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Company formation for a Defence Consultant

You have some good points @andres33 , however, that include you will need to hide information from the bank and provide them with false information which can lead to account closoure at the end of the day.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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hide information from the bank and provide them with false information which can lead to account closoure at the end of the day.
They do all the time in HK and they end by closing the accounts and not willing to open for you anymore in the same Bank
 
As said @martin you must forget to work with bank with this kind of invoice. None bank will accept the concept of defence, gun , ammunition, armaments, etc...,
Perhaps you would need to modify your terminology in your contracts. Perhaps "surveillance" would sound better than defence. I don't know, but posibly the lexic can be have some determinance. Some decade ago the magazine SOF (soldier of fortune) had anouncement for surveillance in big farms territory. ;) They wanted SOFs for Angola, Benin etc...:p. It sound better
if you download some KYC or AML manuals, you will find all the words and terms that it's better not use, and the concepts to avoid.
So perhasp your solution beguin for a new redaction in your contracts or in your invoices and over all in amounts not so bigs.

Thanks. Where do you think i should set up the company and account. I am not dealing with very large numbers at the moment, but eventually i might have to deal with 7 figure transactions. So the bank should be able to deal with such large numbers

They do all the time in HK and they end by closing the accounts and not willing to open for you anymore in the same Bank

If something like this happens will u lose your money!
 
Thanks. Where do you think i should set up the company and account. I am not dealing with very large numbers at the moment, but eventually i might have to deal with 7 figure transactions. So the bank should be able to deal with such large numbers
1. Open a personal bank account in Hong Kong in a local bank (the ones with no offices overseas)
2. Deposit 130k USD (1m HKD)
3. Get a relationship manager, tell them you are willing to purchase services if they help you opening the business bank account for your business, tell them the full history specially the part of 7 figures deals
4. Get the company bank account in 2-3 months and a couple of visits. Recommend to have a local nominee / director

HK is a neutral place and local banks are not worried about reputation if they work with this kind of business

https://www.scmp.com/article/431586/hk-arms-dealer-flying-high
If something like this happens will u lose your money!
No, that happens in EMIs like Neat.
Banks they ask you politely to move your funds in 30 days or you'll get freezed
 
Banks they ask you politely to move your funds in 30 days or you'll get freezed
That very much depends on what the nature of the business is and what you have told them you are going to do. If this is illegal money or against the laws in the applicable country they will freeze the funds and you will have to explain you to the police if you want your money back. That's what I have seen happen a few times when people claim "they didn't do anything wrong" but the bank freezed their account!
 
1. Open a personal bank account in Hong Kong in a local bank (the ones with no offices overseas)
2. Deposit 130k USD (1m HKD)
3. Get a relationship manager, tell them you are willing to purchase services if they help you opening the business bank account for your business, tell them the full history specially the part of 7 figures deals
4. Get the company bank account in 2-3 months and a couple of visits. Recommend to have a local nominee / director

HK is a neutral place and local banks are not worried about reputation if they work with this kind of business

https://www.scmp.com/article/431586/hk-arms-dealer-flying-high

Thank you very much.

What about Seychelles? What's the process there?
 
That very much depends on what the nature of the business is and what you have told them you are going to do. If this is illegal money or against the laws in the applicable country they will freeze the funds and you will have to explain you to the police if you want your money back. That's what I have seen happen a few times when people claim "they didn't do anything wrong" but the bank freezed their account!

Good God! i don't have any intention of breaking the law!

Is there any advantage in opening a company in one country and an account in another.
 
Is there any advantage in opening a company in one country and an account in another.
Most often it can change the game so to say. You will need to figure out if your business is legal in the country of your choice and if the bank you want to use will accept it. That's most often a huge research task and sometimes it will end up wrong for you, means you won't find any legit solution for your banking needs.

But if you can find a bank in a country where it also would be beneficial to have the company I can't see what would stop you doing that.
 
You have some good points @andres33 , however, that include you will need to hide information from the bank and provide them with false information which can lead to account closoure at the end of the day.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
I would not rate it as hiding information, to the bank, but presenting the information under another approach. You can tell the bank that you have the bottle half empty or half full. The bottle will be the same. In this case, the final objective of the work offered may be presented under different formats that are less noisy to the ear, such as using the word "defense." Within the total ignorance about the purpose of the contract or the provision of services, I think there are different ways to focus a service disguising it so that more ligth appears. The protection services offered in Iraq, or Syria for large companies that need to protect their engineers or managers, are established with mercenary contractor companies. But no contract mentions the word mercenary, defense, automatic weapons etc ...
Topics such as surveillance, accompaniment, protection are addressed as much. Obviously no bank would go on site to check what it is about by their own eyes. For the bank, if the company that offers a contract has a valid license from any country as a service of accompaniment, or surveillance or access control, it is more than enough to give good payments that do not expressly mention the words tabus that They don't like any bank. Merchant ships that fish in the Indian Ocean, hire protection companies without any problem, and in many cases they are small mercenary corporations that have been able to perfectly bleach their activity with a security guard screen. One think important to beguin is to be sure that your company is not black listed on the international circuit banks. EEUU publish a big list with all the companies suspected to have ilicit activiies. These lists are published in some KYC manuals and On Boarding protocols for exemple FFIEC BSA/AML
 
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Yeh, banks nowadays are very sensitive to all businesses related to high-risk activities for AML purposes. But if a business/service is really legit, then I would suggest a fundamentally different solution. If I was you, first of all, I would find a bank, who will look deeply into your situation. You would have to visit the bank personally and explain your business model (without revealing any confidential information) and then if they approve you, this bank will be trustworthy, it would never stop any transactions. In other words, I would find a bank that wants to know its customers personally and more deeply instead of going through the road of formalities.

As far as the company itself is concerned, at first you have to look at tax issues - how and from whom you pay taxes in your country, what kind of resident you are and so on. And then evaluate, whether it's offshore or just a simple company in Europe etc.
 
Unfortunately most small banks are not even going to examine your situation and business model once word defense comes up.

Your best bet is to use the same bank as your client who is paying you. Company formation is not the issue right now but banking is
 
hi guys,

I've been away for a bit, but i'd like to sum up the advice given.

1. seychelles is a via location, but requires a visit and a lot of paper work
2. hong kong is also a good location
3. don't use the word "defence" or anything similar to that in contracts cause banks dont want that kind of heat
 
1. seychelles is a via location, but requires a visit and a lot of paper work
You mean for the company formation or if you want a bank account there too?

Generally speaking if you have something to hide you put you self in a position where you end up with a closed account without any reason. That said, if you regardless what hide information then there are many countries that may apply for this beside HK, Seychelles there is Cyprus, Malta and even US states like Wyoming, Alaska and New Mexico.
 
hi guys,

I've been away for a bit, but i'd like to sum up the advice given.

1. seychelles is a via location, but requires a visit and a lot of paper work
2. hong kong is also a good location
3. don't use the word "defence" or anything similar to that in contracts cause banks dont want that kind of heat

I wouldn't say your optimal structure would be with a company in Seychelles, not sure about HK. I mean, keep searching. ;)