In forceAmended2020 Revised Edition

Contents

Business Names Registration Act 2014 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 1 · Preliminary

4. Persons not required to be registered under Act

In plain English

Some persons do not need to register when doing business in Singapore. These include an individual or firm trading only under their full names, and a company trading under its corporate name. Registered societies, trade unions and some professionals are also exempt. Some exempt persons may choose to register, and must then follow the Act while registered.

Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.

Amended

Last amended by an amending law of 2024.

(1)

The following persons are not required to be registered when carrying on business in Singapore:

(a)

any individual proprietor carrying on business under only the individual proprietor’s full name;

(b)

any firm of 2 or more individuals carrying on business under only the full names of all the individuals;

(c)

subject to subsection (2), any individual or firm of 2 or more individuals carrying on any business consisting solely of the exercise of any profession that, under the provisions of any written law, can be exercised only by those who possess certain qualifications prescribed by the written law and whose names are registered or otherwise recorded in the manner prescribed by any written law;

(d)

a person (A) in respect of or for whom another person (B) carries on business wholly or mainly as nominee or trustee if B has provided the particulars required under section 7(1);

(e)

any statutory authority or other body established by or under any public Act for a public purpose;

(f)

any institution, authority, person or fund specified in the First Schedule to the Income Tax Act 1947;

(g)

any society registered under the Societies Act 1966;

(h)

any society registered under the Co‑operative Societies Act 1979;

(i)

any mutual benefit organisation registered under the Mutual Benefit Organisations Act 1960;

(j)

any trade union registered under the Trade Unions Act 1940;

(ja)

any platform work association registered under the Platform Workers Act 2024;

(k)

the Public Trustee or the Official Assignee of the property of a bankrupt;

(l)

any foreign company carrying on business in Singapore that is registered under the Companies Act 1967 and carries on the business under its registered name;

(m)

any company carrying on business under its corporate name;

(n)

any limited liability partnership registered under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005 carrying on business under its registered name;

(o)

subject to section 42(3) of the Limited Partnerships Act 2008, any limited partnership registered under that Act;

(p)

any other person or class of persons for the time being exempted by the Minister under regulations made under section 43; and

(q)

any individual proprietor who carried on any business specified in the First Schedule to the Business Registration Act (Cap. 32, 2004 Revised Edition) immediately before 3 January 2016 and who is alive and continues to carry on the same business on and after that date.

(2)

An individual or a firm of 2 or more individuals referred to in subsection (1)(c), is required to be registered when carrying on business in Singapore if regulations made under section 43 prescribe that the exemption under subsection (1)(c) does not apply to such individual or firm.

(3)

A person carrying on business in Singapore who is not required to be registered under subsection (1), other than a person who is specified in any of the provisions of subsection (1)(e) to (o), may choose to be registered.

(4)

A person who is not required to be registered but chooses to be registered is subject to and must comply with the provisions of this Act for the period of time that the person is so registered.

(5)

In this section, a reference to an individual or a person includes a class of individuals or a class of persons, respectively.

Terms defined in s 2

Authority
Defined · s 2
“Authority” means the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority established under the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority Act 2004;
Open s 2
business
Defined · s 2
“business” includes every form of trade, commerce and profession, and any other activity, that is carried on for the purposes of gain, but does not include any office, employment or occupation;
Open s 2
company
Defined · s 2
“company” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;
Open s 2
firm
Defined · s 2
“firm” means an unincorporated body of —(a)2 or more individuals;(b)one or more individuals and one or more corporations; or(c)2 or more corporations,who have entered into partnership with one another with a view to carrying on business for profit;
Open s 2
foreign company
Defined · s 2
“foreign company” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;
Open s 2
full name
Defined · s 2
“full name” or “name” means —(a)in the case of an individual registered under the National Registration Act 1965 — the name as it appears in the latest identity card issued to that individual under section 9 of that Act; or(b)in the case of an individual not registered under the National Registration Act 1965 — the name as it appears in the latest passport issued to that individual or such other similar evidence of identification as is available;
Open s 2
individual
Defined · s 2
“individual” means a natural person and, where appropriate, includes —(a)an administrator, an executor, a liquidator, a trustee, a nominee, or a guardian of the individual; or(b)a donee or deputy appointed under the Mental Capacity Act 2008 in respect of the individual,having direct control or management of the business carried on by the individual;
Open s 2
individual proprietor
Defined · s 2
“individual proprietor” means an individual carrying on business as a sole proprietor;
Open s 2
name
Defined · s 2
“full name” or “name” means —(a)in the case of an individual registered under the National Registration Act 1965 — the name as it appears in the latest identity card issued to that individual under section 9 of that Act; or(b)in the case of an individual not registered under the National Registration Act 1965 — the name as it appears in the latest passport issued to that individual or such other similar evidence of identification as is available;
Open s 2
registered
Defined · s 2
“registered” means registered under this Act;
Open s 2

Report

Part 2

Registration

Read on from Part 2

Part 3

Miscellaneous

Read on from Part 3

Details

Business Names Registration Act 2014 · s 4

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Judgments that cite this Act

4 in all

An order was set aside because the claim was patently unmeritorious SummaryForbes Monaco APAC v Kawajiri Seiji · [2026] SGHC 16
Ochroid Trading Ltd and another v Chua Siok Lui (trading as VIE Import & Export) and another[2017] SGHC 56
Ma Hongjin v SCP Holdings Pte Ltd[2017] SGHC 319

Where this comes from

Singapore Statutes Online · Business Names Registration Act 2014, 2020 Revised Edition. Reader record updated on 7 Oct 2026.

Singapore legislation is Government copyright, used with the permission of the Attorney-General’s Chambers. Check Singapore Statutes Online for the latest version.

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