• Mon - Fri: 9AM - 6PM
  • 2 Venture Drive, 07-29, Vision Exchange, Singapore 608526
  • +65 6978 1000

Singapore Representative Office Registration

Singapore Representative + Singapore Bank Account

Singapore Representative + Singapore Bank Account

Representative office Registration
for Foreign Companies

S$ 2500

Interested?

What is Included in this package for Singapore Representative Office Registration

This Package covers all legal requirements to register a Singapore Representative Office. The following services are included:

Singapore Representative Office Registration

We will manage all the paperwork and aspects relating to the registration of your Singapore Representative Office. We are authorized by ACRA to act as a filing agent. We get special access to the ACRA system to complete the registration on behalf of foreign clients.

Bank Account Assistance

Immediately after the Singapore Representative Office registration, we will arrange your meeting with a leading Singapore based bank. In most cases, the bank representative will visit our office.

Company Secretary for Singapore Representative Office

Company Secretary service for 1 year is included in the package. Singapore company secretary will keep a tab on all the legal aspects of representative office administration.

Employment Pass

We will arrange to file an employment pass for your key employees with the ministry of manpower.

Registered Address

Every Singapore entity must have a local registered address in Singapore. Since, as a foreigner, you are not likely to have an office address, we will provide our office address at the time of Singapore Representative Office Registration. Important correspondence, in this case, will be received at our office.

Accounting Services for your Singapore Representative Office

We can provide accounting services for your Singapore office at an extra fee.

Advisory

One hour free advisory on any matters relating to your company or on matters like GST, CPF, Licensing, etc.

Submit Your Inquiry for Singapore Representative Office Registration

Note This

In order to be approved as a Singapore representative office, your company must satisfy the following criteria:

  1. Your company in a foreign country must have a turnover in excess of 250000 USD per year
  2. The foreign parent company must be operational for three years or more
  3. The proposed number of employees for the Singapore representative office must be five or below
  4. You are required to provide the audited accounts of the parent company at the time of lodgement of the application

Singapore Representative Office Registration Timeline

Working with us is easy. Once you confirm, you are engaging our services. Our team will start work and help you at every possible step.

Broadly the steps involved are as follows:

  • 1

    Submit Documents For Singapore Representative Office Registration

    Submit scanned copies of all the required documents like passport copies, proof of address, parent company details, parent company constitution, KYC form, Rep office registration resolution etc. Once received, our team will go through this and confirm all ok.

  • 2

    Singapore Representative Office Name Reservation

    We will reserve the name chosen by you. Normally there is no rejection as the law states that the representative office must follow the parent company name.

  • 3

    Singapore Representative Office Registration

    Once all the KYC and paperwork are completed, we will proceed for Singapore Representative office Registration for you. There is no need for you to visit Singapore in this period. Once the registration is completed, we will send you registration documents to you.

  • 4

    Visit Singapore For Bank Account Opening

    After the procedures for Singapore Representative Office are completed, you will need to visit Singapore for a bank account opening. A personal visit is required for this.

Process Timeline

Document Submission

1-2 Weeks depending on your convenience

Singapore Representative Office Registration

1 week

Bank Account Opening

Bank takes 3 weeks to complete all formalities. We will courier you all documents

Employment Pass application

3 weeks

Singapore Representative Office Registration

Documents Required for Representative Office in Singapore

When registering a representative office in Singapore, following documents are required:

  1. Registration application, duly completed
  2. Copy of Registration Certificate or the parent Company’s Certificate of Incorporation, whichever is applicable
  3. Copy of the audited accounts and latest annual report of the parent company
  4. An undertaking duly endorsed to stand by the rules and regulations that are governing the representative offices in Singapore

All of the above-mentioned documents are required to be in English, the language used officially in Singapore. A document in any language other than English must be translated before submission.

Frequently asked questions about Singapore Representative Office Registration

Can a newly established company overseas register a Representative Office in Singapore?

To fulfill the requirements of establishing a Representative Office in Singapore, the foreign parent company must have been in the market for at least a period of three years or more. In addition, the foreign parent company must have a sales turnover in excess of US$250,000. If these conditions are not fulfilled then the representative office can not be registered.


Is it necessary to visit Singapore to register a Representative Office Singapore?

Visiting Singapore is not required to register a representative office for your company. The relevant authorities in Singapore work online and also through the hard copy documents sent through couriers, in order to get the necessary work done. On the other hand, a visit to Singapore might be an essential requirement if you wish to open a corporate bank account. All the banks in Singapore ask for an interview with the stakeholders for the opening of the bank account. The face to face meeting between yourself and the bank officer can expedite the process of account opening to a great deal. For most banks, the meeting can be arranged at the bank or in the office of Singapore Registration authority.


Is an application for Representative office Singapore subject to approval by authorities?

Like any other document or entity for the business in Singapore, the application for representative office Singapore is subject to approval by authorities. There may not be any problem with the process of establishing a representative office in Singapore if you fulfill the following basic requirements:

  1. Your overseas company is a well established, registered entity.
  2. Your planned business activities and objectives fall within the scope of the actions allowed by the representative office Singapore.

How much time is required to register a Representative Office Singapore?

  1. After the filing of an application, the approval from the authorities take around one week. However, sometimes it happens that authorities ask for the additional clarifications that delay the registration process by a time period of another one to two weeks.
  2. The Finance and the industries related to it are the non liberalized business sectors. Therefore, the approval process for such organizations may take more time, the process being very elaborate and detailed.
  3. For most of the other sectors, the process of registration of representative office is pretty straight forward. The primary assumption of this effect is that the foreign company is an established one and the scope of activities that it does fall within the scope of the representative office.

Know more about Singapore Representative Office Option Below

What is a Representative Office Singapore?

Singapore Representative Office Registration

A Representative office Singapore is merely an extension of the foreign company. a Representative office Singapore is viewed as a liaison office, contrary to that of a subsidiary or a branch office. It cannot carry out any business activities of profit yielding nature as such because it has no legal status.

In a nutshell, a Singapore representative office is set up to manage and coordinate noncommercial activities of a foreign company on temporary administrative.

What is the role of Representative Office Singapore?

The representative office Singapore has defined roles that fall within the framework of the rules and regulation of the companies act Singapore. Following are the functions of the representative company Singapore:
Singapore Representative Office Registration
  1. Carry out market research activities as a Representative Office of the parent company.
  2. Carryout the feasibility studies as and when required.
  3. Carry out research
  4. Gather intelligence on business competitors and customers
  5. Conduct market research on product, customer, and price expectations
  6. Collect information on setting up a permanent business entity in Singapore
  7. Build trade contacts and answer product inquiries
  8. Participate in trade shows and exhibitions

What are the Limitations of Representative office Singapore?

The representative office Singapore is strictly prohibited from being involved in the activities mentioned below. A representative office Singapore is prohibited from:
Singapore Representative Office Registration
  1. Getting involved in the trading activities like  import or export that generate profit
  2. Leasing their warehouses for trading or earning revenue
  3. Leasing  the premises of the office to a third party for business purpose of otherwise
  4. negotiating business contracts, receiving letters of credit, and issuing invoices in place of the foreign parent company
  5. Obtaining or identifying suppliers or sources of raw materials or industrial parts
  6. Offering services like consultancy services or systems implementation
  7. Doing advertisement, marketing or any other promotional activities
  8. Synchronizing between foreign parent company’s operations and the clients
  9. Managing or Liaising with agents or regional distributors as well as related subsidiaries or branches
  10. Carrying out supervisory activities or conducting quality control checks

Representative Office Singapore Key Facts

Type of Studies and Research

Following are the different types of feasibility studies and market research that can be carried out by the representative office Singapore:

  1. Information collection regarding the clients and the market.
  2. Research to identify the price expectation, product demand, and the requirements of the end-user
  3. Information collection regarding the procedure of setting up business in Singapore on a permanent basis
  4. Handle product inquiries and build trade contacts
  5. Planning the participation in exhibitions and trade shows

Dependency on Parent Company

Unlike subsidiary company, a representative office is part of the parent company and is not a separate unit. Therefore, the parent company is entirely responsible for all the debts and liabilities of the representative office Singapore.


Same name as that of Parent Company

A representative office Singapore shall have the same name as that of the parent company. In case if there is an issue with the uniqueness of the name, the authorities concerned will make decision on a case to case basis.


Temporary Arrangement for three years

Representative office Singapore is a provisional arrangement of the parent company. This office works for three years. After completion of three years, the parent company is required to register a branch office or a subsidiary company. The representative office’s registration is needed to be renewed annually during the period of three years of its functioning.


No of Employees that can be appointed

The representative office Singapore is authorized to employ a minimum essential number of employees for its functioning. However, the office is bound to appoint a chief representative staff member from the head office. The chief representative staff officer is bound to relocate to Singapore and oversee the activities of the office. Since the representative office is not a business entity, it can hire only a limited number of employees. As stipulated by the Singapore authorities, the representative office Singapore is allowed to employ five employees at maximum.


Intimation of any Change

If there is any change in the representative office such as change in representatives, address, registered activities, etc., it has to be informed to the Singapore authorities in advance as under:

  1. Authorities are to be informed at least a month before the change is taking effect.
  2. If there is a change in the name of the parent company,the notification must be accompanied by a copy of the change of name certificate of the parent company.

Declaration of being a Representative Office

A representative office Singapore is bound to clearly mention that it is a representative office of the parent company registered in Singapore on all of its legal and official correspondence and stationery like name plaque, name cards of its staff, and other communication materials.


Information of Representative office can be made public

It is at the discretion of authorities that they can divulge information regarding the representative office Singapore and its parent company’s activities and contacts to the public.


Filing Requirements and Tax Exemption

Since the representative office, Singapore is not an incorporated entity, and it is also not liable to any of the filing requirements that are imposed on the incorporated entities and the registered corporate bodies. It is also not required to maintain any statutory documents or submit any tax returns in Singapore.


Authorize to get Central Registration Number

A representative office Singapore can get a central registration number in order to import and export the sample products and materials of the parent company. However, the representative office Singapore is strictly prohibited from carrying out any business or trading activity using a central registration number.


Lives with Company and dies with it too

The representative office Singapore is only an extension of the parent company. Therefore, if the parent company becomes dormant, the representative office Singapore is also required to deregister.


Can be deregistered if found dormant or guilty of violating laws

A representative office Singapore is deregistered if it is dormant or if it fails to conform with the requirements of Singapore trade authorities.

Registration of Representative Office Singapore

Singapore Representative Office Registration

In order to register a representative office in Singapore, all new applications of the foreign commercial entity must fulfill the criteria that is laid out by Singapore companies act and is mentioned below:

  1. The foreign parent company should be well established with a sales turn over in excess of 250,000 USD
  2. The foreign parent company should be established for at least three years or more
  3. The clause regarding the appointment of minimum essential number of employees (not more than 5) should be adhered to

Hiring a Corporate Services Firm

Mostly, any foreign company that is interested in setting up a representative office in Singapore will hire the services of a corporate firm in order to see through the legal requirements in an efficient manner. A professional corporate services firm will do the following:
Singapore Representative Office Registration
  1. Help in completing the application as per guidelines and requirements of the approving authorities
  2. File with concerned authorities the necessary paperwork that is required for registration
  3. Act as a focal body or the contact point between the Company and the authorities in case any clarifications are needed by the authorities
  4. After approval of the representative office Singapore, filing an employment pass application for the person who would be relocating to Singapore from head office as an authorized agent by the company

Approval and Renewal Process of the Registration of Representative Office Singapore

Singapore Representative Office Registration
  1. On successful registration, the Letter of Approval is issued by the authorities confirming the registration of the representative office.
  2. The representative office Singapore is registered for a period of one year. Once the registration period expires the registration is required to be renewed
  3. A renewal notice is sent two months before the expiry of registration by the authorities.
  4. The registration of the representative office must be renewed at least seven days before the expiry date.
  5. In case there is no response from the representative office in relation to the renewal of the registration, a reminder notice will be sent on the expiry date. If there is still no response, a final reminder is sent to the head office to act on month after the expiry, providing 14 days to the head office to respond, failing which authorities initiate the de-registration process of the representative office Singapore.
  6. Since the Representative office, Singapore is a temporary arrangement of the parent company. This office works for three years. After completion of three years, the parent company is required to register a branch office or a subsidiary company. The registration of representative office Singapore is needed to be renewed annually during the period of three years of its functioning.

Opening of a Corporate Bank Account

Singapore Representative Office Registration

A corporate account can be opened after registering a Singapore branch, in any of the local banks and several international in Singapore. The exact procedure of account opening may vary from one bank to another. On the other hand, and some banks require the presence of the directors or agents while opening the corporate bank account to be present in person. Further details can be found in the Singapore bank account opening guide about opening a corporate bank account in Singapore.

Summary

A representative office Singapore is a unique type of entity that may be a non-legal entity with strict prohibition to generate revenue on the one hand but acts as the market analyzer and research and cost center to the parent company. Therefore a representative office Singapore is the best choice for the overseas companies who are keen to explore the vast business potential of Singapore.

Accreditations and Partners

  • ACRA
  • ISCA
  • MOM
  • IRAS
  • AWS
  • XERO
  • STRIPE
  • DOCUSIGN
Message us