Opening a pte. ltd. in Singapore

[Sanju]

I have a company in Pune, India and would like to open a pte. ltd. company in Singapore. Through research on the internet and discussions with a couple of people have the following findings. I would like the forum to validate these and contact me if they can offer any assistance to me.

a. An exempt pte. ltd. can be formed by me and a colleague. Both of us are residing in India. Towards this formation, we need 1 local director and 1 local company secretary. They should be citizens or permanent residents.
b. We also need a local business address, where our business can be registered and mail can be received and forwarded to us in India.

Are there companies that provide this service ? Are they reliable ? What are their charges ?

c. Once the company is registered (the process takes a couple of days), we can open a bank account with a local / foreign bank and the same can be operated remotely from India.

What is a better option - a local bank or a foreign bank ? Do both me and my colleague need to be there to open the account ?

Thank you in anticipation.

[jpatokal]

a. An exempt pte. ltd. can be formed by me and a colleague. Both of us are residing in India. Towards this formation, we need 1 local director and 1 local company secretary. They should be citizens or permanent residents.

Correct.

b. We also need a local business address, where our business can be registered and mail can be received and forwarded to us in India.

Correct.

Are there companies that provide this service ? Are they reliable ? What are their charges ?

Yes, there are tons of companies that can provide this for you, and most of them charge through the nose. Getting the local secretary and the local address is easy and cheap (a few hundred bucks a year max), but finding the local director -- who has legal and financial responsibility -- may be harder. Drop me a PM for a recommendation (for the company, you're on your own for the local director).

c. Once the company is registered (the process takes a couple of days), we can open a bank account with a local / foreign bank and the same can be operated remotely from India.

Correct.

What is a better option - a local bank or a foreign bank ? Do both me and my colleague need to be there to open the account ?

Very little difference between the two, especially if you won't be based in Singapore. UOB has free business Internet banking, but the initial startup bureaucracy is onerous enough that you probably need to be in Singapore to do it -- not 100% sure about this though.

[Sanju]

I am uable to send PM as the feature is not enabled on my profile. What is the alternate way to contact the moderator (jpatokal) ?

[Strong Eagle]

I am uable to send PM as the feature is not enabled on my profile. What is the alternate way to contact the moderator (jpatokal) ?

You need 5 posts for the PM function to work.

[firstcorporate]

Hey Sanju,
did you get any helpful information on the pte ltd in singapore. I'm looking for the same piece of information
Thanks
Mark

[jpatokal]

did you get any helpful information on the pte ltd in singapore. I'm looking for the same piece of information

Did you read any of the responses?

[morenangpinay]

do you want to open a company but stay in india? or you want to get an entrepreneur pass?

[yiru1985]

Some local accountancy firms can help you with this.

[Strong Eagle]

You need to be aware that a nominee director has, by law, all the rights, responsibilities and duties of a director under the companies act. They can be sued, and it is little wonder that people who do this want to be compensated.

If you are planning on staying in India, you can only be shareholders, not directors. This means you are at the mercy of your directors and local managers. How do you plan on making this work?