APAC Regulatory Complexity Creates 29% Higher Workload for Multinationals

Business Wire

5 hours ago

SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Multinational organizations face significantly higher operational demands in Asia-Pacific, with entities requiring 28.7% more management tasks than the global average, according to new data released in the Asia-Pacific Special Report by Mercator ® by Citco (Mercator).
The analysis reveals stark contrasts in processing times - from 11 days in digitally advanced Singapore to 64 days in Macau - creating unprecedented challenges for corporate secretarial teams managing multi-jurisdictional portfolios. The findings, representing $USD10.37 billion in market capital, draw from actual operational data across 180 jurisdictions and 20 different types of corporate secretarial activities.
Regional Position
Activity Level: 5.37 tasks per entity vs global average of 4.18
APAC entities average 5.37 tasks versus the global 4.18, reflecting complex regulatory requirements and varying governance approaches. While regional hubs offer streamlined processes, the overall management burden remains significantly higher, often requiring local expertise.
Governance: Highest global volume of board and shareholder decisions
APAC leads globally in board-level activity, with triple the board and shareholder tasks compared to European counterparts. This reflects the region's distinct approach where boards serve as active management tools, with many markets requiring local directors and in-country representatives.
Cost: 14% above North America, 47% below Middle East & Africa
Entity management costs position APAC 14% above North American averages while maintaining a 47% advantage against Middle East & Africa. This reflects APAC's uniquely diverse market composition - from Malaysia's competitive rates to South Korea's premium service environment.
Jurisdictional Rankings
New Zealand leads the overall cost and time efficiency rankings, with multinationals benefiting from its streamlined digital processes and straightforward compliance requirements. Singapore tops processing speed, while Malaysia emerges as most cost-efficient.
At the other end of the scale, South Korea, China, and Indonesia rank lowest with the most costly and complex, demanding careful planning and necessitating specific local expertise.
Kariem Abdellatif, Head of Mercator ® by Citco comments:
"Our analysis reveals a stark reality in Asia-Pacific: organizations face a 29% higher workload managing their entities compared to global averages, driven by a growing digital divide across the region. While markets like New Zealand have fully embraced and embedded technology-enabled processes, others like Japan maintain more traditional requirements that significantly increase complexity and resources needed. This creates two distinct operational realities for multinational organizations.
What's particularly challenging for global in-house teams is navigating these extremes both within a single region and a single team - from 11-day processing times in Singapore to 64 days in Macau. The contrast is striking: while one jurisdiction accepts simple e-signature execution, another requires multiple sequential approvals in a foreign language just to process a single document. As regulatory requirements evolve and digital transformation accelerates, this gap will likely widen further, making strategic entity management crucial for operational success."
To read the full report please visit: https://mercator.net/our-thinking/publications/asia-pacific-special-report/
Notes to editors:
About the report
Part of Mercator's Entity Portfolio Management report series – the Asia-Pacific: Special Report provides direct insight into the cost and time required to manage entities across APAC.
Unlike survey and sentiment-based reports, this report combines real-life data, with expert insights from our jurisdictional and cross-jurisdictional experts. This approach delivers benchmarks for multinational companies, with jurisdictions ranked by cost efficiency, time efficiency, and overall performance scores that combine both metrics to provide a comprehensive review of entity management across the region.
The data
The statistics that form the basis of this report cover the period between April 2024 to May 2025 and are drawn directly from Mercator ® by Citco's proprietary EPM technology platform – Entica ® – which individually records all the activities undertaken for clients.
The data represents approximately $USD10.37 billion in market capital, spread across major business sectors in APAC. The global data covers over 180 jurisdictions and 20 different types of corporate secretarial activities. APAC's jurisdictional rankings feature the 17 most active jurisdictions in APAC (meeting a threshold of minimum five tasks or four entities).
About Mercator ® by Citco
Mercator by Citco (Mercator) is the pioneer of Entity Portfolio Management and a strategic partner for many organizations with a global footprint. Mercator's unrivalled knowledge and focus on entity management combined with our proprietary technology 'Entica ® ' is evolving the way multinational companies view and manage their portfolio of entities. Mercator's services cover over 180 jurisdictions via a single-point-of-contact model, delivered by highly-experienced, client-dedicated teams, supported by local operations that cover all time zones.
Find out more at: https://mercator.net/
About the Citco group of companies (Citco)
The Citco group of companies (Citco) is a network of independent companies worldwide. These companies are leading providers of asset-servicing solutions to the global alternative investment industry. With $2 trillion in assets under administration and operations spanning across 36 countries, Citco's unique culture of innovation and client-driven solutions have provided Citco's clients with a trusted partner for more than four decades.