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There are companies in Russia that specialize in providing shell companies to businesses. You can get a "reused" local company, an unique one, a company represe

by sershe 5y ago

There are companies in Russia that specialize in providing shell companies to businesses. You can get a "reused" local company, an unique one, a company represented by a real person (no idea if that person is literally a fall guy, or just a legal fiction), probably off-shores too. Sounds like this might become a great startup idea in the US too ;)

LurkingPenguin 5y ago
Shell companies don't change anything. You can buy an aged shell, appoint nominee directors, etc. and it doesn't change the law. If anything, these things will only go to prove your intent to launder money and avoid tax if and when you're caught. While that's not to say that aged shells, nominee directors, etc. don't serve a purpose for certain people in certain situations, a lot of this stuff is just designed to enrich the service providers through fees and provides very little meaningful value in terms of privacy and protection. A lot of Russians use offshore structures to protect their assets from the state. Also, Russia has a territorial tax system under which nonresidents are taxed only on their Russian-source income. Many wealthy Russians live overseas, so if you make your money abroad and live abroad, there's nothing inherently illegal about keeping your money abroad if you're a Russian. Basically, the reasons a Russian would go offshore are a bit different from the reasons an average American would. Finally, in cases where a Russian was offshore for shady business, you should recognize that the long arm of the Russian authorities isn't that long. The US, on the other hand, can functionally knee-cap financial institutions anywhere in the world for refusing to do what it wants. As evidence of this, consider that even Chinese banks will comply with US sanctions if they feel there's a risk to their US dollar operations: https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/chinese-banks-move-to-comply-with-u-s-sanctions-on-hong-kong https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/chinese-bank...
- sershe 5y ago
  The comment was that for the small guy, it's too expensive and complicated to set up these companies. Imagine if there was a cheap service that would allow the small guy to structure his business "just like the big boys". Big companies use complex international structures to dodge taxes and regulations legally. Currently, there are no reasons to do that for a random small business; if there is, there may be demand. Kinda like people register their companies in Delaware even though it doesn't make "logical" sense; just to (legally) get the regulatory advantages. This is speculation, obviously, based on the direction this goes with the account surveillance.

by sershe 5y ago

LurkingPenguin 5y ago

Shell companies don't change anything. You can buy an aged shell, appoint nominee directors, etc. and it doesn't change the law. If anything, these things will only go to prove your intent to launder money and avoid tax if and when you're caught. While that's not to say that aged shells, nominee directors, etc. don't serve a purpose for certain people in certain situations, a lot of this stuff is just designed to enrich the service providers through fees and provides very little meaningful value in terms of privacy and protection. A lot of Russians use offshore structures to protect their assets from the state. Also, Russia has a territorial tax system under which nonresidents are taxed only on their Russian-source income. Many wealthy Russians live overseas, so if you make your money abroad and live abroad, there's nothing inherently illegal about keeping your money abroad if you're a Russian. Basically, the reasons a Russian would go offshore are a bit different from the reasons an average American would. Finally, in cases where a Russian was offshore for shady business, you should recognize that the long arm of the Russian authorities isn't that long. The US, on the other hand, can functionally knee-cap financial institutions anywhere in the world for refusing to do what it wants. As evidence of this, consider that even Chinese banks will comply with US sanctions if they feel there's a risk to their US dollar operations: https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/chinese-banks-move-to-comply-with-u-s-sanctions-on-hong-kong https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/chinese-bank...

sershe 5y ago
The comment was that for the small guy, it's too expensive and complicated to set up these companies. Imagine if there was a cheap service that would allow the small guy to structure his business "just like the big boys". Big companies use complex international structures to dodge taxes and regulations legally. Currently, there are no reasons to do that for a random small business; if there is, there may be demand. Kinda like people register their companies in Delaware even though it doesn't make "logical" sense; just to (legally) get the regulatory advantages. This is speculation, obviously, based on the direction this goes with the account surveillance.