Are electronic signatures legal in Singapore?

What does the Electronic Transactions Act require?

Section 8 of the Act (2020 Revised Edition) is the signature rule. Where a rule of law requires a signature, an electronic record meets it if a method is used to identify the person and indicate their intention about the information, and the method is either as reliable as appropriate for the purpose, in the light of all the circumstances including any agreement, or proven in fact to have done that job by itself or with other evidence.

Section 5 preserves party autonomy: parties can agree to exclude electronic signatures or impose extra requirements on how a contract is signed. Section 11 confirms that a contract is not invalid because it was formed using electronic records.

In 2021 the Act was amended to adopt the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records, which removed negotiable instruments, documents of title and bills of lading from the exclusion list and created a regime for electronic transferable records.

Electronic, secure and digital signatures

Singapore has three levels. An electronic signature is any signature meeting section 8. A secure electronic signature, under section 18, is one that can be verified, through a specified security procedure or a commercially reasonable procedure agreed by the parties, to have been unique to the signer, capable of identifying them, created under their sole control, and linked to the record so that a change would invalidate it.

Section 19 gives secure signatures presumptions in court: that the signature belongs to the person it correlates to, and that it was affixed with the intention of signing or approving the record. The Second and Third Schedules make a digital signature backed by a certificate from an accredited certification authority a specified security procedure.

What have Singapore's courts said?

In SM Integrated Transware Pte Ltd v Schenker Singapore (Pte) Ltd [2005] SGHC 58 the High Court held that a typed name at the end of an email could satisfy the signature requirement under the Civil Law Act for a contract about land. The court focused on whether the name was put there to authenticate the message.

That approach still guides how Singapore courts treat simple electronic signatures: they look for evidence that the person meant to sign, and for a reliable method of identifying them.

• The final signed PDF, sealed so edits are visible
• How each signer was identified
• Timestamps, IP address and device data
• Any agreement between the parties on how documents may be signed

What does the First Schedule exclude?

Section 4 says the Act does not apply to the matters in the First Schedule. In the consolidation in force from 8 January 2025 there are four items. A 2025 bill on electronic conveyancing would change the property items, so check Singapore Statutes Online for the current text before relying on this list.

• Creating or executing a will
• Creating, performing or enforcing an indenture, declaration of trust or power of attorney, except implied, constructive and resulting trusts and lasting powers of attorney under the Mental Capacity Act 2008
• Any contract for the sale or other disposition of immovable property or any interest in it
• Conveying immovable property or transferring any interest in it

Where Sign PDF fits

Sign PDF provides electronic signatures under section 8 with evidence of the method used: a six-digit code sent to each signer's email, explicit consent to sign electronically, and a certificate of completion showing IP address, approximate location, device and UTC times. The PDF is sealed with a digital signature, a SHA-256 fingerprint and an independent DigiCert timestamp, with a hash-chained audit trail.

We are not an accredited certification authority and do not claim our signatures are secure electronic signatures under section 18. Sign PDF suits NDAs, employment contracts, service agreements, purchase orders and board resolutions. Because tenancy agreements and options to purchase can be dispositions of interests in immovable property, check the First Schedule before e-signing them. This page is general information, not legal advice; ask a Singapore lawyer about property or trust documents.