Ong Khiaw Hong appointed as new Chief Executive of ACRA

Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam has appointed Mr Ong Khiaw Hong as the new Chief Executive (CE) of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) with effect from 1 April 2017.

Mr Ong is currently the Deputy Commissioner (Corporate and Services Group) at the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and will be CE – Designate, ACRA with effect from 1 March 2017.

He started his career in the Administrative Service, serving in the Education and Defence ministries. He joined the Inland Revenue Department in 1991 from the private sector and was the Director (Taxation) at the Ministry of Finance from July 2000 to June 2002.

Mr Ong graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration (Honours)(Economics) from the Victoria University of Wellington on the Colombo Plan Scholarship. He has a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

He also attended the International Tax Program at Harvard University A recipient of the Public Service Administration Medal (Gold) at the National Day Honours, Mr Ong has 32 years of extensive experience which spans across policy, operations, regulations and corporate governance in the corporate accounting and tax field.

Mr Kenneth Yap, who has been the CE ACRA since 1 February 2013, will relinquish his appointment with effect from 1 April 2017. Mr Yap, who is a Legal Service Officer, will return to the Singapore Legal Service to assume his next appointment.

Prior to this current apppointment, Mr Yap was the Divisional Director of the Legal Services Division at the Ministry of Manpower. His other postings in the Singapore Legal Service include the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Supreme Court Registry.