| Our ranking in order of preference | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Summary at a glance | | | | |
| Total engagement costs? (US$) | 12,246 | 8,655 | 15,700 | 13,420 |
| How long to set the company up? | 1 week | 1 week | 2 weeks | 1 week |
| How long to open bank account? | 6 weeks | 4 weeks | 3 weeks | 4 weeks |
| Where to open the bank account? | UOB Malaysia | HSBC HK | Arab Bank Dubai | OCBC Singapore |
| Legally tax exempt structure? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Annual accounting and filing obligations? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Resident director required? | Yes | No | No | No |
| Reputable looking structure? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Legal considerations | | | | |
| Resident shareholder required? | No | No | No | No |
| Minimum number of directors? | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Minimum number of shareholders? | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Resident company secretary required? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Individual shareholders allowed? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Corporate shareholders allowed? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Corporate director(s) allowed? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Info available on a public register? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Minimum paid-up capital? (US$) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tax and accounting considerations | | | | |
| Corporate tax payable? (%) | 0% | 0% | 0% | 3% |
| Annual financial statements required? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Statutory audit required? | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Annual tax return to be submitted? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Access to double tax treaties? | No | No | No | No |
| Can the entity hire expatriate staff? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Foreign income locally taxable? | Yes | Yes | No | N/A |
| Agreeing to cooperate with FATF? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FATF blacklisted country? | No | No | No | No |
| Logistics considerations | | | | |
| Allowed to invoice local Clients? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Average monthly salary? (US$) | 2,700 | 1,900 | 2,100 | 400 |
| English spoken by locals? (% pop.) | 80% | 46% | Na | 20% |
| Literacy rate (%)? | 93% | 93% | 90% | 92% |
| Computer literacy rate (%)? | 98% | 80% | 87% | 75% |
| Country sovereign rating (S&P)? | AAA | AAA | AA | - |
| Ease of doing business? (World Bank) | 1 | 5 | 31 | 140 |
| Population? (million) | 4.8 | 7.3 | 9.6 | 0.5 |
| Unemployment rate? (% active pop.) | 2 | 3.2 | - | - |
| Inflation rate? (average, 2015) | 0 | 2.9 | 3.7 | -0.6 |
