Singapore
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Population:
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4.8 million
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Currency:
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Singapore dollar; US$1 was worth S$1.40
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Language:
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English is widely used. Mandarin, Malay and Tamil are official languages
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Time zone:
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GMT plus 8
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Centre’s expertise:
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A major international financial centre, not an offshore tax haven
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General requirements
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Type of entity
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Private limited company
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Type of law
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Common Law
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Shelf company available
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Yes
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Time to establish a new company
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can be incorporated within 2 hours
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Taxation
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Effective corporate tax rate of 17%, International profits earned outside Singapore are not taxed; personal tax rates are from 2 to maximum of 20%
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Double taxation agreements
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Yes, double taxation agreements with more than 50 countries
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Forex restrictions
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None
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Language & name restrictions on companies
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Registrar approves name
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Share capital
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Permitted currencies
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Any
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Minimum paid up
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S$1
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Directors
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Minimum number
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1, who must be Singapore resident individual
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Local required
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Yes
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Company secretary & qualifications
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Required and must be local and qualified
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Shareholders
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| Minimum number
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1
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| Publicly accessible records
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No
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AGM
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Minimum number
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One individual or a corporate shareholder. !00% foreign shareholding allowed
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Disclosure requirements
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Yes
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Publicly accessible records
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Yes
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Obligations for annual meetings
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Yes
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Location of AGM
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Anywhere
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Accounts
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Requirement to prepare
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Yes
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Audit requirements
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Yes, but exempt private companies with fewer than 20 shareholders and turnover of less than S$5 m. are exempt
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Account filing obligations
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Yes
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Publicly accessible accounts
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Yes, with exceptions
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Other
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Requirements to file annual return
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Yes
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Change in domicile permitted
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No
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Need to registered office
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Yes
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Number of companies set up in last year
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17,153 of which 16,899 local private companies, 109 local public companies, 143 foreign
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Total number of companies on register
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141,870
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