View of the central business district in Singapore.
SINGAPORE: Business services firm Data Register and an associated company, Singapore Data Register, were both fined a total of S$4,500 on Jun 4 for several breaches under the Companies Act, including failing to open its office to the public.
Data Register pleaded guilty for not holding an annual general meeting in 2017, as well as for not filing annual returns, said the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) in a release on Tuesday (Jun 16).
The company also failed to have its registered office open to the public on three days in July and August 2018, said the authority.
Facing a total of five charges, with another six charges taken into consideration for sentencing, Data Register was fined a total of S$3,000 in court.
Sharing the same registered office as Data Register, Singapore Data Register also pleaded guilty to three charges for not opening its office to the public on the same three days.
A further four charges for the same breach were taken into consideration during sentencing, and the firm was fined S$1,500.
DATA REGISTER HAD FACED MORE THAN 1,000 CHARGES
In the release, ACRA said that Data Register previously faced a total of 1,104 charges for failing to display its company name and registration number in more than 1,000 business letters.
In October and November 2013, a total of 139,833 letters were mailed out to members of the public who mistakenly assumed that Data Register – previously known as Company Register – was linked to ACRA.
It led to “public disquiet” as people thought they were obliged to provide the requested information, said ACRA.
The letters also did not state its company name and its registration number as required under the Companies Act.
In May 2016, Data Register pleaded guilty to 500 charges and was fined a total of S$200,000.
Since 2014, Data Register had pursued businesses that subscribed to its services to make payment to Singapore Data Register for outstanding fees between August and October 2018, said ACRA.
“By failing to keep its office open to the public, Data Register and Singapore Data Register would have denied these subscribers the means to visit the companies’ office to make enquiries, settle payments in person, or serve legal process,” added the authority.
Under the Companies Act, all companies must ensure that their registered office is open and accessible to the public for not less than three hours during ordinary business hours on each business day.
