Similar to the identification number of individual persons, businesses and local companies are also given a unique alphanumeric upon registration with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). This is known as the business registration number. However, in 2009 the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the ACRA together launched an initiative to provide a unique identification number, UEN, to identify each registered entity so that they can conveniently interact with different government entities under this one identification number. Before the introduction of the UEN the business entities had to use various identification numbers when they interacted with different agencies.