Asia entry · Singapore + Philippines

One partner for Asia entry. Two countries. Seven services. One contract.

Arbitrail Core runs the corporate stack for your Singapore or Philippines entity end to end. Incorporation, nominee director, secretary, registered office, banking, annual financials, bookkeeping. Pick one country, or both.

2
Countries
7
Services per country
1
SG entity contracts you
Pick your jurisdiction

Singapore or Philippines.

Each country has its own deep landing page with the seven services explained, regulator references, costs, and timelines. Pick the path that matches your business model.

Holding · HQ · Finance
Singapore

The most operationally serious jurisdiction in Asia. Predictable regulators, English contract law, premium banking, and a tax framework that rewards substance. The default holding-company choice for the region.

Entity
Pte Ltd
Timeline
1 to 3 days
Min. capital
S$1 (S$1K to 10K practical)
Corp. tax
17% headline
Best for Holding companies, regional HQ, fintech, SaaS, family office, IP holding, and any business where premium banking and regulatory predictability matter.
See Singapore setup
7 services covered
article-depth
Operations · Talent · Scale
Philippines

Asia’s English-language operations engine. 1.4 million in IT-BPM, deep talent pools, US time zone overlap, and material tax incentives via PEZA and BOI for export-oriented operations.

Entity
Domestic Corp
Timeline
4 to 12 weeks
Min. capital
USD 200K foreign
Corp. tax
25% (20% SME)
Best for Operations build-out, BPO and IT-BPM, customer service hubs, manufacturing, and any business that benefits from English-language talent at scale or PEZA/BOI tax incentives.
See Philippines setup
7 services covered
article-depth
Why Arbitrail

One partner. End to end.

Most providers do one slice (incorporation only, or accounting only). We run the full corporate stack so you never deal with stitched subcontractors or the gaps between them.

Multi-country, one contract

Operating in both Singapore and the Philippines? You contract with one Arbitrail SG entity for both. No three-vendor stitching, no jurisdictional friction in the contract chain.

Locally resourced specialists

Singapore work runs out of our Singapore team. Philippines work runs out of Manila and Cebu. People who know the regulators, the bankers, and the unwritten rules.

End to end, day one to year-end

Incorporation, nominee director, secretary, registered office, banking, monthly bookkeeping, annual financials, audit coordination, tax filings. Not a separate vendor for each.

Singapore vs Philippines

Key differences at a glance.

The decision usually comes down to what you are building. Holding company vs operating company, regulatory predictability vs cost and talent. The grid below covers the dimensions that move the needle.

 
Singapore
Philippines
Standard entity
Pte Ltd
Domestic Corporation
Time to incorporate
1 to 3 days via ACRA BizFile+
4 to 12 weeks via SEC + BIR + LGU
Min. paid-up capital (foreign)
S$1 (S$1K to 10K practical for banking)
USD 200K (or USD 100K with 50 PH staff)
Corporate income tax
17% headline (effective 8 to 13% with reliefs)
25% standard, 20% SME under CREATE Act
Audit requirement
Only if > S$10M revenue or assets, or > 50 staff
Mandatory for all corporations regardless of size
Banking
DBS, OCBC, UOB plus international and digital-first
BPI, BDO, Metrobank, UnionBank plus international
Local director requirement
At least one ordinarily resident director
Min 2 directors total, all foreign permitted in most sectors
Local secretary requirement
SG-resident, within 6 months of incorporation
Filipino citizen + PH resident, mandatory
Sales tax
GST 9% (S$1M registration threshold)
VAT 12% (PHP 3M threshold) or 3% Percentage Tax
Tax incentives
SUTE, PTE, treaty network, IP regime
PEZA / BOI: ITH 4 to 7 years, then 5% on Gross Income
Best for
Holding, regional HQ, fintech, SaaS, IP, family office
Operations, BPO/BPM, manufacturing, English-language talent

Many founders run both: a Singapore Pte Ltd as the holding entity and a Philippines Domestic Corporation as the operating company. Arbitrail handles both under one MSA.

The seven services

What we run for both countries.

The same seven services apply to Singapore and Philippines engagements, with country-specific implementation. Click through to either country page for the article-length breakdown.

01
Opening a company

Entity selection, name reservation, drafting, regulator filing, statutory body registration, end to end.

02
Active site management

Registered office, mail, phone, board meetings, substance documentation for banking and tax review.

03
Nominee director

Vetted local-resident director with documented service agreement, mutual indemnity, and clear scope limits.

04
Company secretary

Statutory registers, AGM coordination, annual filings, share transfer handling, regulator notifications.

05
Opening a bank account

Pre-application due diligence, document packet preparation, banker introductions, interview support.

06
Annual financials

Reporting framework selection, FS preparation, audit coordination, tax filings, regulator submissions.

07
Bookkeeping & accounting

Monthly close, AR/AP, sales tax filings, payroll, year-end coordination. Xero, QuickBooks, MYOB, Sage, NetSuite.

+
All seven, one engagement

Bundled or unbundled, your call. Most clients run all seven services from us as a single accountable team.

Common questions

Before you pick a country

The questions founders and operators most often ask before picking Singapore, Philippines, or both. Anything else, just email and we will answer the same day.

Should I incorporate in Singapore or the Philippines?
It usually depends on what you are building. Singapore wins for holding companies, regional HQs, and businesses where premium banking, IP protection, and tax-treaty network matter. Philippines wins for operating companies, especially BPO/BPM, customer service, manufacturing, or anything that benefits from large English-fluent talent pools and PEZA/BOI tax incentives. Many of our clients run both: SG holding company + PH operating company.
Can you set up both countries together?
Yes, and it is one of the most common engagements. We scope the SG holding company and the PH operating company together, file them in parallel where the timing allows, and run both as a single Arbitrail engagement. One MSA, one account lead, one invoice.
How long does the full setup take, end to end?
Singapore is 1 to 3 business days for the incorporation itself, plus 4 to 12 weeks for a Tier 1 bank account. Philippines is 4 to 12 weeks for the SEC/BIR/LGU sequence, plus 4 to 8 weeks for a bank account. Most clients are operationally live with a digital-first bank account in week 2 of SG or week 8 of PH and complete the Tier 1 banking relationship over the following one to two months.
Do you handle ongoing operations after setup?
Yes. We run the full corporate stack after incorporation: nominee director (where required), company secretary, registered office, banking liaison, monthly bookkeeping, annual financials, audit coordination, and tax filings. The setup is the start of the relationship, not the end.
How is pricing structured?
Bundled fixed-fee for the setup phase (incorporation through bank account). Monthly retainer for ongoing services (secretary, accounting, registered office). Country-specific quotes after a 30-minute scoping call against your business model and volume profile. SG total first year typically S$8K to S$15K; PH total first year typically PHP 600K to PHP 1.5M.
What if I already have an entity in one country and need the other?
Common. We start with the country you do not have, scope the corporate-secretary handover from your current SG or PH provider if you want to consolidate later, and align both entities under one Arbitrail MSA. Roughly 30% of our Core engagements start with one country already standing and add the second.
Do you offer Employment Pass / visa support in Singapore?
Yes, in coordination with the SG entity. Employment Pass eligibility depends on the founder’s qualifications, the company’s financial profile, and the proposed role. We coordinate the application, prepare the supporting business plan, and time the EP submission against the company’s capitalization. Typical EP processing is 4 to 8 weeks.
What about PEZA or BOI tax incentives in the Philippines?
Available for qualifying export-oriented or pioneer-industry companies. PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) requires operating in a registered economic zone and brings 4 to 7 year Income Tax Holiday plus 5% Gross Income Tax thereafter. BOI offers similar incentives for non-PEZA-zone businesses in priority industries. We assess eligibility during scoping and run the application as a separate workstream alongside the corporation setup.

Pick a country. Or both.

Each deep page below covers all seven services for that jurisdiction, with regulator references, costs, and timelines. Or book a scoping call and we will recommend the path that fits your business model.

Book a demo