Any person who wants to incorporate a local company may engage a professional firm or service bureau for assistance in the filing of application for incorporation via Bizfile.
A company can also be incorporated by the directors themselves. (For convenience, we call this process “self-incorporation”.) For self-incorporation cases, the proposed directors, secretary and subscribers must all be Singapore NRIC holders.
Requirements:
Any person above the age of 21 years can incorporate a local company.
A company may have only one director who must be “ordinarily resident in Singapore” i.e. a Singaporean Citizen, a Singaporean Permanent Resident, a person who has been issued an EntrePass/Approval-In-Principle letter or a Dependant Pass.
A foreigner who wishes to act as a local director of a company can apply for an EntrePass or Approval-In-Principle letter from the Work Pass Division of the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) under the EntrePass Scheme. Please click here to read more about the application of EntrePass.
Step 1 - Apply for a New Company Name
The Companies Act requires that a company name must be approved before the company can be registered. A proposed company name will not be approved if it is identical to the name of another local company, branch of a foreign company or business firm. Undesirable names, including offensive or vulgar names, will also not be approved.
Application for approval of a company name can be submitted online via Bizfile. S$15 is payable for each approved company name. An approved name will be reserved for 60 days from the date of application.
Processing will be done within 15 minutes of payment. However, if we need to refer an application to another government authority for comments, it may take another 14 working days. If a name appeal application is submitted, the processing may take another 5 working days. Click here for the Referral Authorities Table.
Step 2 - Incorporation
After a company name has been approved, the company can be incorporated online. A registration fee of S$300 is payable for a company limited by shares. For a public company limited by guarantee, the registration fee is S$600.
Generally, processing takes place within 15 minutes of payment.
Click here to view a sample of the standard Memorandum and Articles of Association for the incorporation of a company.
Companies limited by guarantee may have certain restrictions on their memorandum or articles. Please refer to the Companies Act or consult your professional advisers on the details.
For self-incorporation cases, the proposed directors/secretary and subscribers will need to endorse their consent online via Bizfile within 3 days of submission of the application for incorporation.
How to apply for an Extension of the Reservation Period
An application for the extension of the name reservation period, for another 60 days, can be submitted online upon payment of an application fee of S$10 for each approved name.
How to withdraw a Local Company Name Application
An applicant can withdraw the application for an approved company name if he does not wish to continue to reserve the name.