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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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