Constructing and Maintaining a Business Register: Singapore’s Experience

1. International Workshop on Economic Census, Beijing, China, 26-29 July 2005 Constructing and Maintaining a Business Register: Singapore’s Experience By Ong Lai Heng Singapore Department of Statistics

2. Outline • Background • Overview of CEIS • Uses of CEIS • Coverage of Business Units • Types of Statistical Units • Definitions of Statistical Units • Use of Central Registration Number • Industrial Classification • Data Items in CEIS • Sources of Information • Main Sources of Updates • Quality Control • Legal Authority • Access to CEIS • Challenges and Plans

3. Background of Business Registerin Singapore • Developed and Maintained by the Singapore Department of Statistics (SDOS). • First set up in 1986, known as the Establishment Hub. • Re-developed in 1996 as the Commercial Establishment Information System (CEIS).

4. Overview of CEIS • Database maintained by SDOS with data from different data sources. • Contains a wide range of basic information pertaining to establishments in Singapore.

5. Uses of CEIS • Provides up-to-date and basic data on establishments • Serves as a survey frame • Provides Statistical analyses, eg formation and cessation rates, survival rates.

6. Coverage of Business Units • Companies • Businesses • Professional bodies • Representative offices of foreign companies • Government and quasi-government institutions • Non-commercial establishments eg societies, co-operatives

7. Types of Statistical Units Holding Company Enterprise Business Entity Business Entity vs Establishment Location 2 Division 2 Division 1 Location 1

8. Definitions of Statistical Units • Enterprise: defined as a legal entity registered under the Singapore Companies Act etc. It includes branches of foreign companies. • Establishment: defined as a business or organization unit engaged in one activity and operating in a single location:  Multi-branch organization: Each branch at a different location is a different establishment.  Multi-activity organization: Units engaged in separate activities constitute distinct establishments.

9. Use of Central Registration(CR) Number • Conversion of ACRA No. to CR-No. • The CR-Number is a unique reference number assigned by the CEIS system to each establishment comprises 11 alpha-numeric characters and a check alphabet.

10. Industrial Classification • Classification of Industry based on Singapore Standard Industrial Classification 2005 (SSIC 2005) • SSIC 2005 adopts the basic framework of the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) Revision 4.

11. Industrial Classification (cont’d) • The industrial classification code is provided by the business when registering with ACRA. • The industrial code is updated when new information is made available from SOE and other industry surveys.

12. Data Items in CEIS Key Establishment Particulars: • Name • Address • Central Registration (CR) Number • Industrial classification • Registration date • Commencement date • Paid-up capital • Person of authority • Legal organization

13. Data Items in CEIS (cont’d) Types of Legal Organizations: • Public listed Company • Private Company • Foreign Company (registered in Singapore) • Sole Proprietorship • Partnership • Limited Liability Partnership • Non-profit Organization • Representative Office • Statutory Boards / Government Institutions

14. Sources of Updates CEIS Sampling and Data Requests Statistical Reports Online Enquiry Subscribers Sources of Information External Internal

15. Sources of Information (cont’d) • ACRA • IES • ROS • PA • Others SOE Admin External Surveys Internal • EDB • MAS • Others Various Annual Surveys Surveys

16. Sources of Information (cont’d)

17. Sources of Information (cont’d) Internal Survey Sources: • Survey of Establishments (SOE) • Annual Surveys of Commerce • Annual Surveys of Services • Foreign Investment Surveys • International Trade in Surveys • Other Surveys

18. Main Sources of Updates ACRA: • Primary source of updates • Provides information on newly registered/ceased companies and businesses on a regular basis • Frequency of Updates: Weekly

19. Main Sources of Updates (cont’d) Survey of Establishments (SOE): • Regular mail survey of newly registered companies & businesses for updates of:  Mailing address  Commencement date  SSIC/business activity description  estimated gross receipts  employment  screening questions on overseas investments, international trade in services, electronic commerce transactions.

20. Quality Control • To pre scan incoming ACRA data and survey updates to detect possible errors eg out of bound records etc. • Various surveys will also feedback ‘out-of-scope’ cases for further investigation. • Joint Staff Working Group: Meets on a regular basis to discuss the industrial classification for relatively more complex and significant units which affects two or more surveys.

21. Legal Authority • The SOE and other short-term & annual surveys conducted by SDOS under the Statistics Act. • The Act also stipulated that the contents of individual returns received would be kept confidential and used only for statistical purposes, i.e. provide only aggregated data.

22. Access to CEIS • No Public Access on Individual Records. Users may obtain summary information on company from ACRA at a fee. • Private sector requests for sample listing, normally by Industry, can be provided at a fee. • The sample list includes: name, address and business activity which are obtainable from ACRA.

23. Access to CEIS (cont’d) • Available for subscription to only government departments and statutory boards. • Only basic establishment information obtainable from ACRA are available. • Individual establishment survey information obtained under the Statistics Act are not available to subscribers.

24. Challenges and Plans • Providing more up-to-date information of business population, particularly for “live” cases whether they are “active” or “dormant”. • Exploring the use of administrative records eg tax records to reduce respondent burden for statistical aggregation purpose.

25. Thank You !