This post summarises the key regulatory updates, official announcements and policy changes from August 2026 that affect small and medium-sized enterprises in Singapore. It is written for the entrepreneurs, founders and directors who run Singapore private limited companies.
This edition covers a new director training programme and the governance standards expected of foreign-owned companies, an expanded tax deduction for AI adoption, updated Employment Pass salary benchmarks taking effect in 2027, new tax and talent measures for fund managers, funding for financial sector innovation, a newly public register of Data Protection Officers, and other developments worth knowing about this month.
Company Law
ACRA and SID Launch New Director Training Programme
On 28 August 2026, ACRA and the Singapore Institute of Directors signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly deliver the Company Director Fundamentals (CDF) programme, a structured course on what the law expects of a company director in Singapore. It runs in two tiers. CDF 101 comprises six complimentary modules giving a practical grounding in core duties, while CDF 201 comprises four paid modules going deeper into directors’ duties, financial literacy, board and shareholder decision-making, corporate actions, and environmental, social and governance matters.
The significance for smaller companies lies in accessibility. Directors’ duties under section 157 of the Companies Act 1967 apply in the same terms to the sole director of a private limited company as to the board of a large enterprise, and unfamiliarity with them is not a defence. The free tier is open to all current and aspiring directors, including foreign directors, with registration opening in the fourth quarter of 2026 and a joint ACRA and SID certificate for those who complete all ten modules.
Government Sets Out Governance Expectations for Foreign-Owned Companies
Delivering the keynote at the SID Directors Conference on 28 August 2026, Second Minister for Finance Ms Indranee Rajah addressed companies that establish themselves here through foreign ownership, foreign directorships or re-domiciliation. Her message was that these companies are expected to know and observe Singapore’s standards of governance, transparency and legal requirements, rather than simply benefit from the jurisdiction’s reputation.
The point has practical consequences for overseas founders setting up a private limited company in Singapore. Several requirements may have no equivalent in a founder’s home country. These include keeping a register of registrable controllers, filing nominee director and nominee shareholder information with ACRA, appointing at least one locally resident director, and filing annual returns on time. All of them apply from incorporation onwards. She also encouraged boards to treat climate reporting as a genuine business risk affecting assets, supply chains and access to financing, rather than as a disclosure formality.
IVAS Issues Guidance on Valuing Intangible Assets
The Institute of Valuers and Appraisers Singapore, which operates under ACRA, issued Guidance Note GN-003 on 26 August 2026, dealing with the valuation of intangible assets. It supplements the International Valuation Standards and covers intellectual property, software, brands, customer relationships and proprietary technologies, setting out how valuers should approach questions such as royalty rates, useful economic lives, sensitivity analysis and disclosure in valuation reports.
Although written for valuation professionals, the guidance affects any company whose worth sits largely in assets that never appear on a conventional balance sheet. Founders raising capital, negotiating a share transfer or buy-out, allocating purchase price after an acquisition, or supporting IP-backed financing will increasingly meet valuations prepared to this standard. Boards relying on such a report should be prepared to question the assumptions behind it.
Consultation on Singapore Sustainability Disclosure Standards Remains Open
ACRA’s Interim Sustainability Standards Committee is running a public consultation until 25 October 2026 on the draft Singapore Sustainability Disclosure Standards, and directors were urged again in late August to take part. The drafts follow the International Sustainability Standards Board framework, with local adjustments. SFRS S2, covering climate-related disclosures, is proposed to be mandatory, while SFRS S1, covering broader sustainability-related financial disclosures, would remain voluntary.
Mandatory climate reporting is being introduced in stages, starting with listed issuers and large non-listed companies, so smaller private companies are not the immediate target. Many will still feel the effect indirectly, through data requests from larger customers, group reporting obligations, or due diligence by lenders and investors. The consultation period is the opportunity to comment on scope and timing before the standards are settled.
Tax & Accounting Law
IRAS Extends the Enterprise Innovation Scheme to Cover AI Adoption
On 31 August 2026, IRAS issued the third edition of its e-Tax Guide on the Enterprise Innovation Scheme (EIS), giving effect to the enhancements announced in Budget 2026. The EIS allows companies to claim enhanced tax deductions, or for smaller businesses to convert qualifying spending into a cash payout, on activities such as research and development, intellectual property registration, and staff training. The revised guide introduces a new qualifying activity for the adoption of artificial intelligence and adds the Sectoral AI Centre of Excellence for Manufacturing to the list of qualified partners.
The guide also updates its references to reflect the merger of SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore into the Skills and Workforce Development Agency on 1 July 2026. For a small or mid-size company already investing in AI tools or automation, this widens the range of expenditure that can attract relief. It is worth checking whether spending planned for the current financial year now falls within scope.
Source: https://www.iras.gov.sg/schemes/disbursement-schemes/enterprise-innovation-scheme-(eis)
Accounting Standards Committee Amends the Fair Value Option for Associates and Joint Ventures
On 3 August 2026, the Accounting Standards Committee (ASC), which sets Singapore’s financial reporting standards under ACRA, issued amendments to SFRS(I) 1-28 and FRS 28 concerning the fair value option for investments in associates and joint ventures. The amendments follow the corresponding changes made by the International Accounting Standards Board to IAS 28, on which the ASC submitted a comment letter in April 2026.
In practical terms, this affects how a company accounts for a minority stake it holds in another business that it influences but does not control. That is a common arrangement where founders hold interests across several ventures, or where a company enters a joint venture with a partner. Companies in this position should raise the amendments with their accountant or auditor to confirm whether the measurement basis used in their financial statements needs to change.
Source: https://www.acra.gov.sg/news-events/news-announcements/2026-asc-news/
Revised GST Guidance on Options to Purchase with a Nominee Clause
IRAS published the sixth edition of its GST Guide for Property Owners and Property Holding Companies on 7 August 2026, updating the GST treatment and input tax implications where an option to purchase contains a nominee clause. An option to purchase is the standard instrument used to secure a property in Singapore, and a nominee clause allows the buyer to name another party to complete the purchase in its place. The corresponding webpage on GST for the real estate sector was updated the same day.
The change is narrow, but it matters to any company acquiring commercial or industrial premises through a holding entity, or to founders who sign an option personally before transferring it into a corporate vehicle. Getting the treatment wrong affects whether the GST paid on the purchase can be recovered as input tax, so the structure should be settled before the option is exercised rather than afterwards.
Immigration Law
MOM Publishes Updated COMPASS Salary Benchmarks for 2027
The Ministry of Manpower released its annual refresh of the C1 salary benchmarks under COMPASS in August 2026. COMPASS is the points-based framework applied to most Employment Pass applications, and C1 is the salary criterion within it. It compares a candidate’s fixed monthly salary against what local professionals, managers, executives and technicians earn in the same sector and age band, awarding 10 points at the 65th percentile and 20 points at the 90th. An application needs 40 points in total to pass.
The new benchmarks apply to fresh EP applications submitted from 1 January 2027 and to renewals of passes expiring from 1 July 2027. The benchmarks issued in August 2025 continue to govern applications made during 2026. Most sectors and age bands saw increases, so a salary that scores 10 or 20 points today may score fewer next year. Employers planning hires or renewals that fall into 2027 should recheck the numbers now, and confirm which sector MOM classifies their company under, since the thresholds differ meaningfully between sectors. Candidates earning at least S$22,500 a month remain exempt from COMPASS altogether.
Source: https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/employment-pass/eligibility/compass-c1-salary-benchmarks
ONE Pass Numbers Disclosed in Parliament
Answering a parliamentary question on 5 August 2026, Acting Minister for Manpower Ms Jasmin Lau disclosed that the number of Overseas Networks and Expertise (ONE) Pass holders in Singapore rose from around 3,600 in December 2023 to 6,300 in December 2024, and to 8,500 in December 2025. About 70 percent of holders work in three sectors: financial and insurance services, information and communication, and professional services.
The ONE Pass sits above the Employment Pass and is worth understanding even if few founders will use it. It generally requires a fixed monthly salary of about S$30,000, runs for five years, and is not tied to a single employer, so a holder may start, operate and work for several Singapore companies at once. Holders are exempt from COMPASS and from the Fair Consideration Framework job advertising requirement. A dedicated AI and Tech track opens in January 2027, replacing the Tech.Pass and allowing part of the salary threshold to be met through vested equity rather than cash. That may matter to technology companies whose senior hires are compensated largely in shares.
Licensing & Regulatory Compliance
MAS Announces Tax and Talent Measures for Fund Managers
On 19 August 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced a package of three measures intended to keep Singapore competitive as an asset management centre, following changes in Hong Kong to the way fund managers’ performance income is taxed. The headline measure is a tax exemption for profit-related returns, meaning the share of investment profits that fund managers and investment professionals receive when a fund performs well. This covers carried interest and profit-sharing arrangements from qualifying funds, including those exempt under sections 13O and 13U of the Income Tax Act 1947. Ordinary salaries, bonuses and other routine remuneration are excluded.
The package also introduces a MAS Hedge Fund Investment Programme, under which MAS will invest alongside managers who anchor their operations in Singapore, and a dedicated Investment Management Track under the Overseas Networks and Expertise Pass to ease the entry of senior investment professionals. MAS has set the policy direction but not the detail. The exemption is intended to apply to income earned from calendar year 2026, with the qualifying conditions, exempt share and any caps to be published at Budget 2027. Fund managers, family offices and venture capital firms should treat this as a prompt to review how their fund structures, management agreements and staff compensation arrangements are set up, since the relief is likely to depend on the legal form the profit share takes.
Government Grants, Incentives & Support Schemes
MAS Commits S$220 Million to the Next Phase of FinTech Innovation
On 31 August 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced a S$220 million commitment over three years under the renewed Financial Sector Technology and Innovation Scheme, known as FSTI 4.0. This is a significant increase on the S$150 million committed under FSTI 3.0, which ran from 2023 to 2026. MAS noted that Singapore now hosts more than 1,800 FinTech firms employing close to 10,000 people, and that FinTech investment in Singapore reached S$2.9 billion in 2025.
The scheme is organised into six tracks covering institutional projects, AI adoption, infrastructure and platforms, centres of excellence, manpower and industry awards. Two are likely to interest smaller companies most. The Institution Project track co-funds financial institutions and Singapore-based FinTech firms developing or deploying solutions using frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence, distributed ledger technology and quantum technology. The AI Pathfinder track supports the adoption of market-ready AI solutions. Separately, the Manpower track co-funds internship stipends, with MAS aiming to support at least 1,000 FinTech internships over three years through a new portal run by the Singapore FinTech Association. Founders in the financial technology space should review the individual track criteria before committing to a project, since funding is tied to qualifying costs and caps rather than being available across the board.
Tech & Digital Law
Government Signals Binding Rules on AI Safety and Social Media Age Verification
Delivering the National Day Rally on 23 August 2026, PM Lawrence Wong announced that Singapore will legislate in two areas it has so far governed through voluntary frameworks. Social media platforms will be required to introduce reliable age checks rather than allowing users to declare their own ages, and to build in stronger safeguards for young users. He separately signalled that AI safety requirements will be put into law, citing the risks posed by increasingly autonomous AI agents.
No bills have been drafted, and the Ministry of Digital Development and Information is expected to publish details in the coming months. The direct impact falls on companies running consumer platforms used by young people. The wider significance is that Singapore has governed AI mainly through advisory frameworks until now, and parts of that regime are set to become enforceable obligations.
Source: https://www.pmo.gov.sg/newsroom/ndr2026/
PDPC Data Protection Officer Registry Becomes Publicly Searchable
The Personal Data Protection Commission notified registered Data Protection Officers during August that its DPO Registry would become publicly available on the PDPC website from 1 September 2026. Members of the public can now look up an organisation’s DPO business contact details in order to raise data protection concerns directly. Registered DPOs were asked to check that their listed name and business email were accurate before the launch, and to update or revoke the record where the individual named is no longer the appointed officer.
The distinction worth understanding is between two separate obligations. Appointing a DPO and making that person’s business contact information publicly available is mandatory for every organisation under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012, regardless of company size. Registering the DPO with the PDPC is voluntary. What has changed is that the voluntary register is now open to public search, so an outdated entry naming a departed employee is visible to customers and counterparties. Companies that registered a DPO some years ago and have since had staff turnover should review their entry, which can be updated, replaced or revoked through the PDPC’s registration form.
Source: https://www.pdpc.gov.sg/organisations/e-services/data-protection-officers-dpo-registry
Consultations & Future Reforms
MinLaw and IPOS Consult on AI and Singapore’s IP Regime
On 26 August 2026, the Ministry of Law and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore opened a public consultation on how artificial intelligence affects Singapore’s intellectual property framework. The consultation paper follows earlier engagement with rights holders, technology companies, the creative industries, legal practitioners and academics, and asks how IP laws should balance protection for human creativity and investment against enabling innovation for the public good.
The questions matter to any company whose value rests on what it creates. Where AI tools are used to produce content, code, product designs or marketing material, ownership and protectability are not always clear under existing law, and the position on using third-party material to train models is similarly unsettled. Founders in this position have a direct interest in the outcome. Feedback closes at 5pm on 22 October 2026.