All companies in Singapore must be registered with the Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) and abide by the Companies Act. While there are five different entities to choose from, the most common and flexible business entity that can be set up in Singapore is the private limited company.
Setting up a private limited (PTE. LTD.) company and start doing business in Singapore is a very simple process. To do so, you must complete an application form and filing fee, submit it for approval and start trading.
The most popular and quickest way to do it is to use the online service of a formation agent such as SG Formations. As an approved Company Filing Agent, we are able to offer online company packages for private limited by shares. The whole process is carried out online, so you don’t have do anything but sign these documents and it takes only a matter of minutes to complete.
To establish a company in Singapore, you should first decide on several things and ensure that certain items are prepared prior to incorporation:
- Company name
- Brief description of business activities
- Shareholders' particulars
- Directors' particulars
- Registered address
- Company secretary particulars
- Constitution
- Your company name needs to be approved before incorporation.
- You can have several directors but at least one local resident director in Singapore. He or she will only be a director on paper to meet the requirements of the law. Both resident and non-resident directors need to be at least 18 years old, not bankrupt, and free of any malpractice charges in the past.
- You can have maximum number of shareholders limited to 50, which may or may not be directors. Shareholders can consist of both local and non-local individuals or companies.
- You need to appoint a company secretary who must be a resident of Singapore within 6 months of your incorporated.
- You need to possess a minimum of S$0 worth of paid-up share capital, S$1 worth of issued share capital to register your Singapore company and it is not required to produce evidence that the minimum issued share capital is in a bank account.
