Step 1: Prepare Your Parent Company's Board Resolution and Documents
Your first step is to get your parent company's board to approve the subsidiary and sign off on it. Gather the parent company's certificate of incorporation, constitution, and a record of who ultimately owns it. Overseas documents may need notarising, which often causes delays.
Step 2: Reserve the Name and Set the Share Capital
When you've decided on your subsidiary, your next step is to get your filing agent to submit your proposed subsidiary name for approval via the ACRA BizFile+ portal. The name must be unique and avoid restricted industry terms such as "bank" or "university", as they could add up to 15 working days to your application.
As Singapore imposes zero capital controls, you can incorporate with a minimum paid-up capital of just S$1, and you may denominate your corporate shares in any major currency, including USD, GBP, EUR, or SGD.
Step 3: Appoint Your Resident Nominee Director and Corporate Secretary
Singapore law strictly mandates that every Pte Ltd must have at least one director who is ordinarily resident in Singapore. If your executive team is managing the subsidiary remotely from overseas, you must appoint a professional nominee director. Engage Mezzanine Enterprise’s nominee director services to fulfil this requirement and maintain your company's good standing.
At the same time, you must also appoint a corporate secretary within six months of incorporation. Take note that your corporate secretary cannot be the same person as your director.
Step 4: Establish a Registered Commercial Address
You must register a physical Singapore business address that's open to the public for at least three hours each business day. Virtual P.O. Boxes are legally prohibited. If you do not intend to lease physical commercial office space immediately, you can leverage a professional registered address and mailroom service provided by Mezzanine Enterprise to satisfy this statutory requirement.
Step 5: File Your Incorporation and Register of Registrable Controllers (RORC)
Your filing agent will now submit your incorporation paperwork and pay ACRA's S$300 fee. For companies registered from 16 June 2025, you're legally required to file a Register of Registrable Controllers (RORC) and your nominee director at incorporation, with no 30-day grace period. For a subsidiary, the registrable controllers are usually the parent and the individuals who control it.
Step 6: Open Your Corporate Bank Account and Hand Over Compliance
Once ACRA approves your subsidiary, you can initiate your corporate bank account application. Be prepared to provide local Tier One banks with comprehensive commercial documentation, including proof of source of wealth and parent company standing. From here, you can expect your account to be approved within a few weeks.
Once your account is opened, set your financial year-end (FYE) and hand off the reins to your corporate secretary to run your annual filings.
Foreign Subsidiary Checklist at a Glance
Step | Fee or deadline |
1. Parent documents | Before filing |
2. Name and capital | S$15 |
3. Director and secretary | Secretary within 6 months |
4. Registered office | Open 3 hours each business day |
5. Incorporation and RORC | S$300, registered at incorporation |
6. Bank account | Several weeks |
Set Up Your Subsidiary with Mezzanine Enterprise's Human-Led Team
Attempting to manage foreign incorporation, nominee directorships, and banking KYC procedures through disjointed budget providers often triggers administrative delays and compliance gaps.
At Mezzanine Enterprise, our dedicated team of legal and corporate secretarial experts provides a streamlined, single-point-of-contact solution for foreign corporations. We handle the entire incorporation roadmap, supplying everything from robust corporate governance to secure nominee director placements.
Talk to us today about our foreign company incorporation services and your launch date.
18 Aug 2026
How to Set Up a Subsidiary in Singapore: A 6-Step Checklist for Foreign Companies
Shaun Goh
Last Updated:
16 Oct 2026
If you're a foreign company looking to set up a Singapore subsidiary, you can incorporate a Private Limited (Pte Ltd) company with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).
When setting up your subsidiary in Singapore, ensure you meet the following requirements:
Appoint an ordinarily resident Singaporean as your director, which you can easily do by engaging Mezzanine Enterprise's nominee director service.
Have a Singapore-registered office filed by a Registered Filing Agent like Mezzanine Enterprise.
In this guide, we guide you through the steps you need to take to set up your subsidiary in Singapore.
Still deciding? Compare a subsidiary, branch, and representative office first.
