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Offshore Account for US Corp with Gaming Income

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specialgame

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Jun 25, 2019
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#1
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Hello to all readers,

I'm a new member of this forum and came across it during my search for an offshore bank account. Our situation is as follows:

- US Corporation is incorporated
- US Corporation is held by EU Citizens
- Income is through licensed gaming/gambling affiliate commission income from gaming/gambling operators
- Licensed is issued from an official US Department

Now we're looking for a bank account that allows such type of income and non-US Citizens. As for now we're out of options because a dozen of bank account mediators didn't wanted to help due to our US Corporation or the Gaming income. For us it is completely irrelevant in which country we have a bank account as long as our licensed income stream is no problem.

I've read multiple posts and the whole general offshore thread. So Mauritius and Cyprus seems to be options. But we don't know of this is true for gaming income and we would need a mediator.

Any ideas?

Thanks guys and lads.
 
#2
You created an untouchable setup for non-US banks unfortunately.

What foreign bank or EMI in there right mind will touch a US gaming entity?

Problems:

1. Dealing with US is high risk
2. Dealing with US Corporation is high risk
3. Dealing with USD is high risk
4. Dealing with gambling is high risk

It's bad enough looking for an account for gaming activity but add to that a US one :oops:

You need to find US bank as if I was a non-US bank there is no way I would touch any US gambling company even if you came to my bank with references from President Trump and the Pope.
 
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#3
Go to a bank in the state you are licensed. They probably won't touch you unless you can show residence and operations in the US, so you better get started on that visa/green card process, chop-chop.

Cyprus? Who told you that? The banks in Cyprus are refusing account opening for local kiosks that sell state-run lottery tickets.
 
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#4
Sols said:
Go to a bank in the state you are licensed. They probably won't touch you unless you can show residence and operations in the US, so you better get started on that visa/green card process, chop-chop.

Cyprus? Who told you that? The banks in Cyprus are refusing account opening for local kiosks that sell state-run lottery tickets.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick answers.

Well, there is no way for a visa / green card because I have businesses in my home country and a wife. Emigration is no option sadly.

A US Bank would work for us - that's not the problem. I just need to find a bank, that supports such income. I know, that there has to be banks, because I'm not the only one on the market. I just don't know the right ones or people who can introduce me. If there is one, I would pay nearly any price at the moment to get an account. XD
 
#5
Sols said:
Cyprus? Who told you that? The banks in Cyprus are refusing account opening for local kiosks that sell state-run lottery tickets.
Click to expand...

lol...rof/%rof/%rof/%
 
#8
Martin Everson said:
Problems:

1. Dealing with US is high risk
2. Dealing with US Corporation is high risk
3. Dealing with USD is high risk
4. Dealing with gambling is high risk
Click to expand...


Sorry but does any of the above not make any sense to you? Banks are struggling to keep USD correspondence accounts outside US.

You can try paxumbank.com perhaps.
 
#9
Martin Everson said:
Sorry but does any of the above not make any sense to you? Banks are struggling to keep USD correspondence accounts outside US.

You can try paxumbank.com perhaps.
Click to expand...

No question, that it looks not good. I'm with you here. But I'm of course looking for options in my situation. The first three risk points doesn't apply to US banks I think, because they are obv. dealing with US corporations. So only the gambling thing is a problem if I'd use a US bank for the US Corp. Don't you think?
 
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#10
The problem is UIGEA and the general disdain banks have for gambling. I know the gambling industry quite well and think its bad reputation among banks is outmoded and disproportionate. But banks are banks.

Taking US gamblers is fine if you have a license for that state or jurisdiction. But to most banks, the risk of violating UIGEA is too great a risk compared to what the revenue they would make from your business unfortunately.

Most gambling operators licensed and active in the US today are using US banks or, since many of them come from Europe and hold licenses in for example Malta, use their existing banks.

What you have done is somehow obtain a US gambling license without being resident or having operations there, and without having an EU licensed operation to fall back on. That to me sounds like a mistake on the gambling regulator's side. You shouldn't have got the license.

How are you processing payments? Can you use any of your payment processors to hold funds and then settle into a parent company or subsidiary instead?
 
#11
Sols said:
The problem is UIGEA and the general disdain banks have for gambling. I know the gambling industry quite well and think its bad reputation among banks is outmoded and disproportionate. But banks are banks.

Taking US gamblers is fine if you have a license for that state or jurisdiction. But to most banks, the risk of violating UIGEA is too great a risk compared to what the revenue they would make from your business unfortunately.

Most gambling operators licensed and active in the US today are using US banks or, since many of them come from Europe and hold licenses in for example Malta, use their existing banks.

What you have done is somehow obtain a US gambling license without being resident or having operations there, and without having an EU licensed operation to fall back on. That to me sounds like a mistake on the gambling regulator's side. You shouldn't have got the license.

How are you processing payments? Can you use any of your payment processors to hold funds and then settle into a parent company or subsidiary instead?
Click to expand...

Well, I tried to explain, that we're not an operator. We're affiliates that refer players to the operators. In the US you need a license for that. So there wouldn't be any license we could obtain from outside the US because you need a license for every state you're into as an affiliate. So we don't process payments. That's the really annoying part, because from my point of view we're not really a risk company. We don't process funds, are not subject of any age verification mechanisms or financial risks. We just operate websites and get commissions for that from the operators.

In addition the license we have from the DGE in New Jersey is primarly thought to be obtained by US Corporations.
 
#12
The gambling regulators didn't want to tell me, if they know banks, that would help us. So yes, that might be a mistake on the regulators side.

On the other hand: Banks from Las Vegas or Atlantic City should be familiar with these kind of bank accounts. At the moment I don't have responses from them.
 
#13
I definitely missed that part that you are an affiliate. I saw the mention of license and assumed you were the operator. My bad.

Are you an affiliate only for US operators?
Do the operators require you to be licensed?
Must the licensee be a US company?

You might already know this, but I'm adding it for context...

Gambling affiliates in general have gone from being shady offshore companies to clean businesses with local companies and local bank accounts. Five to ten years ago, they were all Seychelles, BVI, and Mauritius IBCs with bank accounts in the Caribbean and Cyprus. Massive, rampant tax evasion.

However, following crackdown and general clean up of the affiliate markets, plus market consolidation (with only a handful of big companies owning the vast majority of affiliate websites), most are now not operating through offshore companies. The big ones are operated as companies where they are based.

With UIGEA thrown into the mix, banks are hesitant to work with affiliates or anything that has connections to US and gambling. People often get around it by presenting themselves as digital marketing agencies but they run a risk of being caught being gambling affiliates. You will have a very hard time convincing a bank in Europe, Mauritius, or elsewhere to accept you.

Opening a corporate bank account in the US as a non-resident alien is close to impossible. The banks in Nevada and New Jersey are definitely familiar with gambling. Doesn't mean they will be interested in an affiliate. They get inundated with requests from foreigners who have just opened an LLC and want a corporate account. It might help if you show up in person with a very good business plan. But I've read accounts of people going to the US and coming home empty-handed.
 
#14
Sols said:
Are you an affiliate only for US operators?
Do the operators require you to be licensed?
Must the licensee be a US company?
Click to expand...

No worries. Regarding the questions: Yes, Yes, depends.

Problem is - license is expensive and took us months. If we'd go through this again with another company, it'd be a complete mess. In addition there is no guarantee, that companies outside the US are getting licenses. The prices are to be paid nevertheless.

"With UIGEA thrown into the mix, banks are hesitant to work with affiliates or anything that has connections to US and gambling. People often get around it by presenting themselves as digital marketing agencies but they run a risk of being caught being gambling affiliates. You will have a very hard time convincing a bank in Europe, Mauritius, or elsewhere to accept you."

That completely describes our situation. With these "lies" we're able to have EMI accounts. But we don't want to risk them by getting payments from operators on these accounts. That's why we're looking for legit accounts for that.

Regarding the bank opening in the US itself we'd have the chance to use a US resident for that (friend). But we're unsure how to get that person out of that account after opening it.
 
#15
Is your friend a US citizen or green card holder? It's important he's not on some temp work or student visa.

Depending on what type of company you are (C corp or LLC), you can appoint your US resident friend as a director or manager – someone empowered to enter into agreements for the company. Works best if it's a C corp, but should be doable for LLC. If they are a citizen or green card holder, they will have a much greater chance of success with banks.

If the account is opened with at least two signatories (the US person and you) and the instructions to the bank are that signatories can sign on their own, it would then be a relatively simple process to remove the person from the company after some time. Have them resign voluntarily. I wouldn't do it immediately; give it a couple of months. Just make sure you trust them and have made arrangements to reduce their powers in the company.

Not guaranteed to work of course, but that's one possible avenue worth exploring.
 
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#17
BTW, consider how adding another director/officer affects the license. You might need to inform the licensing authority. It's a fairly simple process for gambling operators, so shouldn't be a huge hassle for an affiliate.
 
#18
The US operators do not use ewallet type Neteller, skrill etc for the deposits and withdrawals of their clients? The commissions of affiliates can not be recovered in an e-wallet in the name of your company?

Or the only way to receive the money is by bank transfer?
 
#19
Elve said:
The US operators do not use ewallet type Neteller, skrill etc for the deposits and withdrawals of their clients? The commissions of affiliates can not be recovered in an e-wallet in the name of your company?

Or the only way to receive the money is by bank transfer?
Click to expand...

No, US operators can't pay to eWallets. It has to be a bank account.
 
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