Looking for Assistance With Establishing Your Business in Singapore? We Are Here to Take Care of It All for You!

These are some information on what is required to set up a local company as follows: 

Share capital - The minimum share capital is S$1.

Foreign shareholding - There are no restrictions on foreign shareholdings. (i.e. can be wholly owned by foreigners)

Directorship - At least one local resident director is required; kindly note the requirements for a local resident. 

Registered address - A company must have registered office in Singapore that must be open and accessible to the public during regular office hours.

The Constitution - Regarding The Constitution, we will be using a standard template from the local regulatory.

Company Secretary - As per Section 171  of the Singapore Companies Act, every Company must appoint a qualified company secretary within six months of its incorporation. In the case of a sole director/shareholder, you should note that the same person cannot act as the company secretary. The company secretary must be a natural person who is ordinarily resident in Singapore. 

Bank account opening - Most banks in Singapore will require a first face to face meeting with the directors of the Company as part of their KYC procedures. However, due to the current situation, kindly be informed that you do not need to be present for the bank account opening. However, some banks would still require to do a video call for their KYC checks and that they would require all the documents to be notarized and an original copy to send to them.

The entire incorporation process can be completed within 1-2 weeks, depending on the promptness in providing the required documents.

According to The Singapore Companies Act, every Singapore company must file specific reports to relevant government bodies each year. These annual compliance requirements are mandatory and consist of the following:

• Estimated Chargeable Income ("ECI") Filing The Company is required to report its Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) by filing an EDI Form with tax authorities within three months of the financial year-end date. The revenue to be declared in the ECI form refers to a company's primary source of income. DO note that by filing your ECI in time, the Company may benefit from carrying out an instalment plan.
• Preparation of Statements and Audit of Accounts The company will need to prepare its financial accounts and compile a financial statement to follow Singapore's Financial Reporting Standards. If the company is required to have its accounts audited, the appointed auditor must be contacted to get the accounts audited on a timely basis.
• Annual General Meeting ("AGM") and Annual Return ("AR") Filing The Company must hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) within six months from the financial year-end and file the Annual Return with ACRA every year within one month of the AGM date.
• Annual Corporate Income Tax Filing Each Singapore company must file its annual tax return - Form C with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) by November 30 of the following year. 

The term “local resident” here refers to a Singapore citizen/Permanent Resident/Employment pass holder. Certain approved pass holders - such as Employment Pass, EntrePass etc., can be considered a “local resident”, in which approval is under the local authority's discretion. The director cannot be bankrupt or persons convicted of dishonesty. There must be at least one shareholder and one director. They can be the same person. However, most companies opt to have at least two directors as banks and other financial institutions usually require two signatories.

Takeover: Upon your agreement on the quotation fee, we will request from you information on your existing  corporate secretary such as the name of the company, who to liaise with for takeover of records, the email address and contact number (if any) and to prepare a letter of termination & letter of authorization and email them to you for arranging of a director's signature. Upon receiving scanned signed copies of these letters, we will assist you in liaising directly with the existing corporate secretary for the takeover of records.

Amendment of shareholders: It depends on whether there will be an addition of new shareholders or a transfer of shares from the current shareholders(s) to a new shareholders(s) or existing shareholders(s) to existing shareholders(s). 

Please note that there will be a separate service fee for this.