Japan Branch Office - The Steps and Procedure re Closing a Branch Office in Japan

TOKYO, Japan - Dec. 2, 2013 - PRLog -- Closure of Branch Office in Japan

The below-mentioned procedures need to be conducted in order to close a legal branch office entity of a foreign company in Japan.

Creditors of the branch to be closed must be given a public notice on Official Gazette, a period of no less than one month prior to the closure to submit objections (if any) to the closure of the branch entity.

Basic Flow of procedures for closing a Branch Office (legal entity) in Japan

1. Decision re closure of branch and resignation of all Representatives in Japan by the foreign company (Parent Co Head Office)

2.  Call for creditors re objections (if any) for branch office closure, on an individual basis and also through official notice in official gazettes, and to attend claims (if any)

3.  Minimum of one month after giving official notice via official gazette (if no claim)

4.  Notification to tax authorities

5.  Ascertainment of residual property (if any)

6.  Branch office closure (at least one month after the closure notice as mentioned above

7.  To prepare Affidavit re the closure of branch office (entity) and resignation of all Representatives in Japan

8.  Attestation of the Affidavit by embassy or consulate in Japan of the home country or at the Notary Public office in the home country

9.  Application for the branch office closure with the Legal Affairs Bureau for registration of the closure

10.  Obtaining the closure registration certificate from the Legal Affairs Bureau

(it takes approx. two weeks from the date of application)

11.  Final accounts, BSPL need to be prepared, and all taxes (in case of any dues) need to paid for the closure of the branch in Japan.
Notification of branch office closure to tax authorities, etc.

The above procedures for closing a branch office must also be completed when upgrading a branch office to a subsidiary company. Because a branch office cannot be directly reorganized into a joint-stock corporation (Kabushiki-Kaisha (K.K.) or a limited liability company (Godo-Kaisha (LLC)), the branch office closure procedures and the subsidiary company establishment procedures must be carried out simultaneously. In such instances, however, the branch office's assets may be passed on to the subsidiary through investment in kind.

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The above procedures re Branch Office Closing of a foreign co in Japan and is for illustration purpose.