Offshore company incorporation

[Francis Ramirez]

An offshore company is usually referred to as a company which is incorporated for the purpose of operating outside the country of its registration. This means that such company can be registered and operated outside of a person’s or business national boundary. This can be especially worthwhile when it comes to legal, financial or taxation benefits. Also a company may legally move offshore in order to enjoy relaxed regulations or in other words to take an advantage of international laws. This is also being the main reason why do businessmen decide to establish companies abroad.

Some of the countries make their local business attractive purposely in order to make use of foreign capital and investments. The well-organized and well-known offshore worldwide destinations are UK, US, Belize, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Dominica, Singapore, Seychelles, Panama and St. Kitts & Nevis to name a few. Purchasing a company remotely nowadays is advantageous and easy to accomplish.

Benefits of offshore companies
There are certain benefits of running an offshore company. For example, asset protection when a person has large amount of money and can use such an opportunity in order to protect him from lawsuits and divorce settlements. One more benefit is low taxes. Some jurisdictions are referred to as tax havens due to the level of taxation which depends on the jurisdiction: tax-exemptions, flat-rate taxes, 0% capital gains tax etc. The other benefit is related to international expansion when a company is encountering many legal and bureaucratic issues in its home country. Other benefits include: lower costs of business operations, tax deferment, compounding of tax deferred profits, ease of annual reporting, multiple income streams, VAT savings for services and anonymity.

Usually the benefits to gain from an offshore company are depending on the jurisdiction of the offshore company, and to a certain extent, it will also depend on the laws of the country of residence of the company’s owner. For this reason businessmen must pay attention to the offshore jurisdiction they are choosing and as well as to consider local laws of that country.

Offshore company incorporation procedure
There are few basic steps which must be done in order to incorporate a company in Hong Kong, Belize, Seychelles or St. Kitts & Nevis. Firstly, the cost of the basic services needed to incorporate a company must be covered which includes a certificate of incorporation, resolution to rent an office and a register of directors (about €700). Secondly, there is an extra fee for privacy; depending on the law firm the businessman chooses (about €400). There is also a cost of opening bank account with personal attendance necessary in order to open it for the sake of businessman security, fee for getting a logo, rubber stamp, seal, name plate and also fees for apostille, virtual offices etc. A person will need to provide his or her personal credit card details and contact info. There is also a mandate which must be signed, establishing who has a right to control the opened bank account, to add and withdraw signatories, and to close it. It depends on company’s Articles of Association.

Often the above mentioned services optionally may include also formation of international business companies, provision of registered agent, provision of company management, custody of documents and company administration services, directorship, shareholding, offshore mutual funds establishment, as well as assistance with licensing offshore insurance companies and offshore banks, offshore bank account introductions, virtual office services and corporate searches. These services may be offered and provided by such professionals as high-net-worth individuals, private entrepreneurs, professional consultants, accountants and legal advisers who work in local companies of local jurisdictions in Hong Kong, Belize, Seychelles or St. Kitts and Nevis etc.