AA Pointer Consulting provides a single point of contact and trusted pair of hands as resident director in Australia, with significant local and global director and business experience, combined with a legal background, to ensure your business set up and expansion is seamless and worry free in Australia.

Our solutions

We currently provide Australian resident nominee director and public officer services to Australian subsidiaries of global parent listed and non-listed companies based in the US and in Nordic and Western European countries including the UK, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.

We work in a range of industry sectors including pharmaceutical, med tech, cosmetic injectables, medical research, renewable energy, enterprise software, global payments software, payroll, HR, and employment.

We also provide local/global business development advisory, strategy, plans and can introduce contacts. We don’t provide these services to clients we are a director.

Point of difference

Our point of difference for clients is the single point of contact and depth and breadth of over 35 years’ experience and insights of Andrew Pointer in global business and law working in Australia, the US and Hong Kong.

Setting up a business in Australia

Establishing an Australian presence requires structural decisions, followed by governance or who would be local resident director.

Companies must always have at least one director who ordinarily resides in Australia to comply with the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (C’th) and must be registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Structural decisions may include establishing an Australian subsidiary or branch. An Australian proprietary company (a subsidiary) is a separate legal entity owned by the overseas parent. It is the most common choice, because it ring-fences liability in Australia and is familiar to Australian customers, banks and employees.

Another option is to register the overseas company as a foreign company (an Australian branch). The overseas company registers with ASIC and trades in Australia under its own name. It must appoint a local agent who resides in Australia and generally lodges the parent’s financial statements with ASIC each year.

The choice of structure often depends on liability, tax, contracting, employees and considerations such as if and how long you intend to build your brand in Australia.

Another matter to consider is opening an Australian bank account. A local Australian resident director can be a signatory on a bank account once bank identity verification requirements are met. This process is typically faster than the identity verification process for an overseas signatory or director, which typically involves:

• completing a bank form confirming full name (and any other names known by), date of birth, residential address, postal address, phone number, email address, occupation, country of citizenship, tax residency, sources of wealth/funds
• providing certified copies of identification documents by a Prescribed Person (such as a notary public, justice of the peace, or other approved certifier in the overseas country)
• the certifier completing sections of the bank form
• the bank reviewing the form and asking for additional information
• a phone verification by the bank of the overseas signatory
• up to 3-4 weeks, or even longer.

Australian Resident Director