Legal forms in Singapore: Pte. Ltd., LLP, Public company and more

Every legal form in Singapore, each with its abbreviation, the kind of entity it is, liability and typical use where they are well established, and the values the Prometiam company object returns.

This guide lists the 9 legal forms the Prometiam dictionary knows for Singapore: what each is called, how it is abbreviated, what kind of entity it is and how it appears in the company object. Use it to read the legal_form of a company registered in Singapore, or to decode a form you meet in a contract or on an invoice. It is a general reference, not legal advice.

Coverage and limits for Singapore: company records only (no officers, no registry-compliance signal, no share capital, no cessation date, no region, no VAT (GST) number, no insolvency notices); local companies, limited liability partnerships and registered foreign company branches only, sole proprietorships, general partnerships and limited partnerships are never served; liquidation, judicial management and receivership show in the company status. Contains information from ACRA Information on Corporate Entities and Entities Registered with ACRA from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) via data.gov.sg, made available under the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0 (https://data.gov.sg/open-data-licence). Adapted by Prometiam; not an official ACRA extract.

The main legal forms in Singapore

FormAbbreviationKindWhat to know
Exempt private company limited by sharesPte. Ltd.Private limited companyAn exempt private company limited by shares.
Private company limited by sharesPte. Ltd.Private limited companyA private company limited by shares, abbreviated Pte. Ltd.
Public company limited by guaranteeLtd.Public limited company (joint-stock company)A public company limited by guarantee.
Public company limited by sharesLtd.Public limited company (joint-stock company)A public company limited by shares.
Limited liability partnershipLLPLimited liability partnershipA limited liability partnership registered with ACRA. Sole proprietorships, general partnerships and limited partnerships are never served.
Foreign company branch-Branch of a foreign companyA branch of a foreign company registered in Singapore.

How a legal form appears in the API

Every company object carries four legal-form fields: legal_form (the standard abbreviation, null when the form is not mapped), legal_form_family (the cross-country family, so a private limited company compares across countries), local_legal_form (the register’s own value or code as stored) and local_legal_form_name (the register’s name for it, where it publishes one). Each form below shows the values the API returns for it.

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer rk_live_..." \
  "https://api.prometiam.com/functions/v1/risk-api/companies/search?country=SG&name=<company name>"

# each result carries, for example:
#   "legal_form": "Pte. Ltd."
#   "legal_form_family": "private_limited_company"

Private limited companies in Singapore

Private limited company: a company with its own legal personality whose owners are, as a rule, not personally liable for its debts and whose shares are not offered to the public.

Exempt private company limited by shares (Pte. Ltd.)

An exempt private company limited by shares.

  • Abbreviations: Pte. Ltd.
  • In the API: legal_form Pte. Ltd., legal_form_family private_limited_company, local_legal_form EPC

Private company limited by shares (Pte. Ltd.)

A private company limited by shares, abbreviated Pte. Ltd.

  • Abbreviations: Pte. Ltd.
  • In the API: legal_form Pte. Ltd., legal_form_family private_limited_company, local_legal_form PCS

Unlimited exempt private company

  • Variant: unlimited liability
  • In the API: legal_form Unlimited exempt private company, legal_form_family private_limited_company, local_legal_form UEP

Unlimited private company

  • Variant: unlimited liability
  • In the API: legal_form Unlimited private company, legal_form_family private_limited_company, local_legal_form UPC

Public limited companies in Singapore

Public limited company (joint-stock company): a company with its own legal personality and share capital whose owners are, as a rule, not personally liable; the family of forms that can usually raise money from the public.

Public company limited by guarantee (Ltd.)

A public company limited by guarantee.

  • Variant: limited by guarantee
  • Abbreviations: Ltd.
  • In the API: legal_form Ltd., legal_form_family public_limited_company, local_legal_form PCG

Public company limited by shares (Ltd.)

A public company limited by shares.

  • Abbreviations: Ltd.
  • In the API: legal_form Ltd., legal_form_family public_limited_company, local_legal_form PUS

Unlimited public company

  • Variant: unlimited liability
  • In the API: legal_form Unlimited public company, legal_form_family public_limited_company, local_legal_form UPU

Limited liability partnerships in Singapore

Limited liability partnership: a partnership in which the members’ liability is limited.

Limited liability partnership (LLP)

A limited liability partnership registered with ACRA. Sole proprietorships, general partnerships and limited partnerships are never served.

  • Abbreviations: LLP
  • In the API: legal_form LLP, legal_form_family limited_liability_partnership, local_legal_form LLP

Branches of foreign companies in Singapore

Branch of a foreign company: an establishment or registration of a company incorporated abroad.

Foreign company branch

A branch of a foreign company registered in Singapore.

  • In the API: legal_form Foreign company branch, legal_form_family branch_of_foreign_company, local_legal_form FCB

Look up a SG company

See the Singapore company data API guide for the register behind these records and the free UEN lookup to try an identifier. For the register states that go with these forms, read company status in Singapore. All countries: company legal forms.

Check legal forms in your own data

Search by name or identifier and read legal_form, legal_form_family and local_legal_form on every result, or filter a bulk list by family.

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Frequently asked questions

What does Pte. Ltd. mean in Singapore?
Pte. Ltd. stands for Exempt private company limited by shares. An exempt private company limited by shares. In the Prometiam API it is returned as legal_form "Pte. Ltd." with legal_form_family "private_limited_company".
What does Pte. Ltd. mean in Singapore?
Pte. Ltd. stands for Private company limited by shares. A private company limited by shares, abbreviated Pte. Ltd. In the Prometiam API it is returned as legal_form "Pte. Ltd." with legal_form_family "private_limited_company".
How do I find out which legal form a SG company has?
Search GET /companies/search?country=SG&name=... and read legal_form (the standard abbreviation), legal_form_family and local_legal_form (the register's own value) on each result.