But, I am only a sleeping director...

ACCORDING to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra), 10,000 summonses are issued every year to "errant" directors. These are directors who have failed to comply with basic key statutory requirements under the Companies Act, such as holding annual general meetings and the timely filing of annual returns.

Instead of immediately prosecuting these errant directors, Acra now offers first-time offenders the option of attending the Directors Compliance Programme facilitated by the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID). The half-day course briefs directors on the basics of director duties as well as financial reporting, corporate secretarial and other statutory compliance requirements.

At the same time, Acra has also indicated that its enforcement actions for repeat offenders have been stepped up. Last year, in the course of its prosecution of repeat offenders, Acra successfully petitioned the courts for fines that were double the usual amount.