Anonymous (or with nominee) company in Europe

[eklia]

Dear all,

I need to get a company in Europe and I need that my name is hidden in both director and shareholder.
So I need an anonymous company or I need a nominee.
I don't need to run a black business or run a weird business, I just need to hide my name with competitor and other players in my business.
The business is completely legit and white (offering marketing services in B2B).
I need a bank account as well with EUR IBAN.

Where can I get this?
I know that Cyprus offers the nominee, but Cyprus is not fine.

I tried with SA company in Switzerland but fiduciaries don't reply to my emails, I don't understand the reason. It seems that they don't want to work with foreigners.

I don't want a country where there are troubles or too many paperworks. And I want to leave a small profit to pay low taxes.

Could you help me? Some ideas or tips please?

 

[daniels27]

As far as I know, the EU has it's UBO register, hence you would have to work with nominee shareholders.

UK is basically the same but you could add an offshore company as beneficial owner to hide it further. In any case you would need a nominee director.

Switzerland AG/SA would be a good option. You could do it with just a nominee director. I think @EliasIT recently did this.

Then, you could also do the same with the channel islands, Isle of Man, etc. not sure what it acceptable for your clients.

 

[mraleph]

Dear all,

I need to get a company in Europe and I need that my name is hidden in both director and shareholder.
So I need an anonymous company or I need a nominee.
I don't need to run a black business or run a weird business, I just need to hide my name with competitor and other players in my business.
The business is completely legit and white (offering marketing services in B2B).
I need a bank account as well with EUR IBAN.

Where can I get this?
I know that Cyprus offers the nominee, but Cyprus is not fine.

I tried with SA company in Switzerland but fiduciaries don't reply to my emails, I don't understand the reason. It seems that they don't want to work with foreigners.

I don't want a country where there are troubles or too many paperworks. And I want to leave a small profit to pay low taxes.

Could you help me? Some ideas or tips please?

Swiss company limited by shares - AG/SA is anonymous regarding shareholder as the UBO registry is not yet mandatory.

But, once you request a nominee director and/or shareholder in Switzerland, there would be no provider wiling to offer services to you.

Any reputable Swiss bank would require a UBO declaration with SOF as well.

Swiss regulation actually require that any entity has a resident director - de facto a nominee.

You may try to structure company limited by shares in CH and Liechenstein with your own nominee shareholder.

Pay attention which nationality and residency the nominee shareholder has - as it may have a negative influence regarding corporate banking.

Use different language with attorneys and fiduciaries in Switzerland and beware of their - particularly the later - thirst for foreigners' and rich people's money for non-rendered or dubious services. If possible, go for attorney as the member of the board as it has a quality of a privileged relationship with confidentiality.

Above else, majority of successful structures were set-up with referrals.

IoM, Guernsey or Jersy may be also an option.

 

[brianK]

I agree that setting up a company in Switzerland is both prestigious and probably the closest you can get to credibility as a European company. Especially if you establish an AG with fully paid-up share capital of 100,000 CHF, having a director and other essentials is relatively easy to arrange if you invest time in finding the right service provider for company registration in Switzerland.

If credibility is less of a priority, you can register a company anywhere within the EU or Europe if that’s a requirement. In this case, I would also consider Malta, Cyprus, and the previously mentioned Guernsey and Jersey, among others.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

I agree that setting up a company in Switzerland is both prestigious and probably the closest you can get to credibility as a European company. Especially if you establish an AG with fully paid-up share capital of 100,000 CHF, having a director and other essentials is relatively easy to arrange if you invest time in finding the right service provider for company registration in Switzerland.

How can it be prestigious and easy at the same time?
Back in the days, it was standard practice for scammers to setup PLCs in the UK, exactly for this reason

If you don’t want your name to appear anywhere, ask friends to cover the statutory roles.

 

[daniels27]

If you don’t want your name to appear anywhere, ask friends to cover the statutory roles.

100%! But not everybody has connections to Swiss immigrants.

https://www.heise.de/news/p***O-Abm...re-Gutachten-ist-nun-oeffentlich-2088528.html

Die angeblichen Rechteinhaber, also die Schweizer Firma The Archive AG, haben derweil ihr Unternehmenskonstrukt umgebaut, wie Telepolis berichtet. Nounagnon Sedjro Crespin Djengue, beninischer Staatsbürger, löst demnach einer Meldung des Schweizerischen Handelsamtsblatts (SHAB) vom 15. Januar zufolge den Deutschen Philipp Wiik als Chef ab. Außerdem verlegte The Archive seinen Sitz vom Zürcher Flughafenvorort Bassersdorf in die Grabenwiese 10 in der schweizerischen 3000-Einwohner-Ortschaft Weisslingen, wo Crespin angeblich lebt. (hob)

https://zh.chregister.ch/cr-portal/...4d35a?loeschung=20160920&uid=CHE-305.748.231#

 

[AlexPCS]

Dear all,

I need to get a company in Europe and I need that my name is hidden in both director and shareholder.
So I need an anonymous company or I need a nominee.
I don't need to run a black business or run a weird business, I just need to hide my name with competitor and other players in my business.
The business is completely legit and white (offering marketing services in B2B).
I need a bank account as well with EUR IBAN.

Where can I get this?
I know that Cyprus offers the nominee, but Cyprus is not fine.

I tried with SA company in Switzerland but fiduciaries don't reply to my emails, I don't understand the reason. It seems that they don't want to work with foreigners.

I don't want a country where there are troubles or too many paperworks. And I want to leave a small profit to pay low taxes.

Could you help me? Some ideas or tips please?

Which other jurisdictions besides CH and Cyprus are you considering?

 

[eklia]

Thank you all!

To be honest I think that Swiss SA would work well.
Switzerland is amazing for my clients and I can be shareholder and put a Fiduciario as director. Is this possible?
Anyway I cannot find someone that want to incorporate and do accounting/audit for my company, I need an accountant (Fiduciario) but I cannot find it.
I emailed some fiduciaries but nobody has replied.
A fiduciario in Ticino area would be amazing.

IOM, Jersey etc cannot work in my case since my client would perceive it as low level.

Can somebody help me?

 

[Forester]

To be honest I think that Swiss SA would work well.

In such a case, you are not much reluctant to “too many paperworks”
(Yes, of course, still better than Italy of France )

Switzerland is amazing for my clients and I can be shareholder and put a Fiduciario as director. Is this possible?

In general, yes.

Anyway I cannot find someone that want to incorporate and do accounting/audit for my company, I need an accountant (Fiduciario) but I cannot find it.

a fiduciary NOT = an accountant (but let's put it aside)

I emailed some fiduciaries but nobody has replied.

In Switzerland? Strange.

IOM, Jersey etc cannot work in my case since my client would perceive it as low level.

Well, you have a demanding client then
(IOM or Jersey are not Cayman Islands )

Can somebody help me?

Hopefully

 

[JohnnyDoe]

a fiduciary NOT = an accountant (but let's put it aside)

In Switzerland, yes

OP seems not to care about taxes, because he must know some magic tricks for profits to disappear.
In which case, setup a GMBH in Germany. Or a Ltd in Ireland and list it on the ISE (very easy).

 

[mraleph]

Thank you all!

To be honest I think that Swiss SA would work well.
Switzerland is amazing for my clients and I can be shareholder and put a Fiduciario as director. Is this possible?
Anyway I cannot find someone that want to incorporate and do accounting/audit for my company, I need an accountant (Fiduciario) but I cannot find it.
I emailed some fiduciaries but nobody has replied.
A fiduciario in Ticino area would be amazing.

IOM, Jersey etc cannot work in my case since my client would perceive it as low level.

Can somebody help me?

Contact Amedia or F-Trust for incorporation, domicile and accounting.

 

[Forester]

In Switzerland, yes

Across all the cantons? (Never heard this in Geneva or Zurich, I must say... But I am just a simple countryman )

 

[daniels27]

Across all the cantons? (Never heard this in Geneva or Zurich, I must say... But I am just a simple countryman )

It is. Treuhänder in German (Switzerland) is the same as the French (Switzerland) fiduciaire. Both meaning account. In Germany they are called Steuerberater. In France experts comptables.
https://www.expertsuisse.ch/fr-ch/agent-fiduciaire-avec-brevet-federal

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Across all the cantons? (Never heard this in Geneva or Zurich, I must say... But I am just a simple countryman )

Yes. For some reason, the word “fiduciary” sounds better in French than in Italian. Most of the fiduciaries are indeed simple accountants that take care of the boring filings of local companies: VAT, financials, taxes etc. Normal professionals that offer simple services, and usually do a good work, for reasonable fees.
However, some fiduciaries present themselves as grand advisors in the fields of corporate and tax planning, offering services that should be more in the realm of lawyers, but they all have exactly the same technical education and license.
In Italy, the equivalent of a “fiduciaire” is “ragioniere” - not so sexy sounding
Technically, to become a fiduciary in Switzerland you don’t even need to complete high school: 4 years of work in a fiduciary office and an AFC certification are enough to obtain the federal diploma (if you have a high school diploma though the AFC is not required and 3 years of experience suffice).

Just one of many examples of Swiss mythology: not everything that glitters is gold.

 

[daniels27]

Just one of many examples of Swiss mythology: not everything that glitters is gold.

Hahaha. But the education is not that bad. I would say it is definitely comparable with the other professional accountant certifications like ICAEW etc. And definitely as good as the Pakistani accountants you can find in fiverr.

High school in Switzerland is typically for the 30% that plans to attend university. The others are supposed to get a professional degree such as the Expertsuisse Fiduciary one.

In my opinion the quality in the end is better than in countries where 80% has a high school degree. At the same time, @JohnnyDoe is right and not all us gold. You may want to choose somebody with relevant experience. I also know many lawyers with degree that would not touch my business as they are just doing local matters (real estate sales, local companies etc ).

 

[Forester]

It is. Treuhänder in German (Switzerland) is the same as the French (Switzerland) fiduciaire. Both meaning account. In Germany they are called Steuerberater. In France experts comptables.
https://www.expertsuisse.ch/fr-ch/agent-fiduciaire-avec-brevet-federal

Yes. For some reason, the word “fiduciary” sounds better in French than in Italian. Most of the fiduciaries are indeed simple accountants that take care of the boring filings of local companies: VAT, financials, taxes etc. Normal professionals that offer simple services, and usually do a good work, for reasonable fees.
However, some fiduciaries present themselves as grand advisors in the fields of corporate and tax planning, offering services that should be more in the realm of lawyers, but they all have exactly the same technical education and license.
In Italy, the equivalent of a “fiduciaire” is “ragioniere” - not so sexy sounding
Technically, to become a fiduciary in Switzerland you don’t even need to complete high school: 4 years of work in a fiduciary office and an AFC certification are enough to obtain the federal diploma (if you have a high school diploma though the AFC is not required and 3 years of experience suffice).

Oh well. Thanks for enlightening me.
I must say that fiduciaries that I met in Geneva, Zurich and around were really able to help with a company incorporation, relocation, domicile etc., as far as I witnessed – but apparently, this is not common.

Just one of many examples of Swiss mythology: not everything that glitters is gold.

@daniels27 : Now I see how kind my Swiss friends and partners are when they, knowing that I am really weak in French and Switzerditch, are speaking to me in English or some standard German

 

[daniels27]

I must say that fiduciaries that I met in Geneva, Zurich and around were really able to help with a company incorporation, relocation, domicile etc., as far as I witnessed

Yes, that's what they are trained to do as well. You can read it here, in German

https://www.treuhandbranche.ch/download.php?id=422_875fe523
Treuhänderinnenund Treuhänder mit eidg. Fachausweis begleiten und beraten Kundinnen und Kunden bei wirtschaftlichen Fragestellungen. In ihrem beruflichen Umfeld berücksichtigen sie aktuelle Gesetze und Vorschriften sowie Berufs- und Standesregeln.

The diploma is quite broad. Also, Treuhnder/fiducairy in Switzerland traditionally has been used for various job descriptions, including real estate management, etc.