Appoint a Nominee Director for your Nigerian Company through Kabbiz Global Nominees Limited
We provide reliable Nominee Directors for your registered company in Nigeria to help you navigate Nigeria’s regulatory landscape.
Every company incorporated in Nigeria with the Corporate Affairs Commission needs a minimum of one director for that company in order to meet up with compliance requirements with the Corporate Affairs Commission. To that effect, many foreign entrepreneurs and foreign companies seeking to incorporate their entities in Nigeria to commence business thus seek out the services of resident non-executive, Nominee Directors to sit on the Board of their newly incorporated company to help them navigate compliance in Nigeria.
Who is a Nominee Director?
A Nominee Director is a company director added to a registered company (or, alternatively, a company undergoing fresh incorporation) to function as a company director for that company on the company’s records with the Corporate Register at the Corporate Affairs Commission. This can be done to help the company meet the compliance requirement of companies mandatorily having a company director upon incorporation.
As a foreign entrepreneur or Entity incorporating a company in Nigeria, do we need a Nominee Director?
It is not mandatory for you to hire the services of nominee directors for your Nigerian incorporation. However, due to unfamiliarity with Nigeria’s regulatory terrain, you may require a professional (or professionals) who understand Nigeria’s regulations and compliance requirements to act as a director on record for your company and help you to navigate compliance with different regulators in Nigeria for the sector you operate in. That is usually when it becomes advisable to hire a nominee director to be a part of your company in Nigeria and sort of act “in-house” for you to interface with regulators and help your Nigerian company meet with compliance requirements.
Furthermore, in many cases, and in some industries, the industry players would rather interface directly with local, resident directors of a corporation rather than their foreign counterparts. Thus, these (foreign) companies then choose the services of a nominee director to sit on the Board of their company and execute contracts on their behalf. And that is where our professionals at Kabbiz Global Nominees Limited come in—we have a team of highly professional legal practitioners and corporate professionals ready to act for your company on a contractual basis as its (nominee) non-executive directors to ease your business operations in Nigeria.
Nominee Director Services in Nigeria
Kabbiz Global Nominees Limited offers nominee director services in Nigeria for our international and local clients. It is part of our comprehensive business registration service which includes Nigeria and Africa-wide company incorporation, nominee director services, corporate bank account opening, company secretarial services and virtual registered office address services.
Thus, if you are an entrepreneur or registered foreign entity seeking to expand your business operations to Nigeria, we will be happy to provide you with nominee directors for your company if and when needed, for as long as you need same in the company life cycle.
Advantages of using our Nominee Director Service in Nigeria
- When you are opening corporate bank accounts with some Nigerian banking institutions, as part of the KYC requirements to be met, the banks may require that a director of your company attend in-person to submit their personally identifiable details such as their BVN (Bank Verification Number) and NIN (National Identification Number) in order to satisfy their KYC requirements. At no additional costs/fees, our nominee director on your company’s Board will attend the interview and provide all necessary details/documentations to ensure that the requirements these banks require are met with, the corporate account opened, and all account details forwarded to the company.
- For company owners and (actual) directors who seek privacy and wouldn’t want to have their personal details shown on the Corporate Register at the Corporate Affairs Commission, signing on with Kabbiz Global Nominees Limited for a representative nominee director from our company will allow you to maintain your confidentiality and operate your company from the “shadows” as the “shadow director” while we publicly carry out your (legal) instructions on your behalf as the company’s public directors.
- At Kabbiz Global Nominees Limited we are able to provide a full suite of services to ensure that your company is compliant with all legal and regulatory requirements in Nigeria.
- Our Nominee Directors will be happy to act as your company’s non-executive directors and not interfere with your company’s day-to-day operations, thus allowing you to retain full control of your company without interference.
- Our Nominee Director in your company will follow strictly, the terms outlined in their Letter of Engagement and signed contract which will fully prohibit them from interfering with the day-to-day running/operations of your company. Our nominee director shall not take part in decision-making processes in the company, except to proffer legal advice (as all nominee directors we provide for you will be legal practitioners).
Why Choose a Nigeria Nominee Director from Kabbiz Global Nominees Limited?
- Our nominee directors are all legal practitioners with years of professional legal and regulatory experience under their belts. As such they are knowledgeable about Nigerian laws and are thus able to fully assist your Nigerian company with regulatory compliance.
- Even though you choose a nominee director from us, you will maintain full operational control over your company and its operations, as our nominee director will not interfere with the running of your company and its affairs. This will be in line with the Nominee Director Services Agreement and Nominee Services Engagement Letter we sign with you.
- Our professionals have high degrees of professional integrity and will not access or interfere with your corporate bank accounts.
- We will represent your company’s interests on the Board at all times and follow the (legal) directions of the appointing company.
Our KYC Requirements before onboarding as Nominee Directors for your company
Whatever nominee director we approve for your company is subject to risk of litigation, alongside fiduciary risk as a director of the company, so we need to make our own verifications for due diligence checks. To that effect we require the following documents:
- Government-issued Identity documents of the Beneficial Owners of the company, together with Government-issued identity documents of non-Nigerian directors of the company if any.
- If you are a corporate entity, then we require: Copy of certificate of incorporation of the parent company in your jurisdiction, resolution for appointment of nominee director of subsidiary in Nigeria, then the identity documents of the directors of the company.
- Full details of the company’s business activities (in Nigeria).
- If the shares of the company are held by a corporate shareholder, then we require the corporate profile and details of the shareholder company that owns the shares.
If your company requires the services of nominee directors in Nigeria, please contact us via [email protected] and we will be happy to provide you with all the information you need to activate our nominee director services for your company.
FAQs
Is the director open to any legal risks?
Of course, yes. A nominee director assumes considerable risk because he is responsible to Nigerian legal authorities in cases of violations of the law by the company. Thus, even though the powers of the nominee director is very limited, his liability under the law is unlimited and they can be prosecuted for legal infractions.
Does Nigerian laws provide for nominee directors?
Directly, no; indirectly, yes. The Nigerian Companies and Allied Matters Act provides for non-executive directors who lack executive powers on the Board to act in the company. It is translated to the powers of the nominee director, and, since the term “nominee director” is more internationally recognized term in corporate circles, our service providers also use that same term, for clarity purposes.
Who can act as nominee director in Nigeria?
Anyone that is legally qualified under Nigerian laws to be the director of a company in Nigeria can sit on the Board of a company as a nominee director.
Can the Director also act as Nominee Shareholder for the same company?
Yes, nothing precludes the nominee shareholder from doing so—acting as both nominee shareholder and director of the same company. Ordinarily, a nominee shareholder is a person who “lends their name in place of a beneficial owner’s” for company shares to hold same and act for the actual beneficial owner of the shares. And, under Nigerian law, a person can act as both director and shareholder, which means that the nominee shareholder can hold both the position of nominee director and nominee shareholder at the same time.