Incorporation Issues: Private Limited Company
April 21, 2009 by Gwendolyn Regina T
If you are looking to register a company in Singapore you should go through the 5 types of business vehicles available for you to decide which one is best for your purposes. If you have done so and decided that a Company is best (as opposed to Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Limited Liability Partnership and Limited Partnerships), then this article is for you.
Incorporating a Pte Ltd
Setting up a Company is the most complicated process out of the 5 types of business vehicles in Singapore. There are many more regulations involved as a Company allows for a wide range of business and share structures and can accommodate companies with $1 of annual revenue to $1 billion.
Private Limited Company Vs Exempt Private Company
There are public and private companies. If you’re a new company, you will have to register a private one.
There are two kinds of private companies, those that are “Exempt Private Company” or just “Private Limited”.
Exempt Private Companies
If you have less than 20 shareholders and do not have any corporate shareholder, then go with Exempt Private Limited.
This special vehicle allows you a few perks:
(1) It is not necessary to hire a professional company secretary. A shareholder of the firm (yourself or someone else) who has the necessary knowledge can be the company secretary.
(2) Exemption from audit if your annual revenue is less than $5m. Please check ACRA’s page for more details.
Private Limited Companies
If you have more than 20 shareholders but less than 50, go with Private Limited. This vehicle is almost exactly the same as the Exempt Private Company, just with the need to hire a professional company secretary and ensure that a professional firm audits the accounts.
Read about hiring a company secretary, incorporation fees and other potentially hidden charges you should be aware of.
*This does not constitute as professional advice. Please contact a qualified person or firm. If you need a recommendation, drop us a message.
Image courtesy of Golden_ie.
About The Author
Gwendolyn Regina T - Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief
Apart from SGE, Gwen is also a Partner at Thymos Capital, where she focuses on early stage investments in technology firms. She has had two exits out of her investments via the firm, one of which is iHipo. A frequent judge for business competitions both locally and overseas, she graduated from the National University of Singapore. Gwen also spent some time in Silicon Valley and studied in Stanford University under the NUS Overseas College programme. Gwen is a mentor at Spanish incubator Tetuan Valley, Polish incubator Gamma Rebels, the Singapore Ambassador for the Sandbox network and the Singapore curator for StartupDigest. She enjoys languages, travelling, dance and adventure sports. Gwen can be found on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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