Chapter 37: Making it Real
"You don’t want the poetic answer," she said, "you want the practical one."
She picked up a slim brochure from the stack on her desk and fanned it out like a dealer shuffling cards. "For a fully turnkey package. Incorporation, nominee director, company secretary, registered address, basic nominee shareholding structure, and premium introductions to private banking, our standard fee is S$400,000. That covers the immediate incorporation work and the first year of nominee services. There will be annual fees thereafter for maintenance, nominee retainer, accounting and compliance, but we’ll spell that out in the engagement letter."
Timothy stared at the number as if it might rearrange itself into something smaller. Four hundred thousand Singapore dollars. In pesos it read like small change next to eight billion, but it was still a lot of money on a student’s scale.
Ms. Lim watched him for a beat, then added, "If you want the bank to move as quickly as possible private banker introductions, a dedicated relationship manager assigned the moment we present your file, upfront KYC pre-vetting, we add a ’white-glove’ band, S$150,000. That buys you top-tier access: the Treasures desk at DBS, UOB Privilege, or the global private bank at HSBC. These are the desks that actually prioritize onboarding. They still won’t skip proper KYC, but they will queue your file to the top."
She pushed the brochure across the table to him. The paper felt heavier than the price tag.
Timothy let out a breath. His mind did the math in the way muscle memory tallied currency when you’d handled small deals your whole life. The law firm’s package, even with the bank band, was pennies for what he stood to get. Eight billion upfront and a path to the rest would make S$550,000 a negligible transaction cost.
"You can do it in a day?" he asked. The sentence came out thin; his voice wanted to sound skeptical because it felt absurd to be able to buy a corporate identity that fast.
"We can incorporate a private limited company within twenty-four hours," Ms. Lim said. "Provided you give us everything we need now. Passport copy. Proof of residential address — municipal utility or bank statement, something recent. Signed beneficial owner declaration. The two-page business plan I mentioned; we’ll draft it with you, but we need the fundamentals—company name, proposed activity, authorised share capital, and who will sign for the account."
She tapped the contract in front of her. "We will nominate a local director. He or she will be a professional, experienced, reliable, and paid for their neutrality. You remain the ultimate beneficial owner. We’ll also provide a registered office address; banks prefer a real presence, even if it’s a serviced office. The whole structure is standard. It is legal. It is tested."
Timothy’s brain ticked through the moving parts as she named them — nominee director, company secretary, registered address, authorised share capital. It all sounded clean because Singapore made it clean. That was the point.
"And when will the bank transfer happen?" he asked. "When can NVIDIA wire?"
"That depends on the bank," Ms. Lim said. "We will prepare an account-opening packet and present it to the bank the moment the company is incorporated. For a client of your scale, the bank will do a bespoke review. They will still insist on the source of funds. The NVIDIA contract is ideal — it explains why a large corporate payment is expected. With the contract, the banks will move faster. But even then, expect face-to-face meetings for signature and some compliance interviews. If you want the absolute fastest path, we can arrange for you to meet the private banker here in Singapore as soon as tomorrow morning."
Ms. Lim’s expression softened into the professional’s version of reassurance. "You should understand the risks. Because of the size of the transaction, the bank will flag the transfer to the Monetary Authority if necessary. There will be due diligence. If any jurisdiction where the money originates or routes through has compliance questions, there may be holds. We can’t guarantee transactional secrecy. What we guarantee is structure that is defensible under law, and advocacy—legal and banking channels that minimize the chance of a freeze."
Timothy pictured the BIR, imagined frozen wires and headline hunters. "What do you need from me, right now?"
"Passport and residential proof," she said. "A copy of the NVIDIA agreement — redacted if you prefer, but the bank will want to see payment terms, amounts, and an explanation of the transaction. Your declaration of beneficial ownership. Proof that you understand the structure — basic acknowledgements, nothing onerous. And the retainer."
"Payment now?" He’d expected the retainer, but his fingers still stuttered.
"We start work upon engagement. Our trust account will hold the retainer. We’ll invoice and provide receipts. This is all aboveboard."
He pulled his phone from his pocket. The contract with NVIDIA was already open in his email, tabs layered like a set of windows he could step through at any time. He hesitated only for a second; then he forwarded the document to Ms. Lim’s secure firm address and handed her a neatly scanned passport photo he had saved earlier. He typed his current Manila address into her form and watched her fill in the fields with a seasoned, steady hand.
Ms. Lim left briefly to pull a hard copy of the firm’s engagement letter. When she returned she set the paper on the table and slid a pen toward him.
"This engagement covers the S$400,000 incorporation package," she said, "and the bank white-glove band if you wish. There are two optional modules: setting up a discretionary trust in Singapore should you later want to shield beneficial ownership in a trust vehicle, and an international tax advisory package. Both are useful, but we can add them later."
Timothy signed with deliberate strokes.
He glanced at the clause about confidentiality, about the firm’s responsibilities, about the limits of their guarantee. It read in plain legalese that they would act as agents, that they would represent him to the banks and nominees, that all services were in full compliance with Singapore law.
He initialed the fee schedule and authorized the wire for the retainer — a smaller amount, but significant enough to move things immediately. Ms. Lim had arranged for the client intake payment to be processed through a corporate account; the paper trail would show a corporate fee into a Singapore trust account tied to the firm, not a raw personal deposit into a Manila bank. It was a neat separation, exactly what he needed.
She put the signed documents into a folder and looked at him with that same sharp calm.
"We’ll incorporate tonight," she said. "Nominee director will be assigned and consented. Company secretary procured. Registered address activated. Tomorrow morning I’ll introduce you to the private-banking team. Bring two forms of ID, and wear something that suggests seriousness, shirt and blazer. The banking people are still humans; how you present yourself matters as much as the numbers."
She wrote a short checklist and handed it to him. "Meet me at nine thirty, Raffles Place. We’ll walk over together."