Latest News

18 July 2024

Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act 2024 (Commencement) Notification

The Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act 2024 has come into operation on 18 July 2024. Co-ops may refer to the updated model by-laws issued by the Registry for reference when amending their own by-laws to be aligned with the Amended Act. Co-ops may also refer to the new “Guidelines for payment of dividends and/or honoraria from reserves” for reference on the relevant process to seek Registrar’s approval for such use of reserves.
 
Separately, with the clarity provided to the definition of “surplus” in the amended Act, the Co-operative Societies (Modification) (Consolidation) Order is revoked effective 18 July 2024.

30 January 2024

Response to feedback received from the public consultation on amendments to the Co-operative Societies Act (“the Act”)

The Registry of Co-operative Societies (‘RCS’) sought public feedback from 20 December 2023 to 10 January 2024 on the proposed amendments to the Act. We thank all parties who contributed their views. Most of the feedback were clarifications sought on the application of the new provisions and RCS will respond individually to the relevant respondents. We have also taken the feedback into consideration and amended the wordings of some of the provisions to provide further clarity. RCS additionally received some feedback on provisions that were not included in this round of amendments, which will be reviewed in future legislative amendments.

20 December 2023

Seeking public feedback on proposed amendments to the Co-operative Societies Act

The Registry of Co-operative Societies is seeking public feedback on the proposed amendments to the Co-operative Societies Act (“Act”) from 20 December 2023 to 10 January 2024. The proposed amendments aim to facilitate co-ops’ operations, provide legal clarity on specified provisions and make technical amendments to update the Act.  Please refer to the following consultation Documents:

Public Consultation on Proposed Amendments to the Co-operative Societies Act

Annex A: Fact Sheet on Co-operative Societies

Annex B: Proposed Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill

Annex C: Comparative Table of Amendments

Interested parties can submit your comments and feedback via email to mccy_regcoop@mccy.gov.sg, by indicating “Public Consultation on Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill 2023” in the subject line by 10 January 2024.

27 November 2023

Annual Report on Co-operative Societies for the financial year ended 31 March 2023

The Registry of Co-operative Societies has issued the Annual Report on Co-operative Societies for the financial year ended 31 March 2022. The Annual Report provides an introduction to the sector, key statistics, developments in the year and the upcoming initiatives. The Annual Report also informs on the current members of the Central Co-operative Fund (CCF) Committee, and the contributions to and utilisation of the CCF.

Annual Report on Co-operative Societies in Singapore for the financial year ended 31 March 2023

12 Jul 2023

Updated Written Direction on Investments

The updated written direction on investments has been issued on 12 July 2023.  It can be found under “Prudential requirements for credit co-ops”.

3 July 2022

Cessation of Alternative Arrangements for Meetings on 1 July 2023

The COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Alternative Arrangements for Meetings) Orders (the “Meetings Orders”) which temporarily enabled entities (including co-operative societies “co-ops”) to hold meetings through electronic means during the COVID-19 pandemic, has ceased on 1 July 2023.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Meetings Orders provided entities with a temporary option to hold virtual or hybrid meetings even if this was not allowed under the applicable laws or legal instruments.

If a co-op wishes to have the option of holding a virtual or hybrid general meeting from 1 July 2023, it should amend its by-laws to expressly provide for such meetings.

Co-ops should also note that going forward, some changes in the manner in which virtual or hybrid general meetings are conducted may be necessary. For example, from 1 July 2023, individual members can no longer vote by proxy (since the Co-op Act requires individual members to exercise their votes in person). Co-ops must also ensure that members are able to ask questions, communicate their views, and vote at the meeting, in real time via electronic means (as opposed to only viewing a webcast).

To guide co-ops on the proper conduct of virtual or hybrid general meetings, the Registry has published model by-law amendments as well as Guidelines on the Conduct of Virtual and Hybrid General Meetings which can be found under “Resources and useful links”.

For further information or queries, please contact us at MCCY_Regcoop@mccy.gov.sg.