Indranee Rajah on Accountancy Functions (Consolidation) Bill

Over the past decade, the accountancy sector has evolved from bookkeeping and auditing to include roles such as corporate governance, insolvency and business advisory services. With emerging trends such as sustainability, the accountancy sector will continue to evolve further. To better support the sector on this transformation journey, the Government is bringing together three key bodies under one entity. Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah, who highlighted the need for the merger in Parliament on Wednesday (Nov 9), said the move will better serve the accountancy sector and in turn enhance Singapore's pro-business and trusted regulatory environment. Under the merger, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), Accounting Standards Council and Singapore Accountancy Commission will become one entity. The plan is for the merger, first announced in July last year, to take effect on Apr 1 next year. The merged entity will take on the name of ACRA. By consolidating accounting-related functions within one entity, the merger seeks to strengthen the effectiveness of regulation, standard setting and sector development by harnessing synergies across complementary functions. It will also strengthen the merged entities' ability to develop and manage talent in a sustained manner, as well as provide better career development opportunities to officers.