Country-specific guidance Current

CDD obligations for corporate service providers under the CSP Act 2024

Registration status, not firm size, decides whether these obligations apply.

The Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 brought registered filing agents and other providers of corporate services under a dedicated regulatory framework in Singapore. This guide sets out what registration means for customer due diligence. It is general information, not legal or compliance advice.

Action plan

1 Confirm whether your firm must register as a corporate service provider The obligation attaches to the activity, not to how a firm describes itself.

Since the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 took effect on 9 June 2025, all business entities carrying on a business of providing corporate services in and from Singapore must register with ACRA as a corporate service provider (CSP), including entities that don't themselves file transactions with ACRA on a client's behalf. Check whether your firm's actual activities fall within this description rather than relying on how the firm is generally described.

  • Check whether your firm provides corporate services in or from Singapore
  • Register even if your firm doesn't file transactions with ACRA on a client's behalf
  • Reassess registration status if your firm's services change

Done when: Your firm's registration status as a CSP has been confirmed against its actual activities, not assumed

ACRA: Corporate Service Providers Act 2024
2 Apply customer due diligence, and enhanced due diligence for higher-risk clients The depth of the check should track the client's risk, not be uniform across every engagement.

A registered CSP's obligations include performing customer due diligence to detect or prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism, identifying customers and verifying their identities from reliable, independent sources. Enhanced due diligence applies for higher-risk clients, such as those connected to politically exposed persons or higher-risk jurisdictions.

  • Perform CDD, identifying and verifying customers from reliable, independent sources
  • Escalate to enhanced due diligence for higher-risk clients
  • Document the risk assessment that decided the level of due diligence applied

Done when: CDD, escalated to enhanced CDD where warranted, was applied and the risk decision documented

ACRA: Guidelines for Registered Corporate Service Providers
3 Know when a suspicious transaction must be reported This obligation applies personally, in the course of your trade or profession, not only at firm level.

Singapore law requires a person who, in the course of their trade, profession, business, or employment, knows or has reasonable grounds to suspect that property may be connected to criminal activity, to file a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) with the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office. Failure to file a required STR may constitute a criminal offence.

  • Report reasonable grounds for suspicion, not only confirmed knowledge
  • Treat the obligation as personal, arising in the course of your own trade or profession
  • Escalate internally to your firm's compliance function alongside filing where your firm has one

Done when: A process exists for recognising and reporting reasonable grounds for suspicion to the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office

Singapore Police Force: Suspicious Transaction Reporting