Hong Kong bank account beneficiary details-- is my personal info really safe?

[electric]

Hello,


I am considering to create a Seychelles company, which will own a Hong Kong Company, which will open a Hong Kong bank account.


My question is about the Hong Kong bank account.


Since the Hong Kong back account will have a "know your client" process when the account is created… then this means they are going to have my personal information (passport, utility bill, signature, etc), since I am the "creator" of the account. Right?


So what is stopping them from giving this information to my home country if my home country asks for it? What is the point of having the bank account owned by a Hong Kong Company, which is owned by a Seychelles company? Can't my home country just ask the bank to see whose signature has authority over the account?


Thanks.

 

[Zqq]

This is not unique to Hong Kong. It goes for all banks all over the world. All accounts have signatories and, unless you are paying someone to act as account signatory, your name will be associated with the bank somehow.


What you do gain in terms of privacy, though, is that wire transfers to and from the bank account does not have your name on them. Furthermore, disclosure of the signatory of a bank account will in many offshore jurisdictions require a TIEA and/or a court order.

 

[electric]

How about something like this. It's convoluted... but I'm curious what you think.


1. You create a Seychelles company, which owns a HK company, which opens a HK bank account that lists you as a signatory. So you are not listed as the bank account owner, since it is owned by the HK Company. You are listed only as a signatory. So far, this is a typical offshore structure, right?


2. Now you sign an agreement with the owner of the HK Company (the nominee director of the Seychelles company?) which names you as the "Operations Manager" for the HK company. Basically the contract is an employment contract, and part of your job is to look after the finances of the company. (ie: You handle customer credit card payments, have signing authority to pay expenses, etc...)


What do you think of something like that?


When I met with the tax authorities from my various home countries (US, France, Canada), and gave them this "operations manager" scenario, none of them would give me a definitive answer if this would be considered tax evasion for the person listed as the bank account signatory. They said, "It depends"... but they would not clarify.

 

[Zqq]

Keep in mind that many countries apply reverse burden of proof when it comes to crimes like tax evasion and money laundering, to which tax evasion can be a predicate offence. This means that it is up to you to prove that you are not the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) of the funds on the account; not for the authorities to prove that you are.


Also consider that any income paid out to you as an employee is not necessarily tax free in all jurisdictions; not even tax havens. Your company may also become eligible for payroll and other tax, fees, and requirements surrounding having an employee.

 

[coromandel]

If your home country deemed that the management of the company took place on home soil (i.e. you, the operations mgr) then I'm assuming they would get you under the CFC rulings regardless of the nominee directorship. To bypass that you'd have to have the nominee actively managing the company which would be farcical.


BTW - did you get my email? I'm not sure the temp thing worked!!

 

[electric]

If your home country deemed that the management of the company took place on home soil (i.e. you, the operations mgr) then I'm assuming they would get you under the CFC rulings regardless of the nominee directorship. To bypass that you'd have to have the nominee actively managing the company which would be farcical.

Surely there has to be a way around this? For example, if I worked for Apple or microsoft or google in their finance department and I had signing authority over one of their bank accounts... it would be crazy for my government to deem me to be owner of the company or personal owner of the account.


How do company's deal with this issue? Any big company will have a few employees with signing power over the company's bank accounts and manages their finanaces...

BTW - did you get my email? I'm not sure the temp thing worked!!

Can you resend? I did not check the account yesterday, and it's automatically cleared out every few hours... Let me know after you have sent the email and I'll check the account.
Thanks!

 

[coromandel]

I'm not allowed to post email addresses until I "post a few times", so you probably have to go first.


I don't know enough about CFC to provide any technical advice.

 

[coromandel]

I've posted 24 times so seems strange that links are blocked.

 

[electric]

I got it. You can remove the address now.

 

[clemens]

I say ban these bastards:ban: who doesn't comply to the forum rules.. why are you here guys? just to violate rules.. there are plenty of forums around that allow you doing so go and play with them.

 

[electric]

I say ban these bastards:ban: who doesn't comply to the forum rules.. why are you here guys? just to violate rules.. there are plenty of forums around that allow you doing so go and play with them.

Because we are not hurting anyone, we're not selling anyone anything, and we are both "consumers" in the exact same situation who can help each other.

 

[clemens]

Because you are violating the forum rules, your ignorance stinks. If you are consumers it's OK but there is a reason for why people setup rules and why some actually break them!