Allotment of Shares 分配股份

Allotment of Shares 分配股份

Approval of the Authority to Issue Shares 发行股票的权力的批准

Section 161 of the Companies’ Act states: 《公司法》第161条规定:

Notwithstanding anything in a company’s memorandum or articles, the directors shall not, without the prior approval of the company in general meeting, exercise any power of the company to issue shares. 不论公司备忘录或公司章程中有何规定，未经股东大会事先批准，董事不得行使公司发行股票的任何权力。

Therefore, unless prior approval in a general meeting has been granted, a company’s directors may not issue shares. Most business owners are familiar with the idea of an Annual General Meeting (“AGM”), but what if approval is required some time before or after the AGM has been held? In such situations, the company will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (“EGM”). Depending on the composition of the company’s shareholders, different documentation will be prepared to hold the EGM. The two most common scenarios are: 因此，除非事先获得股东大会的批准，否则公司董事不得发行股票。大多数企业主都熟悉年度股东大会(“AGM”)的概念，但如果需要在AGM召开之前或之后的某个时间进行审批，该怎么办呢?在这种情况下，公司将召开特别股东大会(“EGM”)。根据公司股东的构成，将准备不同的文件来举行特别股东大会。最常见的两种情况是:

A) Company is wholly owned by another company or foreign corporate entity; or 公司由另一家公司或外国法人实体全资拥有;或

B) Company is owned by several shareholders, who are individuals or corporations 公司由几个股东拥有，他们是个人或公司

For (A), such companies are known as subsidiaries and their EGM will only have one participant, the parent company. The company secretary will prepare the following documentation: 对于(A)，这些公司被称为子公司，其EGM只有一个参与者，即母公司。公司秘书将准备以下文件:

Directors’ Resolutions in Writing (“DRIW”) to convene the EGM 董事会召开特别股东大会的书面决议(“决议”)

1. Notice of EGM 特别股东大会通知
2. Certificate of Appointment of Corporate Representative (if this has not been done previously) 公司代表委任证明书(如以前没有这样做)
3. Minutes of EGM by corporate representative of holding company 控股公司代表的特别股东大通知会议记录
4. Notice of Resolution 决议通知
5. Copy of Minutes by representative of holding company 控股公司代表的会议记录副本
6. Lodgement with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (“ACRA”) 会计与企业监管局(” ACRA “)递交文书
7. Preparation and Issuance of Share Certificate 股票的准备和发行

Do note that the company secretary will need to lodge items (5) and (6) with ACRA, within the stipulated deadlines. 请注意，公司秘书需要在规定的期限内向ACRA提交项目(5)和(6)。

For (B), the situation gets slightly more complicated when multiple shareholders are involved; and may prove challenging if there is difficulty in contacting the shareholders, or if they are situated overseas. Prior to holding the EGM, the company should either make sure that all its shareholders can be contacted, or ensure that the sufficient number of shareholders to constitute a quorum will be able to attend. 对于(B)，当涉及多个股东时，情况会稍微复杂一些;如果在联系股东方面有困难，或者他们在海外，可能会被证明是具有挑战性的。在召开股东大会之前，公司应该确保所有的股东都能被联系上，或者确保足够多的股东达到出席会议的法定人数。

For those unfamiliar with the term, a quorum is the minimum number of members required to attend in order to conduct the business of the meeting. The quorum necessary is usually stated in the company’s Constitution. 对于那些不熟悉这个术语的人来说，法定人数是处理会议事务所需出席的最低人数。法定人数通常在公司章程中规定。

The company secretary will prepare the following documentation: 公司秘书将准备以下文件:

1. DRIW to convene the EGM 决议召开特别股东大会
2. Notice of EGM 特别股东大会通知
3. Proxy Forms (if necessary) 代理表格(如有需要)
4. Attendance List 出席名单
5. Minutes of EGM 特别股东大会纪要
6. Notice of Resolution 决议通知
7. Lodgement with the ACRA 跟会计与企业监管局的提交
8. Preparation and Issuance of Share Certificate 股票的准备和发行

Similar to (A), item (6) will need to be lodged with ACRA within the stipulated deadline, failing which, ACRA will impose penalties on the company. 与(A)类似，第(6)项需要在规定的期限内向ACRA提交，否则ACRA将对公司进行处罚。

Filing Allotment of Shares with ACRA 向ACRA申请股份分配

ACRA has its own electronic portal known as Bizfile, through which companies can make almost all their submissions and applications to. Hence, to notify ACRA of an allotment of shares one would need to do so via Bizfile. To protect companies from unauthorized submissions, ACRA restricts access to a company’s Bizfile account; and only officers of the company, which includes its directors and company secretary, can make submissions on the company’s behalf. 会计与企业监管局(ACRA)有自己的电子门户网站Bizfile，公司可以通过这个网站提交几乎所有的申请。因此，要通知ACRA分配股份需要通过Bizfile。为了保护公司免受未经授权的提交，ACRA限制访问公司的Bizfile帐户;而且只有公司的管理人员，包括公司董事和公司秘书，才能代表公司提交意见书。

In addition, as with all other government bodies such as the Ministry of Manpower (“MOM”) or Singapore Customs, one would need to possess a SingPass in order to access ACRA’s electronic portal. A SingPass is unique to each individual and grants access to electronic services of various government entities. All Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents will have a SingPass, while foreigners who hold Employment Passes, Personalised Employment Passes, EntrePass, S-Pass, Dependent Pass, Long-Term Visit Pass-Plus and selected Work Permit Holders, may also submit an application to obtain a SingPass. 此外，与所有其他政府机构，如人力部(MOM)或新加坡海关一样，要访问会计与企业监管局的电子门户，需要持有SingPass。“单通”对每个人来说都是独一无二的，可让他们使用不同政府机构的电子服务。所有新加坡公民和永久居民均可申请“电子政府密码”，持有“就业证”、“个人就业证”、“创业证”、“特别证”、“从属证”、“长期访问证+”和“选定工作证”的外国人也可申请“电子政府密码”。

As part of the lodgment for the allotment of shares, the company would be required to declare the following information: 在递交股份分配申请时，公司须申报下列资料:

• Number of shares that will be allotted; 将分配的股份数目;
• Amount (if any) paid or deemed to be paid on the allotment of each share; 在每股股份的分配中已支付或被视为已支付的金额(如有);
• Amount (if any) unpaid on each share referred to in (b); (b)中提及的每股未付金额(如有);
• Where there exists different classes of shares, the class of shares to which each share in the allotment belongs; and 有不同种类的股份的，其分配的每一股份所属的股份类别;和
• Full name, identification (NRIC or Passport No), nationality and address of each of its members, as well as the number and class of shares held by each member. 会员的全名、身份证明(身份证或护照号码)、国籍和地址，以及会员持有的股份的数量和类别。

Particularly when it comes to shares, any errors made in the lodgments submitted to ACRA (otherwise known as the Registrar), cannot be easily amended. In accordance with Section 32(1) of the Companies (Filing of Documents) Regulations, a company cannot simply lodge a notice of error to rectify errors relating to: 特别是在股份方面，提交给ACRA(又称登记官)的文件中出现的任何错误都不容易修改。根据《公司(提交文件)规例》第32(1)条，公司不能简单地发出错误通知，以纠正下列错误:

• Particulars of a charge; or 押记详情;或
• Particulars of the company’s share capital 公司股本详情

Instead, the company will have to obtain an Order of Court to obtain permission to rectify its register, before submitting the Order of Court to ACRA. In addition, there is no existing regulation that will grant compensation to those who suffer from loss arising to such mistaken entries. Hence, the onus is on the company and its shareholders to ensure that all lodgements in relation to the company’s share capitals are duly executed and valid. 相反，在向ACRA提交法院命令之前，该公司必须获得法院命令，以获得纠正其注册的许可。此外，现时并无任何规管会向因误记而蒙受损失的人士给予赔偿。因此，本公司及其股东有责任确保所有与本公司股本有关的文件均已妥为执行及有效。

As explained above, when done properly, the allotment of shares can protect shareholders, capital and businesses in regards to issues related to shareholding structure. Therefore, it is vital that companies ensure best practices when allotting shares to all parties and follow the procedures outlined by Singapore law. 如上所述，如果处理得当，股份分配可以在股权结构相关问题上保护股东、资本和企业。因此，公司在向各方分配股份时确保最佳做法，并遵循新加坡法律规定的程序，是至关重要的。