I wonder if your company incorporation service advised you correctly.rbasia wrote:Greetings,
Recently we established a business in Singapore (Pte Ltd) with 3 foreign (off shore directors) and 1 nominee diretor. We used a business service company to do all this and they said it was \standard procedure.
Our company is about Technology Services and we want to have a regional base and felt Singapore was the right based on taxation as well as legal code. Our directos all have decorated resumes and have worked for well known global companies.
We applied for banking at UOB who turned us down and OCBC who said we could only have an off-shore foreign account with a minimum balance requirement of 30,000 USD. For a start-up endevaour this is a heavy burden and not the path we would like to take.
I'd like to ask if anyone has had a good experience with banking for a startup and can recommend or suggest anything for opening a local business bank account for a majority foreign owned company based out of Singapore?
With Thanks,
RBAsia
At least one Asian country passport holders I know can't open accounts since last yearPNGMK wrote:It's a shame as it's hurting Singapore in some people's eyes but after the US ranked Singapore as a 'grey' banking nation on the index the gahmen made great efforts to clean it up.
What you explained, in my understanding is bound to raise a lot of suspicions...rbasia wrote:Thanks for all your replies so far. 1 director is UK citizen, 2 are US (but originally from Switzerland and Poland).
To answer questions:
- for signing we intended to use internet banking services once the account was established.
- local director has limited powers as per written agreement. We could consider them for opening the account and instating temporary powers and then trasnfering the account over.
- HSBC and Citi may certainly be worth a try.
rbasia wrote:Thanks for all your replies so far. 1 director is UK citizen, 2 are US (but originally from Switzerland and Poland).
To answer questions:
- for signing we intended to use internet banking services once the account was established.
- local director has limited powers as per written agreement. We could consider them for opening the account and instating temporary powers and then trasnfering the account over.
- HSBC and Citi may certainly be worth a try.
Thanks for your sharing.
RBasia
Makes what Worse? I thought the idea of a forum was for people to share and connect.PNGMK wrote:I'm in tears of laughter. OP's explanation makes it WORSE not better. I can't breathe.
PNGMK is referring to the perception that your company could be potentially used for money laundering, will be made worse by your intention to use internet banking services, and not have a local signatory.rbasia wrote:Makes what Worse? I thought the idea of a forum was for people to share and connect.PNGMK wrote:I'm in tears of laughter. OP's explanation makes it WORSE not better. I can't breathe.
Put another way, there is no document you can sign that would protect the director from being liable for the acts of the company, and while I can see how a rented director might be OK with a bog standard pte ltd with local business activities, your setup ought to set off bells and whistles. There are so many places where a director could find herself liable... from foreign directors compensation and taxation issues, to reporting of offshore income, to the possibility that the company has been setup for nefarious purposes... even if you are legitimate, and it sounds like you are, the director has no way of being able to verify this.172.—(1) Any provision that purports to exempt an officer of a company (to any extent) from any liability that would otherwise attach to him in connection with any negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust in relation to the company is void.
I ought to be working, and, I offer one additional thought. The way you have worded the above suggests that the director has signed a document agreeing to limit his/her powers in the company. Such an agreement would not be valid under the Companies Act. Two clauses are worth considering.rbasia wrote:- local director has limited powers as per written agreement.
25B.—(1) In favour of a person dealing with a company in good faith, the power of the directors to bind the company, or authorise others to do so, shall be deemed to be free of any limitation under the company’s constitution.
So, two things are evident from these clauses:Powers of directors
157A.—(1) The business of a company shall be managed by, or under the direction or supervision of, the directors.
(2) The directors may exercise all the powers of a company except any power that this Act or the constitution of the company requires the company to exercise in general meeting.
FYI, the two U.S. citizen (or U.S. permanent resident) directors probably each have, at a minimum, these annual filing requirements:rbasia wrote:Thanks for all your replies so far. 1 director is UK citizen, 2 are US (but originally from Switzerland and Poland).
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