Company Secretary Fees by Jurisdiction: What You Pay

The first question is not what a company secretary costs.

It is whether you need one at all, because in half the popular jurisdictions you do not.

The short answer

Two things fall out of that table immediately:

• If you are comparing jurisdictions on running cost, this line exists in three of them and not the other three.
• Hong Kong is roughly four to five times Singapore on this line alone, once converted.

Hong Kong: mandatory, local, and not you

Hong Kong has the strictest version of the requirement.

• Every company must appoint a company secretary
• The secretary must be local: an individual resident in Hong Kong, or a body corporate with a Hong Kong registered office
• A sole director cannot also be the secretary. If you are the only director, you must appoint someone else

That last rule is the one that catches single-founder companies. It is not a preference, it is a structural requirement, and it means a solo founder in Hong Kong always buys this service.

What it costs: HK$2,800 to HK$5,000 a year is the normal range, with the wider market running from around HK$1,300 to HK$8,000 and above.

Important: it is almost always bundled with the registered office, because the same provider supplies both. Quotes that separate them are unusual, and comparing a secretary-only price against a bundled one will mislead you.

Singapore: mandatory, with a six-month clock

Singapore also requires a company secretary, with a deadline attached.

• Appointment must be made within 6 months of incorporation
• The secretary must be ordinarily resident in Singapore
• The position cannot be left vacant for more than 6 months

What it costs: S$280 to S$900 a year. The range reflects how much is bundled: filing of the annual return, AGM administration, maintenance of registers, and corporate advice all move the price.

Context for the number. Singapore's government fees are modest by comparison:

So the secretary is frequently the largest recurring statutory line in a small Singapore company, ahead of the government's own annual fee.

Ireland: required, and the sole-director rule again

Every Irish company must have a company secretary.

• The secretary can be one of the directors
• But if the company has only one director, the secretary must be a different person
• A body corporate can hold the role

The pattern matches Hong Kong: a sole director cannot double up. The practical consequence is the same, a single-founder company buys the service.

Where you do not need one

United Kingdom. Private limited companies have not been required to appoint a company secretary since the Companies Act 2006. You may appoint one voluntarily, and some companies do for governance reasons, but there is no obligation and no cost if you skip it. Public companies are different.

Delaware. No company secretary requirement. What Delaware requires instead is a registered agent with a physical Delaware street address, at $50 to $300 a year. Different role, different purpose: the agent receives service of process, they do not maintain company records.

Estonia. No secretary requirement. If no board member resides in Estonia, the company needs a local contact person instead, which is a regulated role with a different function.

These three substitutes are not equivalents. A registered agent is a mailbox for legal process. A contact person is a regulated point of contact. A company secretary is an officer with statutory duties over the company's records and filings.

What you are actually paying for

The fee is rarely for a person sitting at a desk. It usually covers a defined bundle:

1. Maintaining the statutory registers — directors, members, charges, significant controllers
2. Filing the annual return with the registry
3. Preparing and filing changes — director appointments, address changes, share transfers
4. AGM and resolution administration, where required
5. Acting as the named officer on the public register

What moves the price within the range:

• Whether the registered office is bundled in, which it usually is in Hong Kong
• Number of directors and shareholders, and how often they change
• Whether the provider files your annual return or just prepares it
• Whether corporate advice is included or billed hourly

	Hong Kong	Singapore	Ireland	United Kingdom	Delaware	Estonia
Company secretary required	Yes, local	Within 6 months	Yes	Optional	No	No
Typical annual cost	HK$2,800-5,000	S$280-900	Market rate	-	-	-
Equivalent role instead	-	-	-	-	Registered agent	Contact person
Sole director may fill the role	No	No	No	-	-	-

Hong Kong charges more for the secretary and also requires an audit Singapore lets small companies skip, so the real gap is wider than this line.

The comparison that actually matters

Looking at this line in isolation makes Singapore look cheap and Hong Kong expensive. That is true, and it is not the whole picture.

Hong Kong charges more for the secretary and requires an audit that Singapore lets small companies skip. The gap between the two jurisdictions on total annual compliance is wider than the secretary line suggests.

If you are pricing a Singapore company properly, the secretary is one line among several worth seeing set out in full.

The summary