| For most people our recommendation for
ultimate asset protection and tax efficiency is that with any structure
you cause to be set up, that you be neither manager, beneficiary,
stockholder, officer or trustee - in other words it must be totally
at "arms length" from you. But this may not be enough to
protect you. Many countries' tax authorities impose tough sanctions
on those who do not disclose their signatory authority on foreign
bank accounts. To disclose the details of such accounts and give up
the very financial privacy that you
are seeking, obviously makes little sense. Hence
nominating a third party professional to act as signatory, who is
not subject to such reporting requirements, is a solution.
Our firm has a direct affiliation with a bank
in Europe. Since this firm is directly affiliated to the bank and
an officer of this bank works from our office here in Panama, this
provides a convenient and close alliance which among other things
provides a unique system of checks and balances in regards to our
client’s corporate accounts through these banks.
Many people are reluctant to allow a third party
signatory authority for fear that it will be abused in some way,
either by the signatory absconding with the assets or by the signatory
blackmailing the beneficiary of the assets with threats of revealing
this information to that person's tax authority. Under Panama's
business confidentiality laws, this is a serious offence punishable
by jail sentences, which itself provides a significant deterrent.
But even more importantly, since our firm is acting on behalf of
its affiliated bank, directed by a bank officer of this bank, you
have the comfort of knowing that your banking affairs are handled
efficiently.
However, in order for a company or other entity
to qualify for signatory control by an officer or other closely
supervised employee, it will be necessary for there to be substantial
involvement in the business of the company, and it's business operations,
so that there is total familiarity with the business and its sources
of income. The "know your customer" rule of course applies
to all who wish to open a bank in a privacy oriented jurisdiction.
For a managed entity provided with such signatory services, this
will just be applied a little more rigorously.
Of course many other law firms can provide you
with this service, and are probably unlikely to abuse this trust
either. However, our experience has been that these service offerings
tend to be more expensive and instructions can take a while to get
executed. Unlike our firm, most law firms have to be more diverse
and have many client needs to attend to and often have to be in
court or out of their office working on behalf of one or other client.
This type of transaction oriented management services for them can
be more then a nuisance then anything else
For our firm, this is one of our core competencies,
since corporate administration is our speciality and a big part
of that includes the detail work of executing transactions. We also
provide this service for considerably less then what other law firms
do. Our price for this service is only a base annual fee of $750
or 0.75% or whichever is the greater. We undertake to get your transactions
completed exactly as fast as if you had transacted them directly
with the bank.
BENEFITS: This option provides you with the maximum protection
on all fronts. In addition to the benefits offered by the appointment
of nominee directors to the Company Board you get true arms length
management of your structures, including the company bank account.
This will:
- Help you avoid foreign account reporting requirements that many
countries now have (such as the USA and Germany). Because of the
privacy surrounding the account, it is unlikely unless you are
careless, that such information will ever reach the authorities.
It is also wise to know that many government tax authorities now
provide for severe penalties for not reporting signature authority
on a foreign bank account.
- Provide you with the needed extra element of removal from your
assets, so that your official legal capacity is one of a behind
the scenes advisor only. You neither own nor "control"
the assets in any function. Also, you are not named as a beneficiary
in any way.
To set up a non-controlled foreign company with Professional Management
with account signatory services click
here to order.
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