Corp Bank Accounts and Non-Resident Signatories

[PNGMK]

Assuming there is at least one resident director who is a signatory .... can other signatories be non-resident directors?

[Strong Eagle]

It's legal to have non-resident directors as signatories, and it is my understanding that like a resident director, the NR director must be present in Singapore to sign the account cards in front of a bank officer.

As to whether the bank _will_ agree to a non-resident director, that is another question entirely. Bear in mind that I opened my first commercial account in 2004 and it has been nearly four years since I have actively engaged in business in Singapore.

After I left Singapore, I remained a non-resident director for my company for about 3 years while I wound everything down. The bank was aware of my address change, filed both with the bank and the ACRA. I was the only signatory to the account.

These days I think it is much more difficult to allow a NR director to have signatory authority. It all comes down to the banking relationship. If you've been with the bank for years, have a stable business, and are adding an offshore director for the purposes of business expansion, then I don't think there would be an issue.

But, if the company is new, maybe has a rented local director, and also has a foreign bank account to which the NR director is a signatory, I could see why the red flags might go up... it's far too easy to setup a money laundering conduit.

Only thing to do is try and see what the bank's response is. I had the same situation in reverse in Thailand and Malaysia... I was a foreign director in those countries, and it was not easy to get a bank account that I could sign on in either country.

[PNGMK]

Thanks for the answer and the PM. As mentioned in my PM the banks are very leery already and I expect it will get worse.