How to register a company incorporated in Singapore

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Written By Berry Mathew

In many countries in Asia, corruption and nepotism levels are very high so the business conditions force the business owner to waste their time, energy and money fighting the government red tape, corruption. This makes it difficult for the business owner to focus on growing the business, increasing revenues and sales. Hence many businesses would like to register their business in Singapore which has the best business conditions in Asia, so that they do not waste their time fighting corruption. They would like to find out how to register company incorporation in Singapore, so that they can make a decision on Singapore company registration.

Company name

The first step in registering a company is finalizing the name of the company. The company name should not be similar to the name of a company which is already registered in Singapore or trademarked names and the name will be rejected. It should also not have a misleading name related to sensitive categories like schools, nutrition, healthcare. In this case, the name will be reviewed by the relevant agency. In other cases, the name is usually approved. The process of approval of the name usually is completed within twenty minutes. There are tools available to check the availability of the company name.

Shareholders

The shareholders in the company are either individuals or a corporate entity. In Singapore each company should have at least one shareholder, who will purchase the shares. The shareholder can be locals or foreigners, and 100% foreign ownership of a company is allowed. For a Singapore company which is private limited, the companies act in Singapore, specifies that it should have at least one shareholder and a maximum of fifty shareholders. The shareholder details will appear in the public records. A director may not be a shareholder in some cases, though usually directors are shareholders.

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Directors

At least one director of the company should be resident in Singapore. The director can be a Singapore citizen, permanent resident or having an employment pass with a Singapore residential address. The company can also have additional local, foreign directors. The director should be at least eighteen years old, is not convicted for malpractice in the past, and should not be bankrupt. The company can have multiple foreign or local directors. Like shareholders, information about the directors will be published publicly. So for registering the company, the business should find a local director, especially if it is foreign owned.

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Registered address

Before registering the company should finalize the address for its registered office, since official documents and notices are sent to the company at that address. The records and registers which the company should maintain according to Singapore laws, will also be physically located at that address. Every registered Singapore company should have its own office address, though for some types of businesses, the company can use a residential address for the registered address. The company cannot use a post office box, virtual address, it can only use a physical address. There are service providers who can arrange for a suitable registered address for the company.