How to Get a Nominee Director When Your Company Needs One
Suppose you are in the process of setting up your own company in Singapore. In that case, you may have presumably heard of the option to appoint a Singapore nominee director for your company. A nominee director is an individual appointed to a board of directors by another individual or company to act on their behalf. Most of the time, the appointment of a nominee director is made by foreign shareholders who wish to register a domestic or subsidiary corporation in Singapore.
Selecting a nominee director is an optional component of establishing a company and ordinarily occurs in the first stages of registering or incorporating your business. If you are still determining whether or not you need to appoint a nominee director, read on to learn when and how to get a nominee director for your company.
When does a company need a nominee director?
To have your company successfully registered, you need to provide a director’s name that will be included in the list of the board of directors. Selecting a nominee director essentially provides business owners with the benefit of anonymity when managing business-related operations. Generally, there are two primary reasons why a business needs a nominee director: the business owner does not want their name to appear in the public registry, and/or they want to avoid unnecessary additional taxes.
All registered companies, along with director names, appear on the official register maintained by Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). Suppose you want to avoid your name being listed on the register for some reason, such as business sensitivities or confidentiality. In that case, you may choose to appoint a nominee director who will act on your behalf as the ‘face’ of the company. Of course, you will still be the beneficiary owner with complete business control.
Similarly, if you are a foreign investor or an overseas entrepreneur who wants to open a business in Singapore, you may also appoint a nominee director to help eliminate your worries about your potential loss of income due to taxation. The majority of investors like to avoid paying additional or double taxes. By not having your name listed in the public registry, it can help minimise your tax burden as a foreign investor or business owner.
How does a company attain a nominee director?
- Do-it-yourself (DIY)
You can look for and appoint a nominee director on your own. However, this will likely take plenty of time, resources, and effort. Moreover, by doing the search and appointment yourself, you will need to single-handedly process all the necessary legal documents, which usually require specific competency to prepare and will result in severe consequences if done improperly.
For this reason, appointing nominee directors through a DIY approach is not advisable for many business owners. You should only consider this option if you already have previous experience in appointing a nominee director and are absolutely confident that you can properly manage the process.
- Corporate service provider (CSP)
If you think that the DIY approach is not apt for you, the second option is to hire the services of a professional service provider to assist you in appointing a nominee director. In that case, all you need to do is provide the necessary information to your CSP, and they will handle the entire process at a cost. The average nominee director fee in Singapore typically start at $200 per month.
In contrast to the DIY option, hiring a CSP in appointing a nominee director is highly advised for both first-time and experienced business owners. This is mainly because of the professional services and convenience you can get from them at a minimal cost. Furthermore, you can put your mind at ease when you know that all legal matters are taken proper care of by your CSP.
Conclusion
Although appointing a nominee director is not an absolute requirement when it comes to setting up a business, it can be an important part of the process, especially if you are a foreign investor or an overseas business owner. If your company requires a nominee director, the best way to search for and appoint one is by engaging the professional services of a CSP. With the help of a CSP, you can ensure that the appointment of your company’s nominee director is done correctly, thereby avoiding potential penalties.
If you are looking for a reliable nominee director in Singapore with an affordable nominee director fee, OneStop Professional is here to help you! We are a highly trusted accounting and audit firm in Singapore that provides the most effective nominee director search services to help business owners find ideal nominee directors for their companies. Aside from this, we also offer excellent auditing services, accounting services, company secretary services, and many other premium corporate services. Feel free to contact us today for more information.