Section 145(1) of the Companies Act 1967 requires every Singapore company to have at least one director who is ordinarily resident in Singapore – someone whose usual place of residence is Singapore.
In practice this is typically a Singapore Citizen, a Singapore Permanent Resident, or an EntrePass holder. An Employment Pass or Dependant's Pass holder may also qualify, but generally needs a Letter of Consent from MOM before acting as a director. The person must be a natural person, at least 18 years old, of full legal capacity and not disqualified – corporate directors are not permitted.
So your local director could be a co-founder, business partner or trusted associate who meets those conditions and is willing to take on the full statutory duties – which are the same for every director, nominee or not.
If no one in your circle qualifies, Apexia can act as nominee resident director. Note that since the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 took effect on 9 June 2025, nominee director arrangements must be made through an ACRA-registered corporate service provider, and nominee status is disclosed on the company's ACRA profile.