Business incorporation
Nominee Director
If you are a foreigner and you’d like to run your business from overseas without relocating to Singapore, you can simply go through the same incorporation process required for local residents, but you must appoint a local resident director to manage your business.
You are at liberty to incorporate any type of business structure, including sole proprietorship, partnership, or any Limited Liability Company (LLC).
What is a nominee director?
To start with, the Singapore Companies Act stipulates that if your company is 100% foreign owners, you will need the help of a nominee director to help you run the business. The Singapore Government maintains that the nominee director is the one held accountable to all statutory requirements.
The nominee director may either be one of your local contacts whom you have established a relationship of mutual trust and understanding with, or you can appoint a totally new face. He or she must have a Singapore residential address and can either be:
- A Singapore citizen, or
- A permanent resident.
A corporate secretarial service provider like Tianlong Services can provide you with a qualified individual to work as a nominee director for your newly incorporated company.
Role of a nominee director
Your nominee director works together with the corporate secretary and is legally responsible for:
Overseeing Annual General Meetings (AGMs);
Filing Annual Returns to Accounting Compliance Regulatory Authority (ACRA);
Submitting corporate taxation returns to Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).
What are the Risks of Using a Nominee Director Service ?
In our experience as an ACRA license corporate service provider, we have not encountered any issue or risk with hiring a nominee director thus far. This is because we have all our customers covered in the entire process.
However, our professional advice is that all nominee directors must be appointed with a legal written arrangement. This is to safeguard you as a business owner and your company as a legal entity. The risks of not using proper documents to set up the arrangement is that you incur damaged which can’t be controlled.
The nominee director may proceed to set up the company’s bank account, complete the taxation registration, and obtain the required licenses for the purposes of business operations. This will save time for the owner who can now concentrate on growing the business. It will also save the owner much money.
ACRA states, “A director must make decisions objectively, act in the best interest of the company, avoid conflicts of interest, and be honest and diligent in carrying out his duties.” Failure to comply with the statutory compliance is an offence that results in fines, penalty and prosecution.
Why Hire a Nominee Director through us?
We provide Nominee director services for both brand-new companies and existing ones. Hiring a nominee director through Tianlong Services is ideal because while he helps you meet statutory requirements, he is banned from interfering with your decisions. He doesn’t come to the office, isn’t present at negotiations and has no say during your internal meetings. The real directors run your company while the nominee is only there to comply with the law.
We have a package that suits both new clients and existing clients. Contact us today and make appointment with our company incorporation experts.