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Georgia - PoA for business bank account

James Blake

James Blake

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Oct 19, 2016
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#1
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Hi folks,

I created a company in Georgia recently for software development activities.
Everything went well and a few days ago my agent was able to open 2 bank accounts (TBC & BoG) with the Power of Attorney. (Remotely)
I haven't use banks yet.

But, there is something strange with the names in the bank.
Instead of the names of beneficial owners (myself), there is the name of the agent (e-banking). Even on the visa debit card!!
Is it normal?
Agent claims it is normal, as he did the process through the PoA, signed etc...
I had a call with TBC bank, they said its usual for PoA cases, but it doesn't make sense. I thought that PoA was to act for another person only for the context of opening.
I can't use a bank or a card with another person's name!

Any of you with a similar experience? Any idea why is that?



Thanks in advance.
 
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#2
To me it sounds like he basically opened under his name with you as beneficial owner on bank record. Is the agent also director of company maybe? Then it would make sense everything would be issued to him.

P.S Hope you trust this agent...lol :oops:
 
#3
Assuming the agent is also the director, it's not entirely unheard of but it's normally done by regulated trustees/fiduciaries in reputable corporate tax havens like Isle of Man, in order to establish tax residence of the company in that jurisdiction.

While you may be UBO/shareholder, that position alone doesn't mandate that you have access to a company's bank account. That is normally reserved for directors and, for larger corporations, senior members of finance teams.
 
#4
Thank you very much for your time Martin and Sols.

The agent is not a director.

An other strange thing is that TBC e-banking has an expiration date for the user (agent's name), which is the date of expiration of PoA.

They told me that because of risks of IT companies, bank uses agent's name. BoG as well.
I would be able to add my name with a personal visit only.
So whats the point of PoA? It seems pointless.
What if it was for a personal account?

Martin Everson said:
P.S Hope you trust this agent...lol
Click to expand...

I think that, by definition, there is no any trust when actually bank account doesn't belong to the beneficial owner but to another person, with full permissions.



Thanks again.
 

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#5
James Blake said:
The agent is not a director.
Click to expand...
Huge red flag, unless this procedure was agreed upon in advance and the next steps are clearly defined.

James Blake said:
An other strange thing is that TBC e-banking has an expiration date for the user (agent's name), which is the date of expiration of PoA.
Click to expand...
What happens upon expiration? Have you asked TBC?

James Blake said:
They told me that because of risks of IT companies, bank uses agent's name. BoG as well.
Click to expand...
Does not compute. I think there's either been a misunderstanding somewhere or you aren't being given the full story.

James Blake said:
So whats the point of PoA? It seems pointless.
Click to expand...
I don't know about Georgia in detail because I avoid the jurisdiction for a long list of reasons, but in this case it seems to have been pointless, unless you can extend the agent's access rights remotely at least.

James Blake said:
I think that, by definition, there is no any trust when actually bank account doesn't belong to the beneficial owner but to another person, with full permissions.
Click to expand...
No, that's completely normal — in other circumstances. In this case, it looks suspicious.
 
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#6
James Blake said:
The agent is not a director.
Click to expand...
:oops:

wow....what was in your POA anyway? Do you have basic text you can post without identifying personal info? Sounds like you signed up to some BS.

James Blake said:
I would be able to add my name with a personal visit only.
Click to expand...

Do this if the account matters to you now. Otherwise don't keep more money than your willing to lose.
 
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#8
TBC will extend the agent's access rights.

Unfortunately I am in a bad situation that I can't use bank accounts. Its crazy... :(
There is no any transaction yet.

Martin Everson said:
if the account matters to you
Click to expand...
It does. Especially Bank of Georgia.


Martin Everson said:
Do you have basic text you can post without identifying personal info?
Click to expand...
Sure. Will try to translate it to English and post it.

lavel said:
Can we get a name who setup the company and banking for you?
Click to expand...
Yes, I would like to expose the agency...
inc dot ge
 
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#9
Sad to say so, but this Whois Lookup Captcha explains a lot to me. The website is almost brand new, looking at the frontpage Incorporation / Company Formation Services in Georgia - inc.ge
inc-ge-georgia.webp


I see all 6 images are simple copy / paste from another company that went out of business for some time ago.

I would pay attention to not to put any money on this account and simply get rid of it.

Get in touch with the guys here https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/resources/pb-services-georgia.237/ they know what they do, a rep from this firm is also available here @Jonny Cage he may be able to help you out.

Feel sorry for you, how much did you pay for it?
 
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#13
lavel said:
Sad to say so, but this Whois Lookup Captcha explains a lot to me. The website is almost brand new, looking at the frontpage Incorporation / Company Formation Services in Georgia - inc.ge
View attachment 1849

I see all 6 images are simple copy / paste from another company that went out of business for some time ago.

I would pay attention to not to put any money on this account and simply get rid of it.

Get in touch with the guys here https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/resources/pb-services-georgia.237/ they know what they do, a rep from this firm is also available here @Jonny Cage he may be able to help you out.

Feel sorry for you, how much did you pay for it?
Click to expand...
I can totally agree on this and can assure that PB Services is the best place to go to, @Jonny Cage will take a good care of you.
 
#15
I would like to thank @lavel and @Zyncol for their recommendation.
So, I am pretty close to resolve my issue.

I had a phone call with @Jonny Cage. Very helpful and knowledgeable guy, I totally recommend him as well.
He confirmed that its a common practice for TBC bank (had several call with them as well) to use the agent that brings PoA, as an authorized person (e-banking user) until expiration date of PoA. After that they need directors to visit a branch. Pretty useless.

Now preparing a new PoA.

So its fair to say that the agency above are not scammers. For sure. They didn't try to cheat me.
Let's not judge them because of crap images. :)

Will keep you posted about final results.
 
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#16
I could confirm that my first company in Georgia had also TBC debit cards with nane of agent which was actually a benefit becouse I withdraw a lot of cash from ATMs, anyway, its a normal proceedure there and there was no bad experiences.
 
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#17
Are you going to have any presence in Georgia? If not, be prepared to have the TBC account closed eventually. I had an IT company in Georgia with a business account in TBC, after several transactions they said that my business did not have any connection to Georgia (despite us employing a georgian accountant) and used this as an excuse to shut the account down. Can't speak about BoG, as they did not even open an account for us in the first place.
 
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