Nominee representative manager services for Japanese branch-offices

Entry-level

Nominee resident representative manager 'name-only' service for a dormant^† Japanese branch-office.

^† Not applicable to active branch-offices, those with bank-accounts, or those needing special business licenses.

SMB

Nominee resident representative manager 'name-only' service for a small Japanese branch-office with less than JPY120,000,000 annual turnover^†.

^† Not applicable to branch-offices needing special business licenses.

Enterprise

Nominee resident representative manager 'name-only' service for a Japanese branch-office with more than JPY1,200,000,000 annual turnover^†.

^† Not applicable to branch-offices needing special business licenses.

Nominee representative manager service for Japanese branch-offices.

A Japanese branch-office must have a representative manager resident in Japan.

Outsourcing an experienced nominee representative manager for a Japanese branch-office might be the most cost-effective and least-risk route to ensuring your Japanese branch-office’s legal compliance. Our branch-office representative manager services include the following benefits:

Knowledgeable and experienced in Japanese company management.
Accountable and responsible.
Enables enforceable corporate governance.
Avoids the need to make an inexperienced employee legally responsible for your Japanese business.
The relationship can be ended at any time, without cause or any damaging legal conflict, simply by giving 30-days notice.
Cost-effective monthly fees.
Supported by a full range of bilingual Japanese business support services.

Many companies appoint one of the Japanese branch-office’s employees as its representative manager, but such an appointment can carry significant risks. The representative manager can irrevocably bind the branch-office and its foreign head-office to unauthorized loans, leases, contracts, and other major transactions, and has unlimited access and control over the branch-office’s bank-accounts. Among less obvious risks, an inexperienced representative manager might inadvertently bind the branch-office and its foreign head-office to potentially undesirable and expensive labor practices and expenses and can expose it to damaging tax-audits and penalties if he or she does not sufficiently understand corporate financial transactions.

If your company is fortunate to have a stable and trustworthy employee with experience and knowledge of Japanese corporate law, and if your corporate governance allows, appoint him or her as the branch-office’s representative manager. If not, or if your corporate governance forbids appointing local employees to Board-level positions, then using an independent professional arm’s-length nominee branch-office representative manager service might be safest.

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