Company secretary, corporate secretary, CSP: same thing?
Set up a company in Singapore and within a week you’ll have seen all three: company secretary, corporate secretary, corporate service provider. People use them as if they mean the same thing. They’re related, but they’re not the same. Knowing the difference tells you who you’re allowed to appoint, what you’re paying for, and why the firm keeps asking for your passport.
In this article
The short answer
Three names, two things. Company secretary is a role the law says every company must fill: a person named on your ACRA record. Corporate secretary is usually what the industry calls the service of filling that role and doing the work around it. Corporate service provider (CSP) is the legal category for a business that does this for other companies, and ACRA regulates it.
Company secretary: the legal role
The Companies Act requires every Singapore company to appoint a company secretary within six months of incorporation. The secretary must be a natural person, not a company, whose principal or only place of residence is in Singapore. A sole director cannot also be the company secretary. For a private company the law doesn’t set a specific qualification, but the directors must take reasonable steps to make sure the person they appoint has the knowledge and experience to do the job. Public companies have stricter qualification rules.
The role keeps the company’s statutory side in order: the registers of members, directors and controllers; minutes and resolutions; the AGM and annual return paperwork; and making sure filings reach ACRA on time. The directors still carry the legal responsibility for compliance. A secretary helps them meet it, but doesn’t take it off their shoulders.
Corporate secretary: the service
“Corporate secretary” and “corporate secretarial services” are what firms call the package: a qualified person named as your company secretary, plus the recurring work. That covers the registered address, the registers, the AGM or written resolutions, the annual return, routine resolutions and reminders. When someone searches “corporate secretary Singapore”, this is what they’re looking for.
Some people use the term for the person too. In everyday Singapore usage, company secretary and corporate secretary describe the same job. The only difference is whether you mean the role or the service that fills it. What that service should include, and what’s fair to charge as an extra, is in our corporate secretary cost guide.
CSP: the regulated business
Since 9 June 2025, the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 has required any business providing corporate services in or from Singapore to register with ACRA as a CSP. Corporate services include forming companies for other people, acting as a company secretary by way of business, providing a registered office address, arranging for people to act as directors or nominee shareholders, and dealing with ACRA on other people’s behalf. Registered CSPs carry anti-money-laundering duties, and ACRA can fine both the firm and its senior management for breaching them.
That’s why a proper firm asks for identity documents, who ultimately owns and controls the company, and where the money comes from before it takes you on, and asks again when things change. It isn’t bureaucracy for its own sake. A firm that skips those questions is either cutting corners or isn’t registered.
Side by side
Company secretary
What it is: a legal role every company must fill. Who: one natural person resident in Singapore, named on your ACRA record. Check: who exactly is named, and whether they’re still in the job.
Corporate secretary
What it is: the service of filling that role and doing the yearly work. Who: usually a firm, sometimes an individual. Check: what the annual fee actually covers.
Corporate service provider (CSP)
What it is: a business registered with ACRA to provide corporate services, with anti-money-laundering duties. Who: the firm behind the service. Check: that the firm is registered, under whatever its registered name is.
So who should be yours?
A co-director or an employee. This is legal if they live in Singapore and you’re not the sole director, and it can work for a simple company with someone organised in-house. The risk is continuity. When that person leaves, the company has to fill the role quickly, and their knowledge of your filings leaves with them.
A friend doing it as a favour. Common, and the most fragile arrangement. The role carries real responsibility, and favours tend to end at the worst moment, often with the registers sitting in someone’s drawer.
A registered CSP. A firm whose job this is, with a qualified person named on your record, a process behind them, and the anti-money-laundering checks done properly. For most owner-run and foreign-owned companies this is the sensible default.
If you’re the only director, you can’t be your own secretary, so someone else has to be named. Not sure your current setup holds up? Our one-minute corporate secretary check asks four questions and sends your answers to us.
Three checks before you appoint
1. “Are you a registered CSP?” Ask for the registration and check it with ACRA. The registered company name may not be the brand you know.
2. “Who exactly will be named as our secretary, and do they live in Singapore?” You should know the person, not just the firm.
3. “What does the annual fee cover?” AGM, annual return, registers, address, routine resolutions and reminders should be in. If the quote doesn’t say, assume they’re out.
Where we sit
We’re registered with ACRA as a corporate service provider under our registered company name, AG Solutions Pte. Ltd. (Morphrix is the name we trade under while our name change goes through), and our team includes ACRA registered qualified individuals. When we act as your company secretary, you know who’s named on your record, the identity checks are done properly once and kept current, and the AGM, annual return and registers are handled, with a reminder before every date. See our corporate secretary service.
Common questions
Is a company secretary the same as a corporate secretary in Singapore?
In everyday use, yes: they describe the same job. 'Company secretary' is the legal role named on your ACRA record; 'corporate secretary' usually means the service a firm provides to fill that role and do the work around it.
What is a corporate service provider (CSP)?
A business that provides corporate services, such as acting as company secretary by way of business, forming companies or providing a registered address. Since 9 June 2025 it must register with ACRA under the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 and meet anti-money-laundering duties.
Who can be a company secretary in Singapore?
A natural person whose principal or only place of residence is in Singapore, appointed within six months of incorporation. A sole director cannot also be the secretary. For private companies, the directors must make sure the person has the knowledge and experience for the role.
Why does my corporate secretary ask for so many documents?
Registered CSPs have to identify their clients, the people who ultimately own and control the company, and where the money comes from, and keep that information current. A firm that doesn't ask is cutting corners.
How do I check whether a firm is a registered CSP?
Ask for its registration details and check them with ACRA. The registered company name may be different from the brand you know.
Not sure your secretary setup holds up?
Tell us how your company is set up today: who’s a director, who’s named as secretary, and who does the filings. We’ll tell you plainly whether it holds up and what we’d change. No obligation.
This article is general information about company secretary rules and the CSP regime in Singapore as at Oct 2026, not legal advice. Requirements can change, so check ACRA’s current guidance. Morphrix Pte. Ltd. (formerly AG Solutions).