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The list of countries and jurisdictions for offshore incorporation of a business is probably as long as a person’s arm. There are jurisdictions in situated in Atlantic and Pacific settings as well as the Caribbean, so the choices can be plentiful. It’s a matter or due diligence and research on your behalf that will determine where you decide to locate your offshore corporation.

The press has recently been focusing it’s attention on one tiny country in Central America called Panama. Known the world over for it’s famous Canal, Panama also happens to be one of the offshore company incorporation centers of the world. Panama has over 400,000 companies domiciled there with only Hong Kong having more active registrations than Panama.

One of the main reasons why Panama has seen a boom in company incorporations is that Panama offers one of the most private company registrations in the world. Companies in Panama can be incorporated using bearer shares and nominee directors. The actual person who controls the company is not written down in any public registries. This makes figuring out the real owner rather difficult. Ownership of these corporations can be transferred by simply handing the shares to another person.

Under Panama law, a bearer share corporation (or SA corporation for Sociedad Anonima) can be sold or transferred privately without the need to record the sale in any way. You will receive pre signed resignation letters from your nominee directors to ensure they can not do any funny business with your corporation. You can also replace these directors with your own at any point but you may lose the anonymity if you choose someone you know. Not always advisable.

Panama has set up their rules so favorably that you do not even need to leave your home to have a Panama corporation incorporated for you. You will need the services of a lawyer since a lawyer is the only one who can actually walk into the public registry and properly register the offshore company with the government of Panama. A Panama corporation can own; real estate, a stock trading account and even bank accounts (in the company name). Since Panama’s banks are covered by strict secrecy laws leaving your name as a signatory on the corporate account leaves you legally covered.

Your name will be completely secret since the article of incorporation is the only document that will make it’s way to the Panama public registry. On this article of incorporation only the nominee directors names will appear not yours! If you get a bank account for your offshore company you will need to sign some documents with the bank but these documents are covered by strict banking secrecy laws punishable by prison time. If your name were ever leaked, other than for a major criminal offense, the person who leaked your name would face a trial and prison time for leaking the information.

To get an offshore company in Panama set up is rather inexpensive. The government registration fee is an annual rate of about $300 with nominee director fees running $100 per year. Legal fees in the first year to actually register the company can run from $500 - $2000.

Tags: Finance