Representative Office
Representative Office
Representative Office
A Branch Office (BO) and a Representative Office (RO) are both subsidiary
companies owned by overseas entities. Both of these offices are mere
extensions of the parent company’s presence into the Philippines. As such,
both company set-ups are technically foreign corporations operating in the
Philippines that need to secure licenses from the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) to do business.
A Branch Office is defined as “an extension of a foreign corporation
that carries out the business activities of its head office from
abroad into the Philippines.”
A Representative Office, on the other hand, is defined as “a
business structure that acts as a local liaison office for a foreign
corporation that seeks to establish a corporate presence in the
country without engaging in income-generating activities.”
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A Resident Agent required for both Representative Office and Branch
Office, in a way, is the counterpart of the Board of Directors of a
Domestic Corporation.
A Branch Office is required to purchase and maintain a certain amount
of government securities during the entire duration of the Branch Office’s
existence in the Philippines. This is likely because the Branch Office is
expected to gain revenue from the domestic Philippine market whereas
the Representative Office is not allowed to earn any revenue and must be
fully subsidized by its parent company.
Representative Office
A representative office may be established with only one (1) person who will act
as the resident agent.