Incorporating a company in Singapore is fast, easy and free from unnecessary red-tape. Singapore is consistently ranked as one of the best places in the world to do business. This guide describes the requirements and procedures for registering a private limited company in Singapore. It describes the following:
- Requirements for registration of Singapore company
- Registration for a Singapore Company
- The documents you need before registering for the company
- Government documents are available upon registration of the company
- Works after the company is registered
This article describes the Singapore company law regarding the requirements and procedures for registering a company in Singapore.
Requirements for registration of Singapore Company
The registration requirements of the Singapore Company are:
Shareholding. An organization must have a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 50 shareholders who may be local or foreign individuals. Shareholders can be natural persons or corporate entities.
Share the capital. The minimum paid-up capital of a company is S $ 1 is that a company can increase its share capital at any time by injecting additional capital.
Director. A Singaporean resident and a foreigner can be the director of a Singapore company. Corporate managers are not allowed. A company must have at least one Singapore-based residential director. A Singaporean resident is defined as someone who is a Singaporean citizen, a permanent resident of Singapore, or a holder of a job pass.
Company Secretary. A company must appoint a qualified company secretary within the company’s company month. The secretary of the organization must be a natural person and a resident of Singapore.
Registered Address. Each company must have a local registered address in Singapore where the company will keep all its statutory documents. The address cannot be a PO Box.
Company Name. The company name must be approved before proceeding with the registration of the company.
Registration requirements of the company
The registration process is online, fast and efficient. There are three main works:
- Name approval
- Document preparation
- Company registration
And here are two government fees:
- S $ 15 name approval fee
- S registration fee is $ 300
Step 1: Get the company name approved
All companies in Singapore must first have their name approved by the ACRA before registering. The following is a simple online method of name approval and the company’s guidelines:
- The name may not be identical to the existing business in Singapore
- The name must not infringe any trademark
- The name cannot be obscene or obscene
- The name must not have been reserved by another company
Key things to remember about the name approval process:
- If a company name follows the ACRA rules, it is usually approved in less than an hour.
- If a name is a regular business term such as “finance”, “legal”, “law”, “broker” or “school”, it may be passed on to another government authority for subsequent approval. This can delay the name approval process by several weeks.
- Once approved, a company can save up to 120 days as a name. If the name is not included in that period, the name is released and probably saved by someone else.
Step 2: Prepare the company registration document
After approval of the name and before applying for registration a company must prepare the following documents:
Documents required by the ACRA:
- The formation of the organization, formerly known as the Articles Association. You may decide to accept the Constitution of the Singapore Company is available from the ACRA, which is acceptable to most companies and has conditions that are considered fair to all parties involved.
- Signed consent for each manager as director
- Agreement signed by the Secretary of the Company to act as the Secretary of the Company
- Identification and residential address details for each of the company’s shareholders and officers
Knowing your customer (KYC) as your corporate service provider (CSP) following international AML rules requires due diligence and usually requires at least the following supporting information:
- Identification and verification of address proof documents
- Professional background of stakeholders and executives of the proposed company
- Note that the exact list of required documents may vary from CSP to CSP based on their internal procedures.
Step 3: Register with ACRA, Registrar of Singapore Company
Once the attachment documents are ready, a company can be officially registered with the ACRA. The registration process is conducted online and takes less than an hour. In rare cases, if the company’s registration is to be forwarded to another government agency for further monitoring, the process may take several weeks.
Company registration support documents
To smooth the process, it is best to make the following documents available before you start the article. If you are unable to obtain some of these documents easily, please contact us and we can offer alternatives.
For individual shareholders
For each manager, shareholder and beneficiary of the proposed company:
- Copy of the passport
- NRIC or residence certificate (for Singapore residents only)
- Proof of residential address (e.g. driver’s license, last service account, rental agreement, etc.)
- Short professional background. This can be in the form of a resume (CV), a link to a biography or the person’s LinkedIn profile.
To shareholders in companies
If the shareholder is a corporate entity, the following documents will be required for the corporate entity:
Registration certificate issued by the Registrar of Companies registered with the Company
Exclude a company from the membership register of a company with the following registered jurisdiction containing the following information:
- Company name, registration number and registered address
- Details of the repaid capital and all shareholders and directors of
- A company engaged in business activities
People approved by the company director the shares include the following decision:
- Approval for holding of shares in the offered company in Singapore
- Appoint a licensed party to sign the company’s founding document in Singapore on behalf of the shareholder company
Proprietary structure chart that identifies the ultimate beneficiary owners (UBOs) of the stock holding company. Identification documents for key UBOs may be required for due diligence at KYC.
Official documents are available upon registration of the company
Structure of the company
When registering a company must accept the constitution of the company, formerly known as Memorandums of Articles (MoA). New entities can create a custom constitution or use the constitution of a model agency that the Singapore government provides.
The Constitution of the Constitution provides the rules and procedures that govern the organization. Furthermore, it outlines the purpose of the company and the rights and responsibilities of the company. The minimum requirements for drafting a constitution must be addressed:
- Name of the company
- A statement released that its members’ liability is limited
- Full name, address and occupation of the Company’s first shareholders
- The statement stated that the first shareholders wanted to form a proposed company in accordance with the terms of the constitution and agreed to take a number of shares described in the capital of the company.
In fact, a general constitution also outlines the rules that the company governs on a daily basis:
- Issue and sale of shares
- Organization Meeting
- Director of the organization
- Company Secretary
- Company seal
- Financial statements
- Payable
- Turn-up
Documents issued by the ACRA regarding successful registration
Upon successful registration of the company, ACRA will provide the following documents:
Certificate of Company
- The ACRA has issued an e-Certificate of Incorporation, an official ACRA email containing:
- A statement that includes the company
A unique entity number (UN) has been issued on the date of company establishment
This e-Certificate is sufficient in Singapore and acceptable for all company needs such as opening a bank account, dealing with other parties, etc.
A company may also purchase a set of hard-copy certificates from the ACRA at any time after the company. This national certificate is not required in Singapore, it may be necessary when doing business Singapore with foreign counterparts, foreign government agencies, embassies etc. Most companies will get this certificate when needed.
Company Business Profile (BizProfile)
BizProfile (often called Agency Extract) is a PDF document issued by the ACRA with the following key details about the agency:
- Company identification details such as company name, registration number (known as unique entity number or UN), date of addition, etc.
- Important work
- Sharing the capital
- Director details
- Details of the company secretary
- Shareholders details
- Replacement address
- Compliance status
The company works after it is registered
After you register the company, you can immediately start a formal business by the name of it. There are some inclusion activities that you should complete below:
- Open a corporate bank account for your company. There are several options for this national account in Singapore. Upon your inclusion, our team will recommend the banks to your needs and introduce you to the bank’s executives.
- Apply for a business license if needed. Singapore’s business environment has minimal bureaucracy and most industries do not require licenses. However, if your business is licensed, we can help you achieve it.
- If you or a member of your foreign team plans to relocate to Singapore, apply for a suitable visa. Again, we can help you do this.
- Make sure you comply with Singapore’s corporate rules on an ongoing basis. We can provide services to reduce the burden of regulatory, financial, tax compliance and corporate governance so you can focus on managing your business and enjoying the results of your hard work.