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> the Cayman Islands was assumed to be super secret and shady ... it turns out the Delaware was waaay more heavily used and way more secretive Ugland House in

> the Cayman Islands was assumed to be super secret and shady ... it turns out the Delaware was waaay more heavily used and way more secretive Ugland House in the Caymans. 10,000sq ft, 5 stories. Registered offices of forty-two thousand companies. Corporation Trust Center at 1209 North Orange Street, Wilmington, Delaware, United States, "home" to over 285,000 Delaware corporations.

yieldcrv 3y ago
that's a decent example, there are other many addresses and other ways of counting straight from ICIJ itself "US lands top spot as world’s biggest enabler of financial secrecy in new index" https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/us-lands-top-spot-as-worlds-biggest-enabler-of-financial-secrecy-in-new-index/ https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/us-lands-... > Meanwhile, the Cayman Islands, which ranked first in 2020, dramatically dropped to No. 14 in this year’s index, after disclosing new data on the financial services it provides to foreigners. in reality, it should have always been No. 14 or assumed to be operating the way it was, and it was just assumed to be far bigger and shadier than reality. where no information is assumed to mean bad information. that's just not the case. there are robust domestic ways to avoid claims on assets and money even from tax authorities, stigmatizing the entire offshore industry is just protectionist mentality.
balderdash 3y ago
Why is that weird? Company are required to have registered agents in that state (every legitimate Delaware LLC that isn’t based in Delaware (think most of corporate America) has to have someone do this for them (mostly so they can be sued)
- refurb 3y ago
  Indeed. I don’t think people understand what a Registered Agent is. Basically it’s a requirement to have someone available as a point of contact for the LLC - typically name, phone and address for mail. This is to ensure that should the LLC need to be contacted, someone is available. It can be a hassle if you list the owner or an employee as people come and go and companies can be bought and sold. You can list the owner, but it is there responsibility to make sure it’s constantly up to date. Registered Agents offer a service to act as the Agent on behalf of someone else. The Registered Agent will make sure the phone and address is always up to date and there is always someone on the other end to respond. It’s basically a “go between” as a service. So why would anyone be surprised that 40,000+ businesses all use the same agent?
MollyRealized 3y ago
I am not a lawyer. I've worked with lawyers on corporate issues for a very large chunk of my career. Are we talking 'primary place of business' or 'address of registered agent'? Two very different things. There are entities that basically act as centralized places for service of process - just like banks act as centralized places for financial transactions, etc.

yieldcrv 3y ago

that's a decent example, there are other many addresses and other ways of counting straight from ICIJ itself "US lands top spot as world’s biggest enabler of financial secrecy in new index" https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/us-lands-top-spot-as-worlds-biggest-enabler-of-financial-secrecy-in-new-index/ https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/us-lands-... > Meanwhile, the Cayman Islands, which ranked first in 2020, dramatically dropped to No. 14 in this year’s index, after disclosing new data on the financial services it provides to foreigners. in reality, it should have always been No. 14 or assumed to be operating the way it was, and it was just assumed to be far bigger and shadier than reality. where no information is assumed to mean bad information. that's just not the case. there are robust domestic ways to avoid claims on assets and money even from tax authorities, stigmatizing the entire offshore industry is just protectionist mentality.

balderdash 3y ago

Why is that weird? Company are required to have registered agents in that state (every legitimate Delaware LLC that isn’t based in Delaware (think most of corporate America) has to have someone do this for them (mostly so they can be sued)

refurb 3y ago
Indeed. I don’t think people understand what a Registered Agent is. Basically it’s a requirement to have someone available as a point of contact for the LLC - typically name, phone and address for mail. This is to ensure that should the LLC need to be contacted, someone is available. It can be a hassle if you list the owner or an employee as people come and go and companies can be bought and sold. You can list the owner, but it is there responsibility to make sure it’s constantly up to date. Registered Agents offer a service to act as the Agent on behalf of someone else. The Registered Agent will make sure the phone and address is always up to date and there is always someone on the other end to respond. It’s basically a “go between” as a service. So why would anyone be surprised that 40,000+ businesses all use the same agent?

MollyRealized 3y ago

I am not a lawyer. I've worked with lawyers on corporate issues for a very large chunk of my career. Are we talking 'primary place of business' or 'address of registered agent'? Two very different things. There are entities that basically act as centralized places for service of process - just like banks act as centralized places for financial transactions, etc.