Banking and business opportunities in Egypt – an underrated, non-crs country.

[MiddleEuroAsia]

Hi, could you show me where Nevis is black or grey listed please? I can't find anything saying it is.
Also Egypt is on UK & EU Financial sanction lists. Just FYI.

Yeah, it looks likes Nevis is removed from the blacklist now. Thanks for the update!

I mentioned Nevis, because if you are a B2B business, some companies won't work with you because of Nevis reputation as a tax haven, even if Nevis is not currently blacklisted in the EU.

Egypt is not in the UK&EU financial sanctions nor in any blacklist mate, Some Egyptians are.

These people are considered "politically exposed persons" aka "criminals" and no financial institution in the EU and the UK will work with them. you can go and read the actual file. you'll find that these people had their assets frozen because of their crimes in Egypt. That's it.

And financial sanctions on individuals like these exist on every "politically exposed person" or "known criminal" in the world. This has nothing to do with their country of residence.

 

[offshoreavatar]

Ah sorry mate, I don't want to do this but I wasn't confused with countries vs people/individuals. Egypt is financially sanctioned by both UK & EU:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-sanctions-egypthttps://www.europeansanctions.com/region/egypt/
As for Nevis, yes it was removed from all lists. As far as I can see / research.
Reputation as a tax haven would be all countries anyone would be looking at here. Even Egypt is now a Tax haven. A tax haven isn't a bad thing.

This is 2 seconds of quick Google so I'm sure there are better examples but there are 65 countries here that were on just 1 of those lists! So I think that goes to show how ridiculous the whole thing is:
*Note that this is an old list that is no longer this long.

Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cabo Verde, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Dominica, Republic of Korea, Curacao, United Arab Emirates, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Granada, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Jersey, Jordan, Liechtenstein, Labuan Island, Macao SAR, Qatar, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, Maldives, Isle of Man, Marshall Islands, Morocco, Mauritius, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nauru, Niue, New Caledonia, Oman, Panama, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Switzerland, Swaziland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vietnam

 

[MiddleEuroAsia]

Ah sorry mate, I don't want to do this but I wasn't confused with countries vs people/individuals. Egypt is financially sanctioned by both UK & EU:

Did you even read the list my man, When you open the UK website that you attached you will receive this message

"Egypt is currently subject to financial sanctions. This document contains a current list of designated persons."

So it's about Egyptian persons who are sanctioned like Mubarak the former president of Egypt and his sons. this has nothing to do with Egypt. These people have their assets frozen. That's it. it's not the whole country that is sanctioned, it's the "politically exposed persons" who are sanctioned. this also goes for the EU "list".

As for Nevis, yes it was removed from all lists. As far as I can see / research.
Reputation as a tax haven would be all countries anyone would be looking at here. Even Egypt is now a Tax haven. A tax haven isn't a bad thing.

Egypt is not a tax haven by any means. There is not a tax haven list that has Egypt name on it.

Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cabo Verde, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Dominica, Republic of Korea, Curacao, United Arab Emirates, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Granada, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Jersey, Jordan, Liechtenstein, Labuan Island, Macao SAR, Qatar, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, Maldives, Isle of Man, Marshall Islands, Morocco, Mauritius, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nauru, Niue, New Caledonia, Oman, Panama, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Switzerland, Swaziland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vietnam

As you see, even in this old list, Egypt name was not on it

 

[offshoreavatar]

Did you even read the list my man, When you open the UK website that you attached you will receive this message

"Egypt is currently subject to financial sanctions. This document contains a current list of designated persons."

So it's about Egyptian persons who are sanctioned like Mubarak the former president of Egypt and his sons. this has nothing to do with Egypt. These people have their assets frozen. That's it. it's not the whole country that is sanctioned, it's the "politically exposed persons" who are sanctioned. this also goes for the EU "list".


Egypt is not a tax haven by any means. There is not a tax haven list that has Egypt name on it.


As you see, even in this old list, Egypt name was not on it

tax haven

noun

1. a country or independent area where taxes are levied at a low rate.

 

[dirtyharry]

Hi, could you show me where Nevis is black or grey listed please? I can't find anything saying it is.

stick to topic Mr... post reported

 

[MiddleEuroAsia]

ِ

tax haven

noun

1. a country or independent area where taxes are levied at a low rate.

Now you're trolling, right?

Show me a list that says Egypt is a tax haven. I'm waiting

 

[pesto]

Can you tell or summarize what the cost are to setup a company in Egypt and more important, what are the requirements to get everything setup without getting trouble with the authorities?

 

[Dasboot]

Is ir possible to set up a private bank account remotely?

 

[Helkins]

Do you have any recommendations when it comes to agents or introducers who can help establish a free zone business and a bank account in Egypt? Thank you for sharing your intel I believe Egypt could be a spot that's usually very overlooked.
You're correct on many things and points you make in the argument with some users here are true, we're all here because the "stable" western countries keep f... us up either with taxes or unfair prosecutions. In all honesty there is no stable country in the world and each has its own problems, to me each and every country is its own type of organised crime organisation that milks its "citizens", better to operate in a country where the money talks and everybody can be bought instead of having to have some connections going back in decades.

Better to spend 1000$ on a bribe than 100000$ on a lawyer.

 

[pesto]

Is ir possible to set up a private bank account remotely?

It's not possible as I see, you want to use an emi for instant on this list
https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/th...rocessors-and-btc-to-fiat-institutions.25398/
Or you try the hints from this thread for bank account remote opening
https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/th...with-remote-opening-without-introducer.26634/

 

[Dasboot]

In Egypt I mean... Guess there will be no EMIs there?

 

[MiddleEuroAsia]

@pesto @Helkins @Dasboot

So, I've contacted some people in Egypt just to get the Most up to date answers about banking and business in Egypt. Basically these are the current rules.

Before we start. the "Q" letter is the question I asked. And the "Ans" word is the answers I received from the Law firm in egypt.

And here are the questions:

Q1: What are the type of documents that are required for a foreigner to open both a personal and corporate bank account in Egypt?

Ans 1: It is different from bank to another, however, most banks requiring the following documents:

- Article of association
- Commercial register
- Lease agreement
- The account shall be opened by the authorized manager/nominee director of the company.

You can open a personal account after opening your corporate account if you wanted to.

Q2: Some (not all) banks require a residence permit. So, If an Egyptian residence permit is absolutely required to open a bank account in a bank I'm interested in, what is the fastest and most straight forward residence permit if money wasn't an issue?

Ans 2: We will help you in getting a one-month residence permit for bank account purposes.

Q3: can a foreigner like me open a bank account remotely without visiting Egypt? Basically, what are my options as a foreigner and non resident who wants to open Egyptian bank accounts? (Remotely is preferred but any options are welcomed).

Ans 3: Nowadays it's harder to open a bank account remotely without having a previous relationship with banks in Egypt, so, what will happen is we will incorporate the company and we will arrange the residence permit for you but you or the manager of the company shall visit Egypt to open a bank account after incorporating the company.

Q4: Can you summarize the documents and costs that are required to setup a company in Egypt and more important, what are the requirements to get everything done without having any sort of headaches or getting into trouble with the relevant Government bodies?.

Ans 4: There are some documents that you are kindly requested to prepare from your side which are as follows:

1. Notarized powers of attorney to be legalized from the Egyptian consulate in your jurisdiction if you are outside Egypt However, you can make it here in Egypt but you will need a translator with you (we can arrange that).

2. Copies of valid ID or passports of the shareholder;

3. Deposit the capital of the company. (for OPC and Joint-stock company).

And we shall prepare the following documents from our side:

1. An official original certificate obtained from the register of Accountants and Auditors in order to review and approve the balance sheet of the company. In case the original was previously furnished to GAFI, and an acceptance declaration shall be submitted.;

2. A certificate of non-confusion of company name approved by the Commercial Register;

3. A copy of the Bar Association Card of the lawyer who signs the articles of association;

4. The name and address of the company’s legal consultant (who must be a lawyer at least admitted before the Court of Appeal);

5. In the event of sharing in-kind shares upon incorporation, the report provided by the experts specialized in the professions stated by the law, must be submitted.


So, that's how the convo went with the law firm that I've contacted.

It's worth noting that for me personally I was able to setup a bank account in NBE in Egypt on my tourist visa with a "paper" apartment lease contract. After that, my bank statement from NBE was enough for me to open other accounts in Egypt in HSBC, CIB and some other banks. However, it seems that you can do this on a "one month" residence permit, but all of that depends on you and whether you want to open a company in Egypt or not.

I hope this can help some of you.

Cheers!

 

[MiddleEuroAsia]

@pesto @Helkins @Dasboot

So, I've contacted some people in Egypt just to get the Most up to date answers about banking and business in Egypt. Basically these are the current rules.

Before we start. the "Q" letter is the question I asked. And the "Ans" word is the answers I received from the Law firm in egypt.

And here are the questions:

Q1: What are the type of documents that are required for a foreigner to open both a personal and corporate bank account in Egypt?

Ans 1: It is different from bank to another, however, most banks requiring the following documents:

- Article of association
- Commercial register
- Lease agreement
- The account shall be opened by the authorized manager/nominee director of the company.

You can open a personal account after opening your corporate account if you wanted to.

Q2: Some (not all) banks require a residence permit. So, If an Egyptian residence permit is absolutely required to open a bank account in a bank I'm interested in, what is the fastest and most straight forward residence permit if money wasn't an issue?

Ans 2: We will help you in getting a one-month residence permit for bank account purposes.

Q3: can a foreigner like me open a bank account remotely without visiting Egypt? Basically, what are my options as a foreigner and non resident who wants to open Egyptian bank accounts? (Remotely is preferred but any options are welcomed).

Ans 3: Nowadays it's harder to open a bank account remotely without having a previous relationship with banks in Egypt, so, what will happen is we will incorporate the company and we will arrange the residence permit for you but you or the manager of the company shall visit Egypt to open a bank account after incorporating the company.

Q4: Can you summarize the documents and costs that are required to setup a company in Egypt and more important, what are the requirements to get everything done without having any sort of headaches or getting into trouble with the relevant Government bodies?.

Ans 4: There are some documents that you are kindly requested to prepare from your side which are as follows:

1. Notarized powers of attorney to be legalized from the Egyptian consulate in your jurisdiction if you are outside Egypt However, you can make it here in Egypt but you will need a translator with you (we can arrange that).

2. Copies of valid ID or passports of the shareholder;

3. Deposit the capital of the company. (for OPC and Joint-stock company).

And we shall prepare the following documents from our side:

1. An official original certificate obtained from the register of Accountants and Auditors in order to review and approve the balance sheet of the company. In case the original was previously furnished to GAFI, and an acceptance declaration shall be submitted.;

2. A certificate of non-confusion of company name approved by the Commercial Register;

3. A copy of the Bar Association Card of the lawyer who signs the articles of association;

4. The name and address of the company’s legal consultant (who must be a lawyer at least admitted before the Court of Appeal);

5. In the event of sharing in-kind shares upon incorporation, the report provided by the experts specialized in the professions stated by the law, must be submitted.


So, that's how the convo went with the law firm that I've contacted.

It's worth noting that for me personally I was able to setup a bank account in NBE in Egypt on my tourist visa with a "paper" apartment lease contract. After that, my bank statement from NBE was enough for me to open other accounts in Egypt in HSBC, CIB and some other banks. However, it seems that you can do this on a "one month" residence permit, but all of that depends on you and whether you want to open a company in Egypt or not.

I hope this can help some of you.

Cheers!

And in terms of taxes, in general a company is deemed a tax resident if it's actual or main center of management is in Egypt (so this won't apply to most of us) and non resident companies are only taxed on their Egyptian-sourced income.

So like Hong Kong, as long as you don't do business in Egypt nor manage the company in Egypt, you will pay 0 taxes. and even if you do business in Egypt, you can deduct most of this income for business expense by using "license fees" and other schemes. Tax laws in Egypt are easy to navigate and work around. This is not the EU, these schemes still and will work in Egypt.

Good luck.

 

[pesto]

That's a true good review and feedback for Egypt.

Ans 2: We will help you in getting a one-month residence permit for bank account purposes.

The question is how they will help and what is required to help you get that residence permit?

Did they forgot to tell you the costs or did you take that part out of the convo? It's an very interesting part for me

 

[Martin Everson]

@MiddleEuroAsia Thats good information.

 

[IBO Panama]

Thank you Egyptian minister of finance.
I am very interested in opening a bank account in the Egypt.

 

[khinkali]

in general a company is deemed a tax resident if it's actual or main center of management is in Egypt (so this won't apply to most of us) and non resident companies are only taxed on their Egyptian-sourced income

I am intrigued @MiddleEuroAsia, did you find a loophole? As far as I can see your information leads to one of three conclusions for us:

• we are in Egypt, in which case our main centre of management is Egypt and we pay full Egyptian taxes
• we are in a tax free location (UAE, etc.) in which case an Egyptian company is OK but so is doing business without an offshore company, because we're tax free already
• we're in a territorial tax location (TH, GE, etc.), in which case Egypt doesn't tax us but our country of residence will tax us based on the centre of management

I am interested in your solution. Perhaps if the offshore profits are passive then my third bullet is tax free. But almost everyone who asks about territorial taxes on this forum is not a passive retiree with shares in public companies but is actively running a business

Just in case my words above sound negative, please rest assured I will be the happiest person if you have a good answer for my worries.

 

[MiddleEuroAsia]

That's a true good review and feedback for Egypt.


The question is how they will help and what is required to help you get that residence permit?

Did they forgot to tell you the costs or did you take that part out of the convo? It's an very interesting part for me

@pesto No, they didn't tell me what the costs are, and I didn't take anything out. That's exactly how the convo went.

However, I followed up with them again and asked them about your question plus some other questions that I have, which I'm going to clarify down below:

Q5: You said that "We will help you in getting a one-month residence for opening bank account purposes." and my question is how are you going to help me? And what is required to help me get that residence permit?. Like what type of Visa/residence permit is that and what docs (documents) do you want from me to get me this permit?!​

Ans 5: No documents are required to obtain the one month visa, you and one of our lawyers will go to the Abbassyia immigration office and obtain this one-month residence visa after we incorporate your company.

Q6: And about company incorporation, from what I understand is that you will be able to setup a company for me remotely If I send you the required docs, is that correct?​

Ans 6: Yes, we will need POA from all the company partners (or from you alone if you are sole proprietor).

Q7: Also you forget to tell me about the overall costs of all of this. Like what is the minimum capital required to open an Egyptian private/LLC company. and what are your fees regarding such services.​

Ans 7: Concerning the minimum capital required to open an Egyptian LLC company, please inform us about your activity and confirm that the type of the company will be LLC company, so we will let you know the minimum capital and the governmental costs accordingly.

Moreover, you can check below the most common types of companies that we strongly recommend our client to choose between them based on the needs of each company, as follows:


(I) Joint Stock Company (JSC);

(II) Limited Liability Company (LLC);

(III) One Person Company.


We prefer to choose between the above-mentioned companies as the liability of the partners are limited to their shares in the capital only and the difference between those companies are as follows:

(I) Joint Stock Company (JSC);​

The minimum number of partners is 3 (can be individuals or companies).

The minimum capital is EGP 250000 to be deposited on three payments, 10% is to be paid at the time of incorporation, to be increased to 25% within three months, and the remaining amount of the nominal value of the shares is to be paid up within five years

(II) Limited Liability Company (LLC);​

The minimum number of partners is 2 (can be individuals or companies).

No minimum capital, so the investor can incorporate the company with any capital. Moreover, it is not required to deposit the capital at the time of incorporation.

(III) One Person Company.​

There is a sole partner in this company.

The minimum capital in this company is EGP 50000 to be paid in full at the time of incorporation.


Concerning our legal fees to incorporate the company, kindly be advised that our legal fees shall be USD 2500 excluding the governmental expenses but it is including all required services to incorporate a company in Egypt which are as follows:


- Drafting the POA.
- Legalizing the POA from the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs.
- Filing the POA at the Egyptian notary public and issuing a true copy of the same
- Drafting and submitting the non-confusion certificate for the company's name.
- Drafting and submitting the certificate of security enquiring for all the partners in the company.
- Appointing us as a legal counsel of the company.
- filling in the company's article of association and signing thereon.
- Authenticating the article of association at the notary public.
- Authenticating the article of association at the Egyptian bar of association.
- Register the company at the commercial register.
- Issuing a tax card of the company.
- Registering the company at the social security authority.
- Providing legal advice for incorporation purposes only.

Concerning the timeline for opening the company, please note that it takes 10 days starting from the date of preparing the POA and depositing the capital of the company.

Finally, Please reply to the following questions to fix the total costs:


Do you have an auditor? (if you don’t have, then we will appoint one for incorporation purposes only with additional fees)
Do you have an address in Egypt? (if you don’t have, then we will provide your esteemed company with an address, for incorporation purposes only, till leasing a headquarter)




So, that's how the follow up went with them. I think that this will satisfy any answers or future questions regarding doing business or opening bank accounts in Egypt. I hope this helps



Cheers!

 

[MiddleEuroAsia]

@khinkali

What kind of loophole are we talking about? there is not a loophole that you need to hop into, it's just that Egypt has a lot to offer But it also has a lax regulation.

and what if you paid some Egyptian taxes!, you can pay very very low taxes depends on how you structure your business, these low taxes that you can also get around easily (like with license fees schemes and other schemes), As I said this is not the EU, this is a country that offer some advantages that IMHO will help a lot of people if they know what they are doing. Also these loopholes won't be loopholes anymore If we mention them in the public forum.

Anyway, for the sake of discussion. Let's imagine you and I some scenarios "hypothetically" speaking.

1- Egypt is a a cash based society. What I mean is that is the government know this and the only entity that Is gonna ask you about source of funds are banks (and a lot of them don't even ask this)

So, let's imagine that you want to purchase a 1 million dollar property, you can "hypothetically" purchase it and settle it down and no one is gonna ask you "excuse me sir, where is this money coming from" No, not gonna happen. Full stop.

Another scenario is if any Egyptian bank asks you about source of funds, they usually mean a contract, a receipt or anything of that matter. so there is no "chain" or "the source of source of funds". it's non existent.

So "hypothetically" speaking you can buy an asset (as much as you like, no reporting is happing) then sell it and then take this contract/receipt/whatever and show it to the bank and the bank won't ask you any further questions. There is no 10,000 usd reporting and all these regulations like in the USA and EU, and you can do whatever you want with your bank account if you're smart enough.

2- Egypt is a pretty good ally to USA, saudi arabia, UAE and israel.
But for the sake of discussion let's just focus on the relationship between Egypt and UAE. I'm not gonna mention specifics because I already mentioned enough and anymore than that is a big no no and it's not good. But what I can say is the money/capital is transferred freely without excessive questions between banks In Egypt and UAE.

A lot of Emirati banks like Emirates NBD and other banks have branches in Egypt and this in return helps you with banking in the UAE. Also as @BlueMist mentioned out earlier if you are in the UAE, you can open an account remotely in egypt with mashreq bank.

I guess that's more than enough info already as more than that will do more harm than good.

Have fun and let your imagination run wild. Because what you imagined right now can happen.

Good luck

 

[drumtraks]

Very interesting.

Do you know about accounting standards / requirements?

Did I follow this thread wrong or is it renting a real office space necessary?

Are capital gains from stocks, etc taxed?