Singapore is one of the countries with the highest prospects for starting up a business, whether one is a resident of the country or even a foreigner. However, often times it is confusing and seemingly difficult to start with all the regulations and laws that are binding businessmen who aspire to build a company in Singapore. There are several steps and rules that must be taken into account prior to starting a company in the country.
The first step one must go through is company registration.
To register a company, first, a company name should be settled. Upon choosing a name, one must be careful so that it would ensure the approval of the name by the Singaporean government. At the same time, it is expected for the name to be unique and easy to remember while avoiding copyright and certain words. Some words if included in a company name will be slightly trickier to be approved, such as finance, law, media, and bank. Those words—if possible—are to be avoided for a quicker process.
Next, one must recruit company/organization staff. There are certain individuals that must be included in the organization, namely a director, a shareholder, and a secretary of the company. Any company that is to be registered must include at the very least one resident director that resides in Singapore. The person must be either a Singaporean citizen, a permanent resident, or someone who has valid employment or dependent pass. It is also to be taken note that the rest of the appointed staff must be an adult clean from any criminal record and have not yet experienced bankruptcy in the past.
A private limited company in Singapore is allowed to have up to fifty shareholders. The permitted shareholders may be a Singaporean resident or a foreigner. Six months after the registration of a company, one must appoint a secretary. However, the secretary can’t be a shareholder nor the director of the company, and the individual must be residing in Singapore and is alive.
There are additional requirements upon registering a company in Singapore; a number of approximately S$1 must be paid up in capital and the business registered must have a local address in Singapore, whether it is a residential or commercial address, but not a post office box.
Information that are essential for company registration and formation in Singapore other than a company name, staff according to government requirements, S$1 paid-up capital and registered local office also include two main business activities description, NRIC identity card copy for local director and shareholders as well as passport and proof of foreign address for foreign director and shareholders. Shareholding percentage must also be served in detail. It is also to be taken note that non-Singaporean residents who wish to register their company must use the help of a professional firm.
After getting the company registered in Singapore, the next step is to get a license for the company says a professional company secretary agency A1 Business. However not all business requires a license. Only some certain types of business activities such as private school, import/export, and food hawker need a license to be approved so that the business operation can start.
