Every Singapore company must have at least one director who is ordinarily resident in Singapore. The requirement comes from section 145 of the Companies Act 1967, and it applies from the day of incorporation. If you are a foreign founder or an overseas company with no local director to appoint, our nominee director service fills that seat: we appoint a Singapore-resident professional to your board in a strictly non-executive capacity, from S$2,000 per annum, so your company can be incorporated and stay compliant while you keep full ownership and control.
This is a compliance appointment, not a workaround. Singapore tightened the rules around nominee arrangements in 2025, and providers that treat the role as a name on a form are exactly what the new regime is designed to remove. Our service is built the other way round: proper due diligence before we accept the appointment, a documented scope of engagement, and every disclosure ACRA requires, filed on time. If you want the background, our guide to the 2025 nominee director crackdown explains what changed and why the compliant route is now the only sensible one.
Incorporating in Singapore without a local director? Talk to Excellence Singapore. We will confirm whether you need a nominee at all, and if you do, scope a compliant appointment from S$2,000 per annum.
What Is a Nominee Director?
A nominee director is a Singapore-resident individual appointed to a company board to satisfy the local director requirement, while acting on behalf of the shareholders who appointed them. Under ACRA’s rules, a director is a nominee when they are required, formally or informally, to act on the directions, instructions, or wishes of another person, called the nominator. ACRA defines a local resident as a Singapore citizen, a permanent resident, or the holder of certain work passes, with the details set out in its registration requirements and eligibility guidance.
Two things follow from that definition, and both matter when you choose a provider. First, a nominee director is a real, legal director. The Companies Act draws no distinction between nominee and non-nominee directors when it assigns duties: the same obligations to act honestly, exercise reasonable diligence, and comply with the law apply in full. Second, nominee status is not private. It must be disclosed to the company, recorded in the company’s Register of Nominee Directors, and filed with ACRA’s central Registers of Nominee Directors (ROND), with changes lodged within two business days of the company updating its own register. Our post on ACRA’s central registers covers the filing mechanics in detail, and foreign founders will find the fuller picture in our guide to what foreign entrepreneurs must know about nominee directors.
Why Do Companies Appoint a Nominee Director?
The commercial reasons are straightforward, and none of them involve hiding anything:
Foreign founders incorporating from overseas.
You can own 100 percent of a Singapore company from anywhere in the world, but the company cannot be registered without a locally resident director. A nominee lets you open a business in Singapore as a foreigner before you relocate, or without relocating at all.
Founders waiting for an Employment Pass.
The company often needs to exist before the EP application can be made, which creates a gap only a resident director can fill. Once your pass is approved you can take the seat yourself, as our guide for EP holders starting a business in Singapore explains.
Overseas parent companies.
A foreign HQ setting up a Singapore subsidiary frequently has no local staff member suitable or willing to take on statutory directorship.
In each case the shareholders keep full ownership and day-to-day control. The nominee holds no shares, signs no bank instructions, and runs nothing. If you have not yet incorporated, our Singapore company incorporation service handles the registration itself as a separate engagement.
Nominee Director vs the Alternatives
Foreign founders usually weigh three routes to satisfying the resident director requirement. The informal route, asking a friend or relative in Singapore to take the seat, looks free and is usually the most expensive mistake of the three, because the friend takes on full statutory duties and personal exposure they rarely understand. We wrote a dedicated post on why asking a friend to be your nominee director is riskier than it looks.
| Route | Indicative cost | Risk | Compliance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional nominee director | From S$2,000 per year, quote-based | Low. Non-executive scope defined in a written engagement, professional nominee who understands the duties | Arranged by a registered CSP as the CSP Act 2024 requires, nominee status declared and filed in ROND |
| Asking a friend or relative | Often free or a token sum | High. The friend carries full director duties and personal liability, usually without realising it, and the relationship carries the strain | If they act on your instructions they are a nominee at law and must still be declared in ROND, which informal arrangements routinely miss |
| Relocating yourself (EP or other pass) | Pass application and relocation costs, no ongoing nominee fee | Low legal risk, but approval is not guaranteed and the process takes months | Once you hold a qualifying pass and are ordinarily resident, you can be the resident director yourself |
Many clients combine the first and third routes: a nominee director covers the gap now, and the appointment ends cleanly once a pass is approved or a local director joins.
What Our Nominee Director Service Includes
The engagement covers the appointment itself and every disclosure that comes with it:
A Singapore-resident nominee director appointed to your board in a non-executive capacity, satisfying the section 145 requirement.
All appointment filings with ACRA, prepared and lodged through BizFile in coordination with your corporate secretary.
ROND compliance: the nominee’s status and nominator particulars disclosed to the company, recorded in the Register of Nominee Directors, and filed with ACRA’s central ROND within the statutory deadlines, including updates when anything changes.
Ongoing liaison with your corporate secretary so the nominee stays informed of the company’s filings, resolutions, and compliance calendar throughout the appointment.
Just as important is what the service does not include. The nominee takes no part in operations or commercial decisions, is not a signatory on any bank account, holds no shares, and does not manage the business day to day. Corporate secretarial support is a separate service, provided by our company secretary team, and company registration is handled by our incorporation service; each is engaged and priced on its own.
Scope of Authority: What the Nominee Does and Does Not Do
This section is the one to read before you appoint anyone, with us or with any other provider. Our nominee directors operate within a defined, documented scope:
- Non-executive only. The nominee exists to satisfy the Companies Act requirement for a locally resident director, not to manage the company.
- Acts on documented instructions. The nominee acts only on the documented instructions of the shareholders or the board, except where the law requires a director to act otherwise.
- No operational involvement. No bank account access or signing authority, no contracts with customers or suppliers, no hiring, no day-to-day management.
And here is the part a compliant provider will always say plainly: a nominee director remains a legal director with full statutory duties. They cannot ignore unlawful activity, they are required to act honestly and with reasonable diligence, and their nominee status is registrable in ACRA’s central Register of Nominee Directors. Since 9 June 2025, the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 has also required that anyone acting as a nominee director by way of business be appointed through a registered corporate service provider, which must first satisfy itself that the individual is fit to hold the role and not disqualified from acting as a director. A provider that markets a nominee who asks no questions and looks the other way is describing an arrangement the law now penalises. We decline those engagements, and that is precisely why our appointments are safe to sit on your board.
How It Works
A compliant appointment follows four steps, and the first one is deliberately the most thorough:
KYC and due diligence.
We verify the identities of the shareholders and beneficial owners, understand the business model and its counterparties, and screen the engagement before accepting it. We support all lawful business activities, subject to our KYC and due-diligence review.
Engagement agreement and deposit.
We agree the scope of the appointment in a written engagement agreement, together with the security deposit and the fee.
Appointment and filings.
The nominee consents to act, the appointment is filed with ACRA, and the nominee disclosure is recorded in the Register of Nominee Directors and filed with the central ROND.
Ongoing compliance.
The nominee stays informed through your corporate secretary, reviews the engagement annually, and remains available for the statutory matters that genuinely require a director.
Who This Service Is For
Our nominee director service is built for owners who need the seat filled properly, not silently:
Foreign founders
incorporating a Singapore company before relocating, or running it permanently from abroad.
Founders with an EP application in progress
who need the company registered now and plan to take the directorship themselves once the pass is approved.
Overseas parent companies
establishing a Singapore subsidiary without a local employee suitable for statutory directorship.
Existing companies losing their only resident director,
for example when a founder relocates, and needing continuous compliance while a replacement is arranged.
How Much Does a Nominee Director Cost in Singapore?
From S$2,000
per annum
Our nominee director service starts from S$2,000 per annum. There is no fixed price list beyond that entry point, because the fee reflects the responsibility the nominee personally takes on, and that responsibility is not the same for every company. Three things drive the final quote:
- Risk profile: the ownership structure, where the shareholders and beneficial owners are based, and what our due diligence finds.
- Business activity: what the company actually does, and how much oversight that activity reasonably demands from a director.
- Scope of engagement: what the appointment needs to cover and for how long.
A refundable security deposit applies, and the terms are set out in the engagement agreement.
One honest note on the market: nominee fees in Singapore rose after the 2025 reforms, because the personal accountability of nominees is now enforced rather than theoretical. A fee that looks surprisingly low usually signals a provider that has not priced in the duties, and that is a risk you would be attaching to your own company’s board.
Your Exit Path: When You No Longer Need a Nominee
Most nominee appointments are transitional, and buyers are right to ask how they end before they begin. The answer is: cleanly, and by a documented process. Once you obtain a pass that makes you ordinarily resident, or you appoint another locally resident director, the board resolves the change, the incoming director is appointed first so the company is never without a resident director, and the nominee resigns. We prepare the resolutions, lodge the cessation with ACRA, and update the Register of Nominee Directors and the central ROND to close off the disclosure. There is no lock-in and no obstacle course: the engagement agreement sets out the handover from the start, and the whole transition is typically completed within days of your instruction.
Why Excellence Singapore
Since 2013
4,000+ businesses
CSP-registered
Nominee directorship is a trust decision, so here is who you would be trusting. Excellence Singapore is a registered corporate service provider under ACRA’s Corporate Service Providers Act 2024, supporting more than 4,000 businesses since 2013. The nominee appointment does not sit alone: our corporate secretarial, accounting, and tax teams work under one roof, so the nominee director is kept informed by the same firm that maintains your registers and filings, which is exactly the visibility a compliant nominee needs. You get a professionally managed appointment with a defined scope, every ACRA disclosure handled, transparent pricing from S$2,000 per annum, and a clean exit when you no longer need us on the board.
Appoint a Nominee Director the Compliant Way
If your Singapore company needs a locally resident director, appoint one who treats the seat with the seriousness the law now demands. Talk to Excellence Singapore: we will review your situation, run our due-diligence checks, and scope a nominee director appointment from S$2,000 per annum, with a documented handover ready for the day you no longer need it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Nominee Director Services in Singapore
Our nominee director service starts from S$2,000 per annum. The final quote depends on the risk profile of the company, the nature of its business activity, and the scope of the engagement, so we assess and quote each appointment individually. A refundable security deposit applies, and the terms are set out in the engagement agreement.
Singapore law requires every company to have at least one director who is ordinarily resident in Singapore. A nominee director fills that seat for founders who live overseas, so the company can be incorporated and remain compliant while the shareholders keep full ownership and day-to-day control. The nominee acts in a non-executive capacity and does not run the business or access its bank accounts.
Yes. Appointing a nominee director is legal and common, and the arrangement is recognised and regulated by ACRA. Since the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 came into force in June 2025, anyone acting as a nominee director by way of business must be appointed through a registered corporate service provider, and the nominee status must be recorded in the company register and filed with ACRA's central Registers of Nominee Directors.
The risks sit on both sides. The nominee remains a legal director with full statutory duties, so a professional nominee will carry out due diligence and will not stay on a board that is used for unlawful activity. For the company, the real risk is the informal route: using a friend as your nominee director who does not understand the duties, or an unregistered provider, which can now attract penalties. A CSP-arranged appointment with a defined non-executive scope and proper ROND filings removes most of that risk.
Legally, their duties are identical. A nominee director has the same statutory responsibilities under the Companies Act as any other director. The practical differences are the role and the disclosure: a nominee is appointed to satisfy the local resident director requirement, acts non-executively on documented instructions from the shareholders, and must be declared as a nominee in the company register and in ACRA's central Registers of Nominee Directors.
Yes. Once you hold a pass that makes you ordinarily resident in Singapore, or you appoint another locally resident director, the board appoints the incoming director and the nominee resigns. We prepare the resolutions, lodge the changes with ACRA, and update the nominee registers as a documented handover, so the transition is clean and your company is never without a resident director.
Need A Hand? We Got You
