Tokyo SME Recovers from Compliance Crisis After Provider Failure

Client Profile

Sakura Digital Solutions, a Tokyo-based IT consulting firm with a 12-person Singapore subsidiary providing software development services to regional clients. The company had used a low-cost corporate secretary provider since incorporating in Singapore five years earlier. Annual revenue from the Singapore entity was approximately S$3.2M.

The Challenge

Sakura discovered — during a client's vendor due diligence process — that their previous corporate secretary had failed to file annual returns with ACRA for two consecutive years, had not held AGMs, and had allowed the company's registered filing agent authorization to lapse. The Singapore entity was facing potential strike-off proceedings from ACRA, late filing penalties exceeding S$6,000, and two employee work passes were at risk of non-renewal due to the compliance gaps. The discovery came at the worst possible time — during a major contract renewal with their largest client.

Our Approach

NovaLink executed an emergency compliance remediation within the first week: we filed for corporate secretary takeover with ACRA, obtained a 60-day extension on the strike-off proceedings, and submitted a comprehensive remediation plan. We then worked backwards through 18 months of missing filings — preparing and filing two years of annual returns, drafting retrospective AGM minutes with proper board resolutions, and coordinating with IRAS to ensure tax filings (which had been submitted but contained errors from the previous provider) were corrected via amended assessments. We engaged directly with MOM to explain the compliance gap and successfully renewed both Employment Passes. As part of the recovery, we provided Sakura with our first-year bundle — a new company domain, professional email setup, and a refreshed company website — to help rebuild their professional image after the reputational damage from the compliance failures.

Results

• All ACRA filings brought current within 60 days — strike-off proceedings withdrawn
• Late filing penalties reduced from S$6,400 to S$1,200 through ACRA appeal
• Both Employment Passes renewed by MOM without interruption
• Major client contract renewed after successful compliance verification