Singapore is one of the hottest business destinations in the world and this is the reason we are seeing an increase in the number of local as well as foreign investors turning up here and getting their company registered.

Getting a company registration in Singapore is a well-regulated process and requires deep know-how of the process to get their company registered smoothly. There are certain requirements for it and the newly registered company has to meet some conditions as well.

In this Incorporation Service in Singapore guide, we will cover every step of the process that you need to know to successfully register your company and operate your business in Singapore.

Requirements for Registration:

Before you could go for registration, you need to be aware of what the process demands so that you can make suitable arrangements beforehand and then apply for the registration.

Here are all the requirements that you need to fulfill for your registration:

1. Business Name:

To register your company, you have to think of a name for it first. Once you have a name, you need to get it approved from ACRA to proceed with it.

2. Resident Company Director:

The government obligates businesses to have at least one direction who is a resident in order to incorporate the company.

The allows you to become a company director if you meet any of the following criteria:

You are a Singaporean local
You have Singaporean PR
You hold a Dependent Pass, Employment Pass, or an EntrePass

3. Foreign Directors:

Once your business has a resident director, you can appoint as many local or foreign directors as you want. The only condition is that the directors are 18 years or older and have a clean record.

4. Shareholders:

The government allows you to have a maximum of 50 shareholders (local or foreign) in your company who may or may not be the company directors. The shareholders can be persons or other companies.

5. Shared Capital:

For company registration in Singapore, there is no condition of minimum paid-up capital. However, you will require a shared capital of a minimum of S$ 1.

6. Resident Company Secretary:

Just like the resident director, your company is required to have a resident company secretary who cannot be a shareholder or a director of the company and must be appointed within 6 months after registration.

7. Company Location:

For company registration, your business needs to have a local address in Singapore as your office or operational center which is a physical location. A P.O Box will not qualify as a company address.

8. Other Requirements:

Foreigners investing in Singapore need to meet the above-mentioned requirement as well as some additional requirements of hiring an accounting firm, law firm, or corporate service provider.

These companies help in the registration as well as provide or serve as the local directors and company secretary to fulfill the requirements of registration.

Registration Process:

Once you have fulfilled all the requirements, the actual registration process begins, which is quite smooth and swift especially if you obtain Incorporation services in Singapore from a competent corporate service provider like Aglow Corporate Services.

The process is digitalized and usually competes in just a matter of hours after name approval, which might take a few weeks. Here is how it will look in 3 steps:

1. Approval of Company Name:

First things first, you will need to get your company name approved from ACRA which will check your suggested name for the following things:

Your name must not be copied or closely identical to some other company
No other company has an objection to you acquiring that name
The name does not offend anybody, contain any obscene words or have racial remarks, etc.
It does not trespass or violates a trademark of some other company
For some companies, such as banks, media, legal and school, the company name might require further vetting from other government institutions

It is suggested that you keep at least two to three company names in your mind so that the process does not get delayed upon rejection of one name and you can quickly come up with another name.

Once your name is approved, you need to incorporate your company within two months from approval otherwise your company name will be revoked and be up for grabs for others to take. You will also have to go through the proper channel to acquire that name again.

2. Fulfilling Requirements on Paper:

You already know the requirements and you would have made arrangements for them by now but that would not be all; you also have to prove it on paper for the record to get a company registration in Singapore.

Here are some documents that you need to prepare:

You will need to get a letter of consent signed by the resident director for government to see that you fulfill the requirement.
You will need another letter of consent from the company secretary for the same reasons.
You will need to prepare your company constitution to show what rules and regulations you will operate under. This is where you can use the help of a law firm again who will draft one for you unless you want to operate under the standard constitution provided by ACRA.
You will also need to provide the identities as well as residential addresses of all of the company’s shareholders.

3. Registration:

The only thing left to do now is to get your company registration in Singapore and it can be done online within a few hours.

The Incorporation service in Singapore might take an extra few weeks if ACRA sends it for approval from further vetting from additional agencies.

As soon as your company gets registered, you or your corporate service provider will receive a confirmation e-mail from ACRA which will contain the following things:

Business Profile
Certificate of Incorporation

After registration, you will be all set to start your company and get access to facilities including, opening a company bank account, making contractual deals, signing lease contracts, and getting subscriptions to services like internet and telephone.

How to Register a Company in Singapore- Step-by-step Guide 2021