In July 2001, the Ministry for Trade and Industry introduced a Bill in Parliament to establish the Singapore Business Federation Act (2001), which was passed by Parliament and became law on 5 October 2001. SBF was then established on 1 April 2002 as the apex business chamber championing the interests of the Singapore business community in the areas of trade, investment and industrial relations both locally and overseas.

Under Section 5 of the SBF Act, all Singapore-registered companies with Paid-up Capital or Authorised Share Capital of SGD 0.5 million and above will be SBF statutory members.

The SBF Act can be found on Singapore Statutes Online.

SBF has introduced numerous local and overseas initiatives and programmes for the Singapore business community.  Please check out our website for the wide variety of initiatives and activities available for members. For more information on Membership Benefits, please refer to the Membership Benefits tab.

The annual subscription fees for Statutory Members are as follows:

*All fees are inclusive of 9% GST

The annual subscription fees for Associate Members are as follows:

*All fees are inclusive of 9% GST. 

The annual subscription fee is payable to SBF yearly in advance on or before 1st January of every calendar year.

Interest for late payment shall be chargeable on the unpaid fee from the due date until the date of actual payment. Arrears of annual subscription fee and interest on late payment may be recoverable from the member by an action for a debt in any court of competent jurisdiction. The monthly late interest charge stands at 2% above the bank’s prime rate per annum on the overdue accounts.

Statutory Membership is mandated by law under the Singapore Business Federation Act (2001). Statutory Membership is terminated under the following situations:

1.  the member is wound up, liquidated or deregistered under the Companies Act;
2. the Minister, by order under Section 5(2)(a) of the SBF Act, exempts the statutory member from membership to SBF; or
3. the amount of Paid-up / Authorised Share Capital of the local/foreign statutory member falls below the minimum prescribed requirements (less than SGD 0.5 million Paid-up capital) for membership to SBF.

Associate Membership may be terminated by giving at least one (1) month’s written notice of resignation. Please refer to the section on Associate Members in the Types of Memberships and Fees tab.

A member who ceases to be a member shall not be entitled to a refund of any part of the annual subscription fee paid for that calendar year.

If your company’s paid-up / authorised share capital is SGD 0.5 million and above, then your company is a Statutory Member under the Singapore Business Federation Act (2001). A notification of membership and subscription fee invoice will be sent to your company for your necessary action.

Any Singapore-registered local or foreign companies with paid-up / authorised share capital less than SGD 0.5 million, associations, chambers and societies registered in Singapore, business firms such as sole-proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability partnerships and government agencies, may apply to join SBF as Associate Members. All applications for Associate Membership are subject to approval. Any rejection of application may not be accompanied with reasons.

For more information on Membership Benefits, please refer to the Membership Benefits tab.

A company is eligible for membership exemption for the current year if it did not have any employee from 1 January to 31 December of the preceding year. If your company is a newly incorporated Company and did not have any employee from the Date of Incorporation at the point of exemption application, your company will also be eligible for membership exemption.

Supporting documents that are required in addition to the completed Exemption Application Form E include the most recent BizFile from ARCA, the latest annual filing with ACRA, fully audited accounts if the company has been incorporated for more than 2 years or latest unaudited accounts for exempt private companies / companies that are dormant or exempted from audit, consolidated management accounts for companies incorporated within its first 2 years, or Form E2 (Statutory Declaration).

Please refer to the list of supporting documents required for exemptions in the Membership Exemption tab.

We will not know if a company’s status has changed unless we are informed and have received documents to support this status. Hence, the company requesting for exemption has to apply for exemption on an annual basis to ensure that the information furnished to us is most up to date.

Based on the Singapore Business Federation (Exemption Order), Continuous Exemption will be granted for companies which have applied for three consecutive years of annual exemptions. Should there be any change to the company’s status with regards to staffing; the company will need to inform SBF as Continuous Exemption will cease to apply when the company employs an employee.

Members may choose to pay the membership subscription fee electronically via direct bank transfer, telegraphic transfer, GIRO, PayNow Corporate or by credit card and cheque. Please indicate the tax invoice number during electronic payment or at the back of your cheque to ensure traceability of your payment.

For types of Payment Options available, please refer to the Payment Options tab.

The bank details of SBF are stated on the reverse side of the invoice. You may also access SBF’s bank details from the Payment Options tab.

You may log in to the Members’ Portal to update your company and contact details. Please click here to access the Members' Portal. If you need help with updating, please email to [email protected] on the changes to be done.

Members may download the Appointment of Authorised Representative Form here.  Once completed, members may email it to [email protected] for updating.

If you have forgotten your login ID and/or password, please email to [email protected] to request for the login details or to reset passwords.

The Members’ Portal allows members to self-help in updating your basic company’s information, payment of annual subscription fee as well as in registering and paying for participation in SBF’s events.

Navigate to "Login" in the Members’ Portal and select "Sign Up" to create your account.

In accordance with the Singapore Business Federation Act (2001), every company which has a Paid-up / Authorised Share Capital of or above the amount of SGD 0.5 million shall be a Statutory Member of the SBF. As each subsidiary is registered as individual company, i.e. having different UEN as registered with ACRA, each subsidiary will be considered as a separate legal entity. There is no provision in the SBF Act for group membership.

In such case, the holding company and all the subsidiary companies are Statutory Members and annual subscription fee is payable by each company.

Please email us at [email protected] with supporting documents from ACRA showing proof that your company is winding up, for our review.

Please email the latest BizFile from ACRA showing the correct or updated paid-up or authorised share capital) to [email protected]. We will update our records upon verification of the information received and issue a revised invoice (if applicable) for your necessary follow up.

You may call the Membership Operations Department at 6827 6844 or reach out to us using our Enquiry Form.