Open a Singapore company in 10 days – for the founders Singapore fits.
Someone pointed you to Singapore – an investor, a partner. Then comes the rule nobody warns you about: the company must have a director living in Singapore, and the choice of that person decides which bank account you can get. We handle the registration and the resident-director options, then the banking path.
When Singapore wins
What Singapore gives that Hong Kong does not
Hong Kong remains our default for most founders; the cards below are the cases where Singapore is worth the extra rules.
Venture capital and IP
Venture funds recognise Singapore as the natural holding-company jurisdiction for an Asia-focused startup. The legal system and IP enforcement line up with what investors expect. If you are raising – or planning to raise – Singapore is built for it.
ASEAN and India trade
Singapore sits at the centre of Southeast Asia’s trade infrastructure: double-tax treaties (DTAs) with Indonesia, India and Vietnam, plus the banking network for regional payments and the payment providers that collect from local buyers. When your customers or suppliers are in ASEAN or India, Singapore is the closer base.
Run it from Singapore
Maybe you aren’t looking for a base on paper – you plan to move and run the company from the ground. An Employment Pass (Singapore’s work visa) then settles the resident-director rule in the cleanest way: you hold the role yourself, and the structure has no third party in it.
What’s included
The legal minimum – plus what makes it run
A Singapore private limited company is the corporate entity plus a set of Singapore-resident roles that have to be filled before the company can legally exist. The package covers all of them for the first year.
ACRA registration filings
Everything the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority needs to bring the company into legal existence.
- Name reservation filed with ACRA via BizFile+
- Constitution drafted in the form a registrar will accept
- Incorporation application filed with ACRA
- Government fees to ACRA – included
- Business activity codes (SSIC) chosen to support banking and future licences
- Register of Registrable Controllers (RORC) lodged on the incorporation date
Certificates and corporate identity
The corporate identity documents the company needs to operate and to satisfy bank KYC.
- Certificate of Incorporation with UEN (Unique Entity Number)
- Business Profile downloaded from ACRA BizFile+
- Constitution – final filed version
- Share certificates issued to each subscriber
- Digital copies for bank applications, physical originals couriered to your address
Year-1 resident director
Singapore law requires at least one director ordinarily resident in Singapore. We arrange a nominee resident director through a licensed Corporate Service Provider – since the 2025 disclosure rules, only a registered CSP may provide one. The nominee is on the register but does not make business decisions.
- Nominee resident director
- Nominee arrangement disclosed on the ACRA central nominee register
- Handover path documented if you obtain an Employment Pass and become the resident director yourself
Year-1 company secretary and registered office
The two remaining Singapore-resident roles every Pte Ltd needs in place from day one.
- Company secretary appointed on the incorporation date (statutory deadline is 6 months)
- Statutory register maintenance – members, directors, secretaries, beneficial owners
- Annual General Meeting and Annual Return filing reminders
- Registered office address in Singapore on file with ACRA
- Reception of government correspondence and IRAS notices
- Reminders for the yearly IRAS tax filings (estimated and final return); corporate tax is 17 % flat, with partial exemptions on the first S$200,000 of profit
The main difference
A resident director
A Singapore company cannot legally exist without a resident director. The routes the law accepts:
- A nominee resident director from a registered corporate service provider – the most common choice at incorporation.
- An Employment Pass that makes you, the founder, the resident director.
- A local co-founder who really participates in the business.
A nominee typically costs S$2,000–6,000 a year – and the service comes in tiers. The minimal, statutory tier fills the legal role and stops there: it takes no part in bank account opening, and with it a corporate account is realistic only through a fintech provider. The bank-attending tier goes with you into the account opening when a traditional bank asks for it – most do, DBS among them. The Year-1 package includes the statutory tier; when a traditional bank is the goal, the bank-attending nominee is arranged separately.
If the provider rates your profile high-risk, the nominee is usually limited to a few months – or refused. After that term, the company switches to its own resident director: you on an Employment Pass, or your own local person.
How we work
One team for everything you need in Singapore
The first step is the one most providers skip and most founders later wish they hadn’t.
We map your banking and your jurisdiction fit
A 30-minute strategy call with Roman and the USG team. Together we walk through your business model, your passport situation, what you’re trying to build, and where your money has to move. We confirm Singapore is the right call for your case – or tell you if there are better options.
Document preparation and the resident director
You provide the documents and complete the forms. We draft the Constitution and choose the SSIC codes, then offer you the nominee director options.
Filing with ACRA
Then we file the incorporation through BizFile+. ACRA processes most applications in one to three business days. Higher-risk profiles may undergo Enhanced Due Diligence – we anticipate this and prepare the case ahead of time so the application doesn’t stall.
Company is open
You receive the Certificate of Incorporation with your UEN. Constitution, share certificates, RORC, and statutory registers are set up. Year-1 resident director, company secretary, and registered office go live the same day. We then start on the bank account.
Common questions
What founders ask before they sign up
Do I really need a Singapore-resident director?
Yes. Singapore law requires at least one director ordinarily resident in Singapore – a citizen, permanent resident, or holder of an Employment Pass or EntrePass. There is no workaround.
Singapore or Hong Kong – how do I choose?
Hong Kong wins for most cases: it is cheaper to maintain, and it has no resident-director requirement – the biggest practical difference between the two. Singapore wins when something specific pulls the other way. Raising venture capital is the clearest case, because investors recognise Singapore as the holding jurisdiction. Serious trade with ASEAN or India is another – the tax-treaty network and regional banking change the economics. And if relocation is the plan, running the company from Singapore on the ground, the resident-director question disappears.
What does the nominee director do – and what don’t they?
The nominee sits on the register as a Singapore-resident director and satisfies the statutory requirement. They sign formal documents that require a Singapore-resident director’s signature and confirm to the CSP that the company is operating in line with the agreed business activity.
The nominee is a legal-existence role, not a management one. What the nominee does not do: make business decisions, sign commercial contracts, hold bank account signing or payment rights, or speak for the company commercially. All of that stays with you.
Do I need to fly to Singapore for the incorporation?
No. ACRA filing is entirely remote – you sign electronically through the CSP, the documents go to ACRA via BizFile+, and the Certificate of Incorporation and Business Profile are delivered digitally. Physical copies of the Constitution and share certificates are couriered if you want them.
Travel becomes relevant only for two things: the bank account (case by case, depending on the bank and your passport), and the Employment Pass formalities in person if you choose to relocate and become the resident director yourself.
Book a free call
Singapore or Hong Kong is easier to answer before the company exists. Half an hour and a description of your business will do.
Book a free 30-minute call