Easing entry into new Asian markets

Services for: Global entity management, accounting and tax

Provided in: China, Japan, Singapore

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, with more than 830 million members worldwide, including executives from every Fortune 500 company.

In 2011, after setting up its Asia headquarters in Singapore, LinkedIn was working on setting up operations in Japan. Japanese regulations require new businesses to have at least one director who is a Japanese resident. At the time, LinkedIn did not have anyone in Japan who could serve in that role, and it became a major obstacle to its expansion plans. It would have taken a significant amount of time for the company to identify, recruit and appoint a Japanese resident as a director on its own.

LinkedIn turned to TMF Group to provide the external corporate directorship and other entity management services it needed. It was able to set up an office in Japan within weeks, rather than months. Based on this experience of working together, LinkedIn has gone on to use TMF Group in setting up its representative office in Beijing and handling its corporate secretarial work in Singapore.

TMF Group simplified our entry into a new market in just a few steps, and made it quite easy for us. There were minimal resources required from our end, and that allowed us to focus 100% on the business of getting a new office opened. We have established a solid relationship and mutual understanding; we know what to expect from TMF Group.