Company Incorporation in Singapore
Incorporating a company in the island nation of Singapore is easy. But what many potential businesses fail to acknowledge is that there are some twists and complexities involved in the setting up of a company in Singapore too. For incorporating a company, one should start off by opting for a suitable business structure before employing a firm which offers company registration services in Singapore. Thus, we bring several options for business structures with the help of which a business owner can conduct his or her business from Singapore. Read on and you can thank us later!
1. Branch Office: Businesses that are not interested in incorporating a separate company under a different name in Singapore can simply opt for the incorporation of a branch office. Once the branch office is set up, the specific business can carry out the operations under the name of corporate brand of the foreign corporation. In Singapore, a branch office is referred as the extension of the parent company. However, it should be kept in mind that the branch office should not be considered the subsidiary of the foreign company at any given time. There are no separate or special requirements regarding the Memorandum of Article of Association or MAA under the Singapore Companies Act for the branch offices.
2. Subsidiary Company: A private limited company which has a foreign company among its major shareholders should incorporate a subsidiary company in Singapore for conducting its operations. In Singapore, the subsidiary companies are treated as resident companies and have to adhere to the laws of Singapore. The subsidiary company enjoys a legal status in the island nation and is treated as a separate entity from that of its foreign parent counterpart. This directly translates into the fact that the liability of the foreign company is limited to the amount of share capital it has invested in the specific subsidiary company. In addition, the subsidiary company’s foreign counterpart is also exempted from the responsibility of debts and liabilities of the subsidiary company. However, in majority of the cases, a subsidiary company in Singapore is often registered as a limited liability company.
3. Limited Partnership: Limited partnership is counted among the most flexible business structures that there is for business owners who don’t want to get involved in any kind of responsibility regarding the functions of business management. These kinds of entrepreneurs often give the charge of managing the company to a separate entity. The entity chosen can be anything, a corporation, an individual which enjoys unlimited liability. There are more than one limited partners in a Limited Partnership company.
4. Representative Office: Foreign companies who want to have their presence in Singapore without the intention of carrying out any business operations should opt for incorporating a representative office. The representative office will not a separate legal identity from its parent company.
Thus, no matter what kind of business one decides to do in Singapore, choosing the right business structure for incorporating a company in Singapore is very important.