Alternative Meeting Arrangements for Conducting Electronic Meetings to Cease on 1 July 2023; Legislative Amendments in the Works to Allow Hybrid Meetings

On 15 December 2022, the Ministry of Law announced that various COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Alternative Arrangements for Meetings) Orders which enable various entities to convene, hold or conduct meetings by way of electronic means will be revoked on 1 July 2023. These entities include issuers listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (SGX-ST) (“listed issuers“) and non-listed entities, such as companies, variable capital companies (“VCCs“) and business trusts (“BTs“), among others. In addition, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and the Monetary Authority of Singapore jointly announced that they are working on proposed legislative amendments to provide companies, VCCs and BTs with the option to conduct meetings by way of electronic means after the relevant Orders are revoked.

This Update highlights the significance of these developments to entities covered under the Orders (including listed issuers), such as companies, VCCs, BTs and unit trusts in Singapore.