Hello,
We are a British owned Tourism and Hotel company based in Africa where banking/currency restrictions mean we cannot hold foreign currency in our local accounts. We pay international staff in US$ and purchase goods and services overseas so are obliged to keep much of our money offshore in hard currency for these reasons. As a reputable business with clients from most major source markets (US, UK, EU, Australia etc) we have been banking in Mauritius for several years with a holding company there. However due to difficulties with our Bank (Very slow and non-responsive), and our Company Agents (even slower and becoming more demanding by the minute), we are looking for a new solution to our company needs. Effectively we receive funds from all over the world, (US$, €U and GBP) and send most of it to our company in Africa while keeping enough funds offshore for purchases, salaries, dividends etc. Our account turnover is roughly $2m annually in around 1000 Transactions a year, mostly incoming (a lot less quantity of outgoing transactions as we group all payments to Africa). Just as an extra point we have been told in 2020 we may have to close our Mauritius GBC2 business as they are clamping down on companies using this service there.
ADVICE on the following requirements would be fantastic:
1) We are a reputable business and need a low or Tax Free solution to having an offshore account and holding company. We really need good and easy banking facilities (online, low hassle).
2) We do not want a business in an obvious tax haven as we are not doing this to avoid taxes but to enable us to keep hard currency, so not keen on Caymans, BVI, Panama etc. Also some of our international client may not be thrilled or even allowed to send money to such places.
3) We basically need somewhere where we can set up a relatively hassle free company and account (we don't mind submitting accounts, in fact somewhere with some scrutiny may be a bit better for our needs). At the moment our Management company is on the board and needs to authorise every transaction which is a real nightmare as it takes ages, so we wish to avoid that as well.
4) While we could bank in Cyprus or Malta, I'm not sure if we get a benefit in that over Hong Kong or Singapore, this is really the advice we need, where do you think suits our needs best?
Any help or advice on this would be great, as everyone has a different suggestion and we are a little lost
Many thanks,
Ed
We are a British owned Tourism and Hotel company based in Africa where banking/currency restrictions mean we cannot hold foreign currency in our local accounts. We pay international staff in US$ and purchase goods and services overseas so are obliged to keep much of our money offshore in hard currency for these reasons. As a reputable business with clients from most major source markets (US, UK, EU, Australia etc) we have been banking in Mauritius for several years with a holding company there. However due to difficulties with our Bank (Very slow and non-responsive), and our Company Agents (even slower and becoming more demanding by the minute), we are looking for a new solution to our company needs. Effectively we receive funds from all over the world, (US$, €U and GBP) and send most of it to our company in Africa while keeping enough funds offshore for purchases, salaries, dividends etc. Our account turnover is roughly $2m annually in around 1000 Transactions a year, mostly incoming (a lot less quantity of outgoing transactions as we group all payments to Africa). Just as an extra point we have been told in 2020 we may have to close our Mauritius GBC2 business as they are clamping down on companies using this service there.
ADVICE on the following requirements would be fantastic:
1) We are a reputable business and need a low or Tax Free solution to having an offshore account and holding company. We really need good and easy banking facilities (online, low hassle).
2) We do not want a business in an obvious tax haven as we are not doing this to avoid taxes but to enable us to keep hard currency, so not keen on Caymans, BVI, Panama etc. Also some of our international client may not be thrilled or even allowed to send money to such places.
3) We basically need somewhere where we can set up a relatively hassle free company and account (we don't mind submitting accounts, in fact somewhere with some scrutiny may be a bit better for our needs). At the moment our Management company is on the board and needs to authorise every transaction which is a real nightmare as it takes ages, so we wish to avoid that as well.
4) While we could bank in Cyprus or Malta, I'm not sure if we get a benefit in that over Hong Kong or Singapore, this is really the advice we need, where do you think suits our needs best?
Any help or advice on this would be great, as everyone has a different suggestion and we are a little lost
Many thanks,
Ed
