1. As one of the world’s easiest places to do business, Singapore is favorable by many entrepreneurs to incorporate a company. It has business-friendly policies that include easy incorporation procedures, intellectual property protection, and a low corporate tax rate. The country also ranks high on the ease of doing business, with its strategic location offering links for connectivity across Southeast Asia.
2. Whether you are a corporate or individual investor, it is a legal requirement to register a business with ACRA if you want to operate a business in Singapore. The first step in registering a local company is to choose a company name and submit a name application to ACRA.
3. Your proposed company name must not be identical to an existing name nor contain prohibited or undesirable words. For example, if your proposed company name happen to be Royal Flower Pte Ltd, then ACRA will not approve it if there is an existing company with the name Royal Flowers Pte Ltd. At the same time, if you want your company name to be Go Hell Pte Ltd, ACRA will also not approve it as it contain undesirable words.
4. When submitting a name application, you also need to specify your business activities by selecting the most relevant SSIC Code. The Singapore Standard Industrial Classification (SSIC) is the national standard for classifying economic activities undertaken by economic units and is used in censuses of population, household and establishment surveys and in administrative databases. For example, if your business is in retail, you can choose the SSIC Code and Description that is closest to your business activity.
5. Once your name application is approved, you can proceed to incorporate the company. ACRA allow you to complete the incorporation within 120 days of the name approval date. If you do not proceed to register the business or incorporate the company within this period, the reservation will expire and the name will be released for anyone to register.
6. Your name application may be referred to other government agencies for review and approval. For example, if you plan to incorporate a real estate agency, your application will be referred to the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA). If your application is referred, it may take between 14 and 60 days to process.
7. You must state your company’s name and registration number (UEN) on all business correspondence (such as business letters, statements of account, invoices, and official notices) as required under the Companies Act (CA). This requirement helps to promote transparency and prevent misrepresentation.
8. Registering a company name with ACRA is not the same as registering a trade mark. Your company name registration does not grant you exclusive rights or intellectual property rights to your company name. If you wish to establish a monopoly over its use, you must submit a separate application to the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS).
9. Registering a company name with ACRA also does not give you ownership rights to a matching domain name. Registration of domain names is on a first-come, first-served basis. If you want to register a domain name ending with .sg or .com.sg for your company, you can approach the registrars accredited by the Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC).
10. PL Biz Consulting Pte Ltd is an ACRA Registered Filing Agent and Registered Qualified Individual since 2016. Please come and talk to us if you need help for your Singapore company’s incorporation matters. We at PL Biz Consulting Pte Ltd have been helping many entrepreneurs and business owners to incorporate their company since 2007.
