A branch of a foreign company can be registered via BizFile+ using SingPass or CorpPass upon the approval of its name.
The person registering the branch of a foreign company is advised to engage a registered filing agent (e.g. law firm, accounting firm or corporate secretarial firm) to submit an online application on your behalf.
Requirements for registering a Branch of a Foreign Company
Under the Companies Act, the minimum number of authorised representatives required is one.
The branch of a foreign company must have at least one authorised representative who is ordinarily resident in Singapore.
Being “ordinarily resident in Singapore” means the authorised representative’s usual place of residence is in Singapore. A Singapore Citizen, Singapore Permanent Resident or an EntrePass holder can be accepted as a person who is ordinarily resident here.
Registration fees
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Name Application Fee
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$15
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Registration Fee
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$300
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Processing Time
The application is usually processed within 15 minutes after the name application fee is paid.
It may take between 14 days to 2 months if the application needs to be referred to another agency for approval or review. For example, if the intention of the branch of a foreign company is to carry out activities involving the setting up of a private school, the application will be referred to the Ministry of Education.
For more information on the different referral authorities, please access this link: Referral Authorities
The branch of a foreign company may commence business once it is registered with ACRA. This is on condition that the branch does not require any licences/approvals from other government agencies in order to carry out the business activities.
Company name reservation
An approved company name will be reserved for 120 days from the date of name approval. No further extension of name reservation period is allowed.
Alternate address
The directors, authorised representatives and other company officers may report an alternate address with the Registrar at a fee of $40. The alternate address must be located in the same jurisdiction as the individual’s residential address. Therefore if the officer is locally resident, his alternate address cannot be a foreign address. The alternate address cannot be a P.O. Box address and must be an address where the person can be contacted.
Free Business Profile
From 2 June 2017, the newly registered branch of a foreign company will receive a free Business Profile – an electronic report containing business registration information of that entity. Upon successful registration, an email with a URL to download the free Business Profile will be sent to the Registered Filing Agent who filed the registration on behalf of the company.
For more information, visit here.
Video Resources
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