

If you would like information or assistance on the above or any other area of law, you may wish to contact the Partner at WongPartnership whom you normally work with or any of the following Partners:

Kevin HO
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Annabelle YIP
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Principal Member – Corporate Governance & Compliance
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Vivien YUI
Partner – Corporate Governance & Compliance
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Jayne LEE
Partner – Corporate Governance & Compliance
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