How do I check a Singapore company (ACRA)?
Search the entity name or Unique Entity Number (UEN) on Bizfile, the portal of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). Basic details such as the name, UEN, entity type and status are free; a business profile, with officers, shareholders, share capital and registered address, can be purchased. Companies keep registers of registrable controllers (beneficial owners) and lodge them with ACRA, but that information is not open to the public.
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How to check it manually
- Search Bizfile by entity name or UEN.
- Check the entity type (for example private company limited by shares), status and registration date.
- Buy the business profile for officers, shareholders, share capital, principal activities and registered address.
- If the company says it is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, check the MAS Financial Institutions Directory.
- Ask the company for its controllers, since the register of registrable controllers is not public.
What it tells you
- The official registration and status, and from the business profile, officers and shareholders.
What it doesn’t tell you
- Registrable controllers (beneficial owners), which are not public.
- Officers and shareholders in the free search: you need the paid profile.
How SONAR automates it
When you screen a company registered in this country, SONAR looks it up in ACRA’s entity data published on data.gov.sg and puts the company record (legal name, number, status, legal form and registered address) in the report with a link or ID for the source and the date it was retrieved. SONAR does not pull the directors from this register yet, so check them manually as described above.
This is ACRA’s published dataset, refreshed in bulk, rather than a live Bizfile query.
The same run screens the company itself, and any people SONAR finds in its other sources, against 8 sanctions lists, the OpenSanctions PEP dataset, the ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database and adverse media, and returns PASS, REVIEW, FLAG or NOT RUN for each check. A source that could not be reached is shown as NOT RUN, never as clear.
SONAR is a due-diligence tool for checking vendors, partners, resellers and suppliers. It compiles public-record data. It is not a regulated AML / KYC provider, does not verify identity documents, and is not legal advice.
You can try it on 2 companies a month for free, no card needed; every report includes a receipt for each source it used.
Frequently asked questions
What is a UEN?
The Unique Entity Number, the standard identifier for entities registered in Singapore, including companies registered with ACRA.
Is the ACRA search free?
Basic entity details on Bizfile are free. The business profile with officers and shareholders is a paid product.
Can I see the beneficial owners of a Singapore company?
No. Companies must keep a register of registrable controllers and lodge it with ACRA, but it is available to public agencies, not to the public.
Official sources
Run these checks on a company you’re about to sign
Registry record, owners, sanctions, PEP, ICIJ Offshore Leaks and adverse media in one report, with a receipt for every source. 2 free reports a month, no card.
Screen a company free