In judicial management, the company’s directors and secretary must give the judicial manager a statement of affairs within 28 days after the company receives the judicial manager’s notice, or within a longer period of up to 2 months if the judicial manager allows. Under section 106 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018, it must show the company’s assets, debts, liabilities, creditors and securities as at the date it entered judicial management, and be verified by affidavit. The judicial manager lodges it with ACRA, and it can be used in evidence against the people who make it.
This guide is for directors, company secretaries, finance staff and contractors of a Singapore company in judicial management who have been asked to prepare or verify its statement of affairs, and it reflects the law as at 6 November 2026.
Why does a judicial manager need a statement of affairs?
Judicial management is a rescue procedure in which a licensed insolvency practitioner, the judicial manager, takes over the company’s affairs, business and property while a moratorium holds creditors back. Our guide to judicial management in Singapore explains how a company gets there and what the moratorium stops. This article deals with one document the directors must produce once it does.
A judicial manager arrives with no history of the business. The statement of affairs is the directors’ sworn account of where the company stood on the day it entered judicial management: what it owns, what it owes, to whom, and which creditors hold security. The judicial manager uses it to:
- see what assets are available to keep trading or to sell;
- identify every creditor who must receive notices;
- work out which creditors are secured; and
- judge whether the business can be rescued, or whether a sale would realise more than a liquidation.
The general requirements are explained in our guide to what a statement of affairs is. The judicial management version has its own rules, timing and audience.
Who must prepare and swear it?
Section 106(3) calls them the “relevant persons”. In the first instance they are:
- one or more of the persons who were directors on the date the company entered judicial management; and
- the person who was the company secretary on that date.
If those people are not able or willing to submit and verify the statement, the judicial manager may require it from others instead:
- any person who is or has been an officer of the company;
- any person who took part in forming the company within one year before it entered judicial management; and
- any person who is or has been employed by the company, under an employment contract or a contract for services, and who in the judicial manager’s opinion can give the information.
So a finance manager or an outsourced bookkeeper can be required to prepare and swear the statement if the directors cannot or will not.
What must the statement show?
Section 106(2) requires the statement to show, as at the date the company entered judicial management:
- particulars of the company’s assets, debts and liabilities;
- the names and addresses of its creditors;
- the securities held by each of those creditors;
- the dates on which each security was given; and
- any further information prescribed by regulations.
It must be verified by an affidavit (a written statement sworn or affirmed as true) of the relevant persons. Follow the form and format the judicial manager asks for. The required content is the same as in a court winding up, so our guide to what goes into a statement of affairs is a useful reference for organising receivables, assets, secured, preferential, unsecured and contingent claims.
Three points that are specific to judicial management
The cut-off date is the date of entry, not today. The business usually keeps trading after the judicial manager is appointed. New sales, new supplier invoices and payments made after entry belong to the judicial management period, not to the statement. Your ledgers must be cut off cleanly at the date of entry, which is harder for a trading business than for one that has stopped.
Values should be realistic, and the basis explained. A machine needed to keep the business running may be worth more to a buyer of the whole business than at a forced sale. Show the book value and your honest estimate of what could be realised, and explain how you reached it. Overstating values to make a rescue look viable is a serious mistake, because creditors will rely on the figures.
Contracts in progress need care. Ongoing projects, customer deposits, retention sums and work in progress are common in businesses that enter judicial management. List what was owed to and by the company at the date of entry, and note contracts that are still running.
How does it compare with a statement of affairs in a winding up?
| Point | Judicial management (s 106) | Court winding up (s 141) |
|---|---|---|
| Who receives it | The judicial manager | The Official Receiver or the liquidator |
| Deadline | 28 days after the company receives the judicial manager’s notice, extendable by the judicial manager to no more than 2 months | 14 days after the winding up order, extendable by the Official Receiver, liquidator or Court for special reasons |
| Date of the figures | The date the company entered judicial management | The date of the winding up order |
| Who prepares it | Directors and secretary; if unable or unwilling, officers, formation participants, or employees and contractors the judicial manager requires | Directors and secretary; or present or past officers and formation participants the Official Receiver or liquidator requires |
| Public filing | Lodged with ACRA by the judicial manager immediately on receipt | Filed in Court and lodged with ACRA within 7 days of receipt |
| Costs of preparing it | Paid by the judicial manager out of receipts, as the judicial manager considers reasonable, subject to appeal to the Court | Paid out of company assets, as the Official Receiver or liquidator considers reasonable, subject to appeal to the Court |
| Penalty for non-compliance | Fine up to S$10,000 plus a default penalty | Fine up to S$10,000, jail up to 12 months, or both, plus a default penalty |
The longer timeframe is not a reason to delay: the judicial manager needs the figures to prepare proposals for creditors.
How does the statement feed into the judicial manager’s proposals?
Under section 107 of the Act, the judicial manager must prepare a statement of proposals for achieving the purpose of the judicial management and send it to creditors. Under section 108 those proposals are put to a meeting of creditors for approval. The steps and timetable are explained in our article on the creditors’ meeting and approval of proposals.
The statement of affairs is the starting point for those proposals. If it understates liabilities, the proposals may promise creditors a return the company cannot deliver. If it misses a secured creditor, the plan may rest on assets the company cannot freely deal with. If creditors later find figures were wrong, confidence in the whole rescue can collapse, and a failed judicial management often ends in winding up.
What are the risks of getting it wrong?
- Failing to submit. A person who fails to comply with section 106 without reasonable excuse commits an offence, with a fine of up to S$10,000 and a default penalty (s 106(4)).
- Evidence against you. Section 106(5) states that the statement may be used in evidence against any person making it or concurring in making it.
- Material omissions. Section 234(1)(d) makes it an offence for a past or present officer of a company in judicial management to make a material omission in any statement relating to the company’s affairs, with a fine of up to S$10,000 or imprisonment of up to 2 years. Proving there was no intent to defraud is a defence.
- Refusing to cooperate. Section 243 requires officers and certain employees to give the judicial manager information and attend when reasonably required, with a fine of up to S$10,000 and up to S$200 a day for a continuing offence.
The statement can also expose earlier conduct, such as large payments to directors or debts incurred when the company was already in difficulty. Our guide to insolvent trading and directors’ personal liability explains that risk.
The statutory provisions are set out in the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018.
How should directors plan the 28 days?
- Confirm the start date. The 28 days run from when the company receives the judicial manager’s notice, so record that date in writing.
- Agree who prepares and who swears. Decide which directors and the secretary will verify the statement, and who on the finance side will do the groundwork.
- Close the books at the date of entry. Reconcile every bank account to that date and separate pre-entry and post-entry transactions.
- Build the creditor list from several sources. Use the ledger, supplier statements, loan agreements, ACRA charge records, CPF and IRAS statements, and any letters of demand or court claims.
- Value the assets and record the basis. Note book value, estimated realisable value and how each estimate was reached.
- Review a draft with the judicial manager. Raise uncertainties early rather than resolving them silently.
- Ask for more time if you need it, in writing. The judicial manager can extend the period, but not beyond 2 months.
- Swear the affidavit and keep a copy. Each person verifying the statement should read every page before swearing.
Which documents will you need?
- Bank statements for all accounts, reconciled to the date of entry
- Trial balance, general ledger, and debtor and creditor ageing reports at that date
- Fixed asset register, stock counts, and vehicle and equipment records
- Loan, hire purchase, lease and security documents, and ACRA charge particulars
- Customer contracts, deposits received and retention sums
- Payroll records, unpaid salaries and leave, and outstanding CPF contributions
- IRAS notices of assessment and GST returns
- Letters of demand, statutory demands and court or arbitration papers
Where records are incomplete, our guide to preparing a statement of affairs with incomplete records explains how to reconstruct figures and state estimates honestly.
What might this look like in practice?
Example: This is a hypothetical scenario. A Singapore interior fit-out company enters judicial management with eight live projects. Its two directors receive the judicial manager’s notice on 3 March. The finance manager resigned in January and the accounts were last closed in December.
The directors ask their outsourced accountant to reconcile the bank accounts to the date of entry and rebuild the creditor list from supplier statements and subcontractor claims. They find two subcontractors whose invoices were never entered, and a bank facility secured by a charge over receivables that the board had forgotten. They write to the judicial manager in the third week asking for two more weeks, explaining the missing December to February entries. The judicial manager allows a short extension within the 2-month limit.
The final statement lists the charge as a secured claim, shows each project’s retention sums separately, and explains in a note how work in progress was valued. The judicial manager can now build proposals on figures the directors can defend.
Frequently asked questions
Do directors still have a role once a judicial manager is appointed?
The judicial manager takes over the company’s affairs, business and property, so the directors no longer run the company day to day. They must still prepare the statement of affairs and cooperate with the judicial manager under section 243.
Can I be required to prepare the statement if I am only an employee or contractor?
Yes, if the directors and secretary are not able or willing to do it and the judicial manager considers you capable of giving the information. Section 106(3)(b) covers past and present employees and people engaged under a contract for services.
Will creditors see the statement of affairs?
The judicial manager must lodge a copy with ACRA immediately after receiving it, so you should assume it will be available. Its figures also inform the proposals sent to creditors.
Who pays for preparing it?
The judicial manager pays the reasonable costs and expenses of preparing the statement and affidavit out of the judicial manager’s receipts. What counts as reasonable is for the judicial manager to decide, subject to an appeal to the Court, so agree the scope of any outside help in advance.
What happens to the statement if judicial management fails and the company is wound up?
A winding up order triggers its own obligation to submit a statement of affairs as at the date of that order. The judicial management statement will usually be a useful starting point, but the figures must be brought up to date and sworn again. The Insolvency Office’s page on liquidation and winding up explains what follows.
Need help with a statement of affairs in judicial management?
Raffles Corporate Services can help directors prepare and fill in the statement of affairs for the judicial manager, including reconciling bank accounts to the date of entry, rebuilding the creditor and secured creditor lists and compiling the schedules from the company’s books.
If your company, or you as a director or shareholder, is dealing with judicial management and a statement of affairs deadline, contact the Raffles Corporate Services team at [email protected] or on WhatsApp at +65 8501 7133 or +65 9018 0072. We will help you understand the documents and deadlines. Where your matter needs a lawyer, we will refer you to a firm on our panel of Singapore law firms that regularly handles restructuring and insolvency. Raffles Corporate Services is a corporate services provider, not a law firm, and this article is general information, not legal advice.
The Raffles Corporate Services Editorial Team