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Required Documents for Company Registration in Singapore?

Required Documents for Company Registration in Singapore?

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Singapore Company Formation [Documents Required]

Business owners are required to submit a series of complete and accurate legal documents to process the registration of their companies in Singapore. These documents aim to inform the Singapore government, potential customers, and general public about the basic details of the proposed companies and their owners / officers. These documents will also prove that the proposed companies are authorized and comply with state laws. At the same time, these documents will protect companies from legal disputes with their competitors, shareholders, and employees.

To help you prepare for your company registration in Singapore, we have listed down all the required documents that both local and foreign business owners must submit to ACRA.

Required Documents for Company Registration in Singapore: Basic Documents to be Submitted

Conducting IVE (Identify, Verify and Enquire the purpose)

As a Corporate secretarial provider, we are required to identify the people behind the company, Verify their identities and then enquire about the purpose and activities of the proposed company. Broadly this includes following steps.

  • Documents detailing your personal information will be identified first. These personal information must include your name, address, contact numbers, and an identity document number like a national registration number or passport number.
  • Next, the submitted details will be verified through a third-party document. This verification process ensures that the provided personal information are all correct. The third-party document may come in the form of a government-issued passport or national registration identity card (NRIC) of Singapore. In some cases, proof of residential address in the form of a utility bill or telephone bill will be required. Sometimes a national identity document from your country will be collected.
  • Finally, enquiring about your purpose of opening a Singapore Company will be checked. Enquiring is performed through the Know Your Client (KYC) form or Customer Due Diligence (CDD). The KYC form must be completed by all company owners to confirm their personal information, as well as guarantee the legitimacy of their companies.

Required Documents for Company Registration in Singapore: Company Details

Required document for registration - Company detail

You are obliged to submit documents detailing the necessary information about your company. These company information must include your purpose of establishing the company, the company’s offered services and/or products, and perhaps an estimated company sales and number of transactions.

Required Documents for Company Registration in Singapore: Personal Details of Business Owners

For Local Business Owners

A local business owner must submit his or her NRIC. Singapore permanent residents have the blue cards, while Singapore citizens have the pink ones. The NRIC would be enough as it already provides the person’s identity number, photo, and address.

Required document for registration - Personal detail of owner

In case the provided address is not updated, then proof of address will be required. Proof of address is also required from Employment Pass (EP) holders as EP does not usually indicate a person’s address. The proof of address can be in the form of a mobile bill, utility bill, or any other recently issued proof by a third party.

Then, the CDD form must be filled out in a Word document file. The CDD form only needs to be filled out once as it already represents the entire company. Through this form, local business owners can explain their purpose of registering a company, the proposed company’s likely turnover, the proposed company’s estimated number of transactions, and all other important data. These details are required from all the shareholders and directors of the proposed company.


Required document for registration - Foreign owner

For Foreign Business Owners

Foreign business owners only have to submit three documents: passport copy, proof of address, and a second identity document.

The proof of address can be in the form of a mobile or utility bill issued in the business owner’s name within the last three months. Meanwhile, a second identity document only serves as a backup document in case the provided passport is expired. This document comes in the form of a driving license for most countries. For example, a second identity document can be a Malaysian NRIC card in Malaysia, Aadhar card for Indians. Hence, its example varies depending on the person’s home country.

Foreign business owners must also fill out the CDD form as vital information are requested from all the shareholders and directors of the proposed company.


Required document for registration - Corporate Shareholder

What If One of the Shareholders Is a Corporate Shareholder?

Corporate shareholders are required to submit a copy of company registration certificate to discuss further details. This certificate is issued by the registrar of companies in certain countries. For example, Companies House is the registrar of companies in the UK, while it is Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in Australia.

The company extract will be also required. This document shows the details of current directors and shareholders of the company from its home country (Who will be taking shareholding in the proposed Singapore Company).

Additionally, a chart showing the ultimate beneficial owner of the company must be presented. The ultimate beneficial owner of the company refers to the shareholder with the majority stake in the company or directors who are responsible for the definitive decision-making within the company. The shareholding can get quite complex if, for example, one corporate is owned by another corporate, then it is owned by a third corporate, and so on.

Lastly, a board resolution will be mandatory. This resolution confirms the decision to register the company in Singapore and the authorized representative who will carry out specific tasks for the company.

Required Documents for Company Registration in Singapore: In What Form Do These Documents Need to Be Submitted?

Required document for registration - Where need to be submitted

Initially, scanned copies are prescribed. However, ensure that the copies are taken from the original colored documents and the images are in high resolution and reasonably sharp. Do not scan copies directly from photocopies or black-and-white copies.

Nevertheless, original documents will be verified during the company registration process, and in some cases notrised copies will be required.

Required Documents for Company Registration in Singapore: Our Takeaway

The required documents for company registration in Singapore are not that complicated after all, unless multiple corporates are taking the ownership of a company. Generally, these documents can be easily arranged and will not take more than a few days even if notarization is required.

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