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Nominee Director Services in Australia
Foreign companies unable to fulfil the Resident Director requirement for setting up operations in Australia can avail of our Nominee Director services. Our on-staff company secretaries can act as your nominee director for compliance purposes, offering a wealth of knowledge on the best practices for corporate and tax compliance.
Fulfilling the role of a resident director is a serious responsibility. It is advisable to appoint a trusted and credible individual to act as Nominee Director with a track record and history of such appointments.
What is a Nominee Director in Australia?
Entities seeking to register a company in Australia are legally mandated to have at least one local resident director. The resident director must be at least 18 years old and have a valid director identification number (Director ID). Foreign companies with no local presence may struggle to fulfil this requirement. An ideal solution to this problem is engaging with professional service providers to appoint a nominee director on your behalf.
A nominee director is an individual ordinarily residing in Australia who has been appointed by a foreign company to act as their resident director. The nominee director shall only assume the role as a means to help the company fulfil their legal obligations to the government. As such, they do not have the inherent authority accorded to actual resident directors and cannot participate in the executive, financial, and operational aspects of the business.
To avoid confusion, the terms “Resident Director” and “Nominee Director” are defined as follows:
- Resident Director – an Australian citizen or permanent resident appointed to exercise executive roles and have direct involvement in the operations of the business
- Nominee Director – an Australian citizen or permanent resident appointed to fulfil the Resident Director requirement and exercise non-executive roles, such as:
- signing legal documents on behalf of the company;
- managing compliance requirements with the government; and
- performing other duties that foreign directors cannot perform
Our Nominee Director Services
- Act as your Australian resident director and represent your company for Corporations Act compliance purposes
- Lodge your registration requirements to ASIC, ATO, and other relevant government agencies
- Assist with local bank account opening
- Exercise non-executive roles and responsibilities as discussed with the Board of Directors
- Assist with amending/updating your company details (officeholder details, share capital details, registered office address, and company name)
- Manage annual ASIC compliance requirements
Roles and Responsibilities of a Nominee Director in Australia
As the company’s local representative, the role of a nominee director is critical. They are primarily responsible for ensuring the company is compliant with its tax and legal obligations, and must perform the following duties:
- act as a custodian of company documents, financial records, notices, and official communications with government agencies
- sign legal documents on behalf of the company
- attend regular and/or special meetings of the Board of Directors (as required)
- notify ASIC of key changes to company details (i.e., directors, principal place of business, company name, etc.)
- act in the best interest of the company at all times
- perform other duties as the Board of Directors may allow
Benefits of Hiring a Nominee Director for Your Company in Australia
Save time and reduce costs during company registration
Besides providing professional assistance during company registration, nominee directors will also help you significantly save time and reduce costs by doing away with identity checks from the government and preparing documents ahead of time in the event that ASIC requires you to provide additional documentation.
Though you can appoint your own resident directors, you’ll need to undergo extra steps for their identity checks and suitability for the role. Nominee directors can help you fill the gaps and get your business plans moving quicker.
Ease of opening a bank account
Since most Australian banks require a local representative to visit the bank for KYC purposes during bank account opening, having a nominee director will make the process easier. Our team can help you with this, at no additional cost.
Seamless consolidation of important documents
As the custodian of your company documents, nominee directors are capable of acting on your behalf to communicate with your service providers or suppliers and safeguard your documents for every transaction for future reference. We can also coordinate directly with your chartered accountants, lawyers, manufacturers, vendors, distributors, importers, etc. on your behalf if you are unable to.
Confidentiality
Registered companies in Australia are mandated to provide the names of their directors and officeholders. If you do not want to have your name listed in ASIC’s Registers, you can have the nominee director register their name in lieu of yours to protect your privacy.
Appoint a trusted Nominee Director for your compliance needs so you can focus on your business.
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