Corporate Secretarial services cover a broad range of categories, ranging from incorporation and registration of a new company to the creation of company constitutions and amendments to company resolutions. In short, corporate secretarial services helps to keep your company in check and compliant with local regulations.

All companies that are incorporated in Singapore are required by law to appoint a company secretary within six months from its incorporation date.

You may find this link for more information on the setting up of company and appointing directors and company secretary.

The company secretary is appointed by the board of directors of a company. A company secretary is an officer of a company who is responsible for ensuring that companies comply with the relevant statutory obligations and good corporate governance is observed.

The principal roles of a company secretary are as follows:

• maintaining the statutory books and records
• safekeeping the company’s legal documents
• convening meetings of directors and shareholders
• lodge and file in time all necessary documents required by law
• ensure that the company meets all its statutory and regulatory obligations

Most businesses in Singapore do not need a full-time secretary, so by outsourcing the role you will be able to save costs while ensuring that your secretarial responsibilities are still being handled by experienced and qualified professionals who can assist with compliance and advise you on practical recommendations.

Incorporating or registering a business in Singapore can be a relatively straightforward process. However, the degree of complexity will largely depend on your company structure and intention.

You will need to make decisions on the following:

1. Company Name
2. Type of Business Activity
3. Appointing Directors, Company Secretary and Other Key Personnel
4. Share Structure
5. Registered Office Address
6. Constitution
7. Financial Year End

For these reasons and more, many companies choose to outsource their company incorporation to a professional services firm like Allied Services.  Please visit our Company Incorporation page for more information.

An individual shareholder uses his own money to set up a company to run his own business. He will usually be the representative of his shareholding and appoint himself as the director of the company he set up. A corporate shareholder is a business entity that owns shares in another company. This distinction is easy enough, but in practice, it creates several tax, corporate governance, and legal issues that investors should be aware of.

A company’s Constitution contains the following information:

·        Name of the company

·        Liability of the members

·        Company’s capital structure

·        Names of the subscribers and the number of shares subscribed by them

·        The rules governing the internal management of the company

The “Constitution”, in relation to a company, means:

a)     the constitution of the company which is registered with ACRA at the time of incorporation, as may be amended from time to time; and

b)     in the case of a company incorporated before the date of commencement of the Companies (Amendment) Act 2014, the memorandum of association of the company, the articles of association of the company, or both, in force immediately before that date.

Yes, the Singapore Companies Act allows foreign individuals and/or corporations to own 100 percent of a Singapore Company.

According to Singapore Companies Act, a Singapore private limited company must have at least one director who is be a resident of Singapore.

The local resident director must be at least 18 years of age, and must not be bankrupt or have been convicted of any previous crimes. Directors can also be shareholders and vice versa.

If you do not have a local Singapore resident director to meet the requirements of the Singapore Companies Act, you can always engage our Nominee Director Service.

Although there are no restrictions on the types of business activities in which a Singapore company may engage, some business activities, such as running a travel agency, recruitment agency, financial services company, school or others special cases, require specific business licenses from an approving authority before you can commence business.