Malaysia Company Set-up

You need to go through a company secretary that registers .They will handle everything behalf of you,Thats how i got my company where u save money and time

Thanks Dyllon,

Can you please PM the company secretary's name & contact that registered your company.

Many Thanks

send me your mail on xxx

You still need the capital to set up any company, it does not make any difference whether it is in west Malaysia.  The only option would be a Labuan company, but that does not allow you to earn Malaysian Ringgits and all your transactions have to be in another currency. You are, however, allowed to open a sales office on peninsular Malaysia. It is not possible to run a business from home if you live in a condominium as it is against the ground rules. For Labuan companies take a look at simplyoffshore for details. By the way, the cost of setting up a 100% foreign company has been increased to RM1 million i.e. Rm500k for each of the two Directors that are required for a company set up.  The market you are trying to enter is saturated, so do some market research before you put your money on the line.

Thank Dyllon & Gravitas for your valuable advices.

Watch out for the people who will want to cheat you and "help" you do what you want for a price.

Hi, Gravitas, i can see you answering most of the posts and its really nice to see a person helping out people and i m really greatfull to if you can answer and clear my confusions as well?

I have been reading and surfing lots of stuff regarding doing business in Malaysia, i am currently running a software house in Pakistan and My idea is to open a second software house in Malaysia with the same name as in Pakistan which will be developing software and e-commerce website and we will be selling different items locally and internationally and of-course we will be marketing some of our own products in the local market . what are the best options for me either i should go for a Labuan company or an sdn bhd company. As requirement for sdn bhd is very confusing like i will go on visit register a company BUT i may not be able to open a back account hence cant deposit my paid up capital and then cant get my work permit stamped, i dunno how foreigners can do that and how come some agents are even ready to do all even without paid up capital........ but i see some option of Labuan company but still confused as i read that i wont be able to sell anything to locals. could you please suggest me some ways?? as i am trying to come on visit visa from Pakistan and wanted to get in done while i am there and then would i be able to convert my visit pass to work permit without exit? Please help me so that i at least starting looking into right direction.

Some clarification:
We will be selling different items locally and internationally and of-course we will be marketing some of our own products in the local market. what are the best options for me either i should go for a Labuan company or an sdn bhd company.

Answer: the Labuan company will not work as you cant do business in Malaysian Ringgit i.e. act as a local provider. Your company could offer the services but get the software written by your other company i.e. you are acting as a marketing office - you would need a business address to do this, but all payments would be in foreign currency.

As requirement for sdn bhd is very confusing like i will go on visit register a company BUT i may not be able to open a back account hence cant deposit my paid up capital and then cant get my work permit stamped, i dunno how foreigners can do that and how come some agents are even ready to do all even without paid up capital........

Answer: Once you have a company set up, you can open a bank account and deposit your paid up capital. Then you can apply for your Employment Pass as the Director of the company. Beware of agents. Anyone can open up a company and it costs a few thousand Ringgits, but that does not entitle you to any immigration status - for that you need the paid up capital. You will also need business premises and licences to operate, including signage. Dont be tempted to believe what they say because you will be left with the problems of having a company shell that cannot operate. No-one will do business with an illegal company.

i am trying to come on visit visa from Pakistan and wanted to get in done while i am there and then would i be able to convert my visit pass to work permit without exit? Please help me so that i at least starting looking into right direction.

Answer: A company has to be operating for 3 months before they offer any immigration status so your plan will not work.

You could open a Regional Office which does not require any paid up capital but does have to be a legal entity and have several years running history in your current country. You get immigration status. But you would only be a marketing office and the programming would have to be done by the initial company in that currency.

There is no easy way to open a business. I would suggest you try and find a Malaysian to be a Director, as it requires much less paid up capital. The competition is enormous, so you need to have a serious plan of how you will get services and a products or products to sell. Ideally you should apply for MSC status. You will be a small fish in a very big pond so be careful you dont waste all your money on a hopeless task with all the overheads you must have by law and not making any money.

The other thing is you have to employ Malaysians in the company. You can have a couple of foreign workers if they have special skills, but otherwise you are mandated to employ Malaysians.

Gravits, i am really greatful to you and taking that much time to reply my question and clearing my lot of confusions.

One more question is what exactly these agents do as they claim that would be do everything for you and you will receive your visa's, i hv heard so many people using that route as for me i just wanted to go with the right path.
if i register a company how would i be able to open my bank account while i am on a visit visa? as bank account is the most necessary thing to complete the registration process.

well i dont know anyone local in malayisa who can be the director.... is there any one with PR status can be my director but of other nationality?

Thanks a lot.

A Company Secretary opens the company for you (if that is what you mean by an Agent). They are legally registered to do that function in Malaysia. You can be on a Professional Visit Pass while you are setting up the company (investment visa) and once you have 3 months of business records, your CS can apply for the Employment Pass.

The bank account is set up in the company name, so you will need premises address, or I believe you can use the Company Secretary's address. They provide all the assistance as part of the fees they charge.

I suggest you contact a Company Secretary and ask them the questions.

Thanks Gravitas you are really supportive.!

Foreign Agents cannot legally open a company in Malaysia, so their services are a waste of money. They sell promises that cannot be fulfilled and walk away while those they cheat end up in detention centres and get deported and blacklisted.

There are now several databases that are connected to the immigration one that is used at the airports, so the immigration officers have a lot of information at their fingertips, including any unpaid income tax, corporation tax, etc. There are multiple layers involved, including applying for business licences, which are different from opening a business. It is a time consuming and quite difficult process to get a tick in all the boxes and can be much more expensive in the long run.

HI, I was going through some other options as well. What If I buy a running business and the previous owner will shift the same business to us means change the director and everything with the same name of the company. would it be a quick process to apply for the DP10 visa's instead of new business registration and then wait for next three months and still you don't have much surety that you will have the some immigrations status.

Of course we would like to hire some agencies to do the due diligences and also we would hit only that company which is eligible for applying the DP10 work permits means the paid up capital requirement has already been fulfilled and there are people already working on DP10.
Gravitas I would really appreciate if you can suggest and advice accordingly.

Thanks
Azeem

It is highly inadvisable to buy a business from someone else unless it really has a lot of "goodwill" (which is what will make you money). Most of the businesses for sale here by foreigners are because they cant afford the rise to RM1m in paid up capital. Or they are failing businesses. Even if you buy a going concern, you may run into the problem that immigration wont issue visas because they say the services dont need to be owned by a foreigner and should have been already handed over to be Malaysian owned. There is a member on here who can explain about this (CVC_) or something like that. A new owner would need to show at least 3 months of business accounts to show the income, as well as confirmation in corporate bank account. The other problem about buying businesses is you dont know what debts you are going to run into e.g. unpaid bills, taxes, or a 5 years lease on premises that is going to cripple you. If you are a good businessman, I would say start your own business as there is really no advantage whatsoever in buying an existing one (except Goodwill i.e. future income base). But that can easily dissipate with the change of ownership anyway.

How can i set up a small enterprise if i don't have a malaysian partner nor do i have the funds to pay these 2 partners.Is this possible or do i need to look for a malaysian partner?

Setting up any company is increasingly expensive and having a Malaysian partner reduces the costs but does not always guarantee an employment pass will be issued. You would only need one local partner, but still it requires RM350,000 in paid up capital. If you don't need to trade in Malaysian Ringgit and don't want a retail presence in Malaysia, you are able to open an offshore company in Labuan.

Our complete company is for sale which is the easiest way and which I will post in Expat.com when I can write it up.

Its really difficult to start from scratch now which contributes to fewer new expats coming nowadays. We started in 2000 with an enterprise company and it was so easy. Then Mahathir changed the rules and we had to become a Sdn Bhd. It was not too hard, and the capital requirements were lower but we still had to do it. Then the capital went up, then more restrictions on who got workpasses, and now today, well, I doubt I would even qualify to open the company we already have.

The future will be worse and harder as the country moves to developed status (real or imagined). When I first explored this starting in 1998, even then Malaysia wanted high flyer factories to open, not small companies doing small business and thats whats going to totally end. I guess for us, we slipped in under the radar and had no problems. This wouldnt be the case today.

For new companies, capital requirements vary depending on the industry one is in. We had three missions in our statement and one was food. Today, for new companies, a foreigner cannot even apply for food, according to our accountant. As of about 3 years ago, and someone can correct me, capital was RM1.5 mill for a food company with local directors, and RM3.5 mill for a foreigner-owned. Today I couldnt even bare to look, if its even an option.  Doors are definitely closing.

Our situation is grandfathered in, we wouldnt have to increase old capital requirements. But the increases are designed to keep foreigners out of Malaysia so that locals can start and enjoy non-competitive businesses. Sad thing is that many locals dont want to do it, they want secure salary jobs so keeping foreigners out seems counter-productive but thats how it is.

Not to criticize those considering opening here, I have to say that many expats talk a lot about dreams they really cannot do. If they are serious and able, they should act because in five years from now I doubt we can even have a conversation about it.

To illustrate that, I have an expat friend who owns a language school in KL. He came in 1976 and after staying a few months, liked it and went and got permanent residency simply by asking for it. He said in the meantime he had become eligible for citizenship if he wanted. Look how different it is today. Dont look for anything in Malaysia to stay the same very long, like the old days when nobody seemed to care about anything. Ive watched the same thing happen in other ASEAN countries too.

Unfortunately the rules roll - that is if a person takes over an existing company the prevailing rules regarding capital injection apply.  So there is no escaping them and its often easier to start with a clean slate and have a business that can do what you want.

Here are some of the problems that foreign owners of companies are now facing:

http://malaysiabizadvisory.com/major-pr … d-company/

Food-led businesses are still possible with RM1m paid up capital. 

Beware of companies owned with Malaysians and do your homework. This is because work permits are not always now granted to the foreign part owner as in effect they may not be needed in the day to day running.

It is important to do a lot of research and check the up to date rules with reputable Company Secretarial companies that you pick yourself to ensure the information is impartial.

You can browse this website for the latest regulations

http://malaysiabizadvisory.com/

Any advise on opening a small online business in kl?

Dear Gravitas,

I am really exited to see you helping as much as you can, please allow me to ask your advice as I have had my MM2H application approved and welling to move to MALAYSIA by end of the year, I will be looking to have my own business ( small or medium ) size one.
I am thinking of going to franchise brand that start up value is affordable to me.
I would like to have your advice please.

Thanks & regards,

Tarek

if anyone have the companies secretarial contact number or email for handle evrything
please send me.

thank you

Hi sorry to dig up an old post.  I found this thread when searching in google.   I have a few questions and if Gravitas can PM me that would be awesome

Hi Bougie_44 - please feel free to ask questions here or start a new thread.

Hi can anyone help i have registered my company in malaysia its a new company like its 6 month old and sdn bhd company but i want to know how can i open a bank account we went to a bank with our introducer to open a bank account but the officer there told us you need to have your companys employment visa than they will open a banck account for us i mean is that if i cant open a bank account  and cant not show my 1 million paid up capital how the immigration will give me my companys employment pass?? PLEASE HELP !!!!

Yes, need your employment visa first. That is hard to get these days, because a  new company has no track record of doing business. http://malaysiabizadvisory.com/major-pr … d-company/

Contact me i will guide u
***

Dear Sir,

If you don't mind I am interested too have company in Malaysia.  Could you please give me the contact number of secretary general. All I need is Director the rest I have a contact who will arrange everything.

Thanks and Regards

Nabil Asghar

Er Nabil - surely you will be one of the Directors of your own company?

Don't use agents and do use solicitors or companies that have legally qualified staff for the incorporation. If you are looking to get a work permit so you can remain in Malaysia then you will need skills not available among Malaysians - this means owning a company (even in partnership with locals) does not guarantee you can live in Malaysia. High paid up capital is required to get a work permit for Sdn Bhd companies.

If you incorporate a Labuan company, http://malaysiabizadvisory.com/advantag … n-company/ then latest capital required is RM250,000.

You can contact Luther Corporate Services but they are quite pricey..They can open a sdn bhd as they have their own comp sec and also you can take them as a local nominee director

Hi folks!
Sorry for digging up an old topic.
Is there any news regarding the company allowed to set companies up for foreigners?

And what about a Company with RM 1m paid up capital? Do you think immigration dept can refuse the renew of a 2 years work visa for one of the directors?

Any advice is welcome.
Regards

There have been no changes announced in the general rules for company formation by foreigners. There has been a development where Labuan companies can do business with onshore Malaysian companies now and  pay 24% tax on those transactions.

The choice is still between a Sdn Bhd type and a Labuan Offshore type.

The Paid-up Capital does vary and afffects the ability of a company to hire other foreigners.

There have been changes to the amount of P-UC to get an employment pass and dependent  passes for Labuan companies. This is currently RM250,000

A Sdn Bhd business which has no profile or proof of transactions will have a high a high chance of rejection. The role of the Director would also need to contribute to the business and not be a "silent partner".

In other words, the professional background and qualifications of the Directors would need to reflect the activities of the company and the individuals would need to have clear roles within the business. Immigration will still potentially apply their judgment if they see a lack of relevant skills.

Directors should therefore occupy "key positions". The company should also pay them a minimum monthly salary of RM10,000

Company Directors also risk not being able to renew their EP if the company does not have a substantial balance sheet of business success i.e. not just a shell company. Immigration can reject applications for any EP if the role of the Director could in fact be undertaken by a local Malaysian.

Ouch this freaks me out. 
So for example restauration it's impossible for foreigners. Récréation for tourism as well. That's it ?

To be honest, opening a restaurant in most of Malaysia, as a foreigner with the huge PUC required and low income that is likely to be generated, is financial suicide.     

I guess you know the website http://malaysiabizadvisory.com/

They provide quite a lot of information on what is possible and what isn't. Gone are the days when simply putting up the PUC for a company guaranteed automatic residence in Malaysia.

Yes I know this website.
Ok so not a good Idea. What about tourism?

Check the rules for Tourism. They were tightened recently and I think now Tourist Agents have to work with a local partner - http://www.mida.gov.my/home/tourism-and … ces/posts/