In recent years, registered Hong Kong companies and registered Singapore companies have become more and more popular. Opening offshore accounts can meet the needs of the company's daily collection and payment or overseas tax planning. As one of the global financial centers, Hong Kong and Singapore attract many investors to invest and open offshore accounts. Here's a quick comparison of Hong Kong bank accounts and Singapore bank accounts.
1. Household difficulty level
Due to the full implementation of the global CSR tax exchange policy and the requirements of the Hong Kong Anti-Money Laundering Regulations, Hong Kong's bank account management has become stricter and the threshold for opening accounts has increased. Many SMEs are even facing the situation that “one household is hard to find”. As Hong Kong bank accounts become more saturated, individuals will go to Hong Kong to open a bank account, and the pass rate is low. At present, whether it is for personal accounts or company accounts, it is best to go through a professional agency.
The bank's bank account opening policy is relatively relaxed, the risk management and control is relatively reasonable, and the success rate of opening an account is relatively high. In addition, the Bank of Singapore has a moderate degree of risk management. In terms of the difficulty of opening an account, the opening of a bank in Singapore is more favored by SMEs.
2. Bank selection
Both Singapore and Hong Kong are financial centers. They are home to hundreds of banking institutions, the world's major banking branches, banking services, and banking, and bankers can provide Mandarin services.
Banks favored by Hong Kong banks when opening accounts include HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, Hang Seng Bank, Bank of China, Bank of East Asia, Wing Lung Bank, etc. Banks that are more inclined to customers when they open an account in Singapore include DBS Bank, Overseas Chinese Wing Hang Bank, UOB Bank, etc.
3. Account opening information requirements
Hong Kong bank accounts: business licenses, corporate identity cards, business contracts, bank funds, social security lists, etc.; different banks need different information.
Information required for opening a bank in Singapore: provide real, valid and sufficient documents and business contracts.
4. Bank opening convenience
In principle, individuals who need to open a bank account in Hong Kong and open a bank account in Singapore need to go to Hong Kong and Singapore for a face-to-face visa. The company can have a chance to enjoy domestic visas when opening a bank account in Hong Kong and opening a bank account in Singapore. Shareholders do not need to go to Hong Kong or Singapore (through Hong Kong to handle the opportunity to enjoy the domestic visa-free service).
The bank will complete the account opening procedure for approximately seven to ten business days, and the bank will issue a password and account. After the bank has opened the account in Singapore, it will usually send the relevant documents and items to your bank registration address in the next half month to one month.
5. Account Management
Hong Kong's management of bank accounts is very strict. Hong Kong banks require companies to hold accounts to provide annual financial reports, audit reports, and respond to investigation letters within a limited time to complete due diligence. If you do not cooperate with the bank to complete the investigation within a certain period of time, it may be directly frozen or forcibly closed. In addition, if the enterprise or individual holding the Hong Kong bank account does not operate, such as long-term unused, it forms a “zombie household” and is sensitive. Acts such as capital transactions in the region may result in account closure.
The management of bank accounts in Singapore is relatively less strict. The account needs to deposit the first deposit on time, maintain sufficient minimum deposit amount, avoid having to deal with the risk area, avoid sudden emergence of funds beyond the normal business volume, and keep the account in normal use. can.