Opening company’s bank account with director’s physical presence
Opening a company bank account is one of the key requirements for any company in Singapore. Without a corporate bank account, the entity is unable to make payment or receive money from their customers. Due to a vast number of commercial banks in Singapore, incorporated companies have many options from which to choose from when opening a bank account. They range from the 3 local banks such as DBS, UOB, OCBC to other foreign banks such as Maybank, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, RHB etc.
For most banks in Singapore, you cannot open a bank account for your company online except for DBS. A director must be physically present at the bank itself to execute the paperwork. Thankfully, the Companies Act requires the company to appoint at least one local Singaporean national as a director. He or she together with the other foreign director like yourself can go ahead and open a company’s bank account. Generally if the local director is only a nominee director, then he or she will not be involved in the operations and executive role of the company. As such, the foreign director will be responsible for handling all the bank and legal paperwork while the local nominee director is there only for company compliance purpose, i.e. to comply with the Singapore Companies’ Act.
Getting help with opening a company bank account
To expedite the process of setting up a company and opening a bank account in Singapore, it is better to work with the assistance of a local professional consultancy filing agent firm such as J Accounting Pte. Ltd. They will be able to advice you on general matters relating to the various corporate bank account opening. You will also have the chance to work with their preferred partner banks and choose the one that best fit your needs. The choice is entirely yours on which bank account you would like to open.
Working with a service provider such as J Accounting is of great benefit, because it significantly increase your chance of successfully opening your business bank account in Singapore. Professional service firm like them will know what the bank’s requirements are to open a company bank account.
Process of opening a company bank account and corporate banking features
Many of the commercial and private banks in Singapore offer companies many appealing features such as internet banking, multi-currency accounts, trade financing, debit card, ATM card and many more. It is important to consider the various features being offered by different banks. You should select a bank that meets most of your needs.
The process of opening a company bank account in Singapore is relatively easy and straight forward. Most of the banks including DBS, UOB and OCBC require that the company’s directors and account authorized signatories to be physically present at the time of opening.
Documents required to open a company bank account
The exact required documents vary from one bank to the other. However, here is a list of the mandatory documents that you require to open a corporate bank account in Singapore.
- Completed Corporate Account Opening Forms, signed by authorized signatories as per the company’s board resolution.
- You must present a copy of Company’s ACRA Business Profile. This can be obtained from the Singapore Company Registrar. Alternatively if you had engaged a professional service provider to incorporate your Singapore entity, they should provide you a copy of this.
- At the same time, you also need to provide a copy of the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association (MAA), now known as the Company’s Constitution. Again, this can be obtained from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority or if you had hired a filing agent to setup the Singapore Company, then they will provide you with a copy of it for bank account opening.
- Further to that, there must also be a Board of Directors Resolution, sanctioning the opening of the account and the established signatories to open it on behalf of the company. More often than not, the bank prepares this which is a standard copy form for your signatures. It is a misconception that the company secretary does this.
- Adding on and to verify the directors and authorized signatories, the bank will require copies of your Passports or Singapore ICs. They also need the residential address proof of the directors, signatories, and ultimate beneficiary owners. If the owners are corporate shareholder, the bank would require a certificate of incumbency.
Opening a Singapore company bank account is never easy. Especially with the strict requirements by various banks and MAS ruling, it can be near impossible for some to open a company bank account in Singapore. However fear not! J Accounting has relationships with many Corporate Banks and bankers in Singapore. That means you have a high chance of getting your Singapore company bank account successfully opened. You can then run your business with a complete peace of mind. Should you require further assistance on corporate bank account opening in Singapore, you may contact J Accounting Pte Ltd
