Nominee Director
Nominee Director
A foreigner is not permitted to operate his business in Singapore if his company does not have a resident director. However, it can be difficult and risky to find a nominee director in Singapore to represent your business, and many businesses are not aware where to start. Corecentric can help you solve this problem by providing Nominee Director services to both new and existing companies.
Who Is A Nominee?
A nominee is a person or organisation who has been formally appointed or designated to act as a trustee or agent in a limited capacity on behalf of its nominator. Having a nominee not only ensures that a foreign company complies with local statutory requirements, but also guarantees its privacy – legally – if required. The Nominee is thus appointed as the official representative of the offshore company, on behalf of the actual owners.
Why Do We Need A Nominee?
The Singapore Companies Act Chapter 50 requires at least one resident director and one resident shareholder at the time of company registration in Singapore.
A “resident” is defined as a Singaporean national or a permanent resident; alternatively, it can be someone who has an Entrepass, an Employment Pass, or a Dependent Pass.
Until a real resident can be found, nominee services help businesses with foreign or non-resident owners by providing a nominee resident director, nominee agent, and nominee shareholder.
The nominated service personnel carry out their legal duties without ever interfering with management or decision-making. Hence, they serve an inactive role in that regard.
However, they can establish corporate bank accounts on your behalf without requiring you to make a separate trip. Additionally, they can give you advice on how to get tax breaks while abiding by the law.
What Are The Types Of Nominee Services Corecentric Provides?
1. Nominee Director
You can use our Nominee Director service if you do not already have a Singapore resident director who satisfies the requirements of the Singapore Companies Act. If the following requirements are satisfied, we can provide a local nominee director to your company:
- The service is only provided to ensure that laws are followed. There will be no management, financial, or operational issues of the business that the Nominee Director will be involved in.
- You must appoint one or more individuals (normally the company shareholders) to be the directors that are responsible for running the company operations.
- You must satisfy our initial and ongoing KYC requirements.
- Sign and execute our Nominee Director Indemnity Agreement.
2. Nominee Shareholder
All Singapore Private Limited businesses must have at least one shareholder, whether they are corporations or individuals, according to the Singapore Companies Act. However, it is not required that the shareholder be a resident of the country.
You can designate yourself as a shareholder of the business once your Singapore or offshore company has been incorporated. As an alternative, Corecentric can give you a Nominee Shareholder who will aid in protecting your corporate privacy.
Clients frequently use our Nominee Shareholders service to remain anonymous. We provide Nominee Shareholders who will retain shares in trust for the beneficial owners. The Nominee Shareholder is not the legal owner of the shares. When the service is terminated or transferred at the beneficial owner’s request to another entity, the shares must be given back to the beneficial owner. The beneficial owner is the sole owner of all earnings and financial gains on the held shares.
3. Nominee Agent
Foreign businesses interested in opening a branch office in Singapore must designate two Singaporeans or foreign employees to serve as the branch office’s branch representatives. Foreign employees who wish to relocate and manage the Singapore branch office must acquire an Employment Pass. Alternately, Corecentric can provide your branch office two resident agents.
The Nominee Agent service can aid in the swift incorporation of a branch office and, in the majority of cases, serve as temporary agents while waiting for the appointed foreign staff members to obtain their Employment Passes or until suitable Singapore residents are identified and appointed as agents.
If the following requirements are fulfilled, we will send Nominee Agents to the branch office:
- The service is only provided to ensure that laws are followed. The administration, finances, or business operations of the company will not involve the Nominee Agents in any way.
- One or more people must be chosen by the parent business to oversee the branch office’s operations.
- The business must meet both the initial and ongoing KYC standards of Corecentric.
- Our Nominee Agent Indemnification Agreement must be signed by the company.
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