Offshore and nominee service - in short

Registration of offshore companies from year to year is becoming more popular. Along with the optimization of taxation, the owners of such enterprises experienced the advantages that the use of nominal services gives. Maintaining confidentiality is especially relevant in the light of the deoffshorization process. Nominal service allows you to keep secret the financial achievements of the company, and it's not the control of the tax authorities of the country where the business is conducted. First of all, it gives the opportunity to protect themselves in the face of fierce competition, and sometimes protect themselves from potential heirs.  

Why do we need nominee directors and shareholders?

Assistance in the provision of nominal services may be provided by employees of companies conducting registration; as a rule, they cooperate with nominals.
The establishment of an offshore compsny, depending on the legal form, requires a certain number of individuals or legal entities: shareholders, directors, partners, and board members in the case of a limited liability company.

The appointment to a management position of a person is governed by the contract, according to which cooperation may be suspended at the request of the beneficiary. The terms of reference of the nominee director or shareholder are determined by the beneficiary. This person carries out the actual management of the company on the basis of a general power of attorney issued by the nominal.

Nominal services do not mean the automatic residency of a company with all the resulting privileges, such as the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement. The services of resident nominal prices for which are quite high will be needed in Singapore, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, in Malta, as this is necessary for opening a bank account and contacting tax authorities.

The overwhelming majority of nominal directors and shareholders do not have the right to sign banking documents, since the bank establishes relations only with the beneficiary. True, the beneficiary can give access rights to the bank account of the authorized person.
So, we summarize the above: nominee directors are not empowered to conduct business on behalf of the company and are needed to maintain confidentiality.

Nominal service and banking

When opening an account in a bank for an offshore company, it is necessary to provide data on the beneficiary of the company and persons who have the right to sign banking documents. Depending on the powers that are determined by the beneficiary, proxies can conduct transactions, apply for issuing bank cards, and acquire banking products.

Thus, the actions of nominal service do not apply to the banking sector. This is due to the tightening of measures aimed at combating tax evasion and the requirements for maximum transparency of banking operations. On the other hand, company owners are not interested in the fact that third parties have the opportunity to dispose of funds. The exceptions are situations when data on the status of bank accounts are needed to compile various kinds of reports.

When is required nominal service?

The use of nominal service is rather a measure aimed at protecting your business and private life from unwanted attention. Tax authorities are easy to determine the data of the true owner of the company with the help of a public registry and banking structures. Moreover, it is not difficult in the light of the new international program for the automatic exchange of information aimed at identifying those who hide income abroad.

The services of nominee directors are necessary in the case when at the conclusion of a transaction one of the partners is not interested in cooperation for a number of reasons. In addition, information about the beneficiary will not be shared with third parties.

Individual requirements for the quality of the nominal service largely depend on the jurisdiction and the direct choice of the contractor, who must have an impeccable business reputation. To do this, we recommend contacting professionals who have positively proven themselves in the market for the provision of offshore services.