Offshore bank account for Malta company

[slimjim]

Hi guys! I made a new setup in Malta (holding+trading company), but it's very tedious to get a bank account with the local banks there. Can you recommend a bank which would give me an account without having to make a visit? Anywhere?

And if I had to take it one step further, is it possible to open any bank account for this Malta setup in a country in a way where I don't have to tell the Maltese authorities/accounting firm about it?

 

[Sols]

And if I had to take it one step further, is it possible to open any bank account for this Malta setup in a country in a way where I don't have to tell the Maltese authorities/accounting firm about it?

As a part of the audit, your accountant/auditor will want to see a bank statement. Ideally one they obtain from the bank directly, which local banks are used to providing. In cases where they can't obtain it from the bank directly, you will have to provide it to hem.

Why would you start a business in Malta if you don't intend to comply with the law?

As for hiding it from the authorities, that's harder due to CRS.

 

[nickyboy2018]

slimjim, do you live outside of Malta? Where are u based? is it so hard for you to travel to malta?

 

[slimjim]

As a part of the audit, your accountant/auditor will want to see a bank statement. Ideally one they obtain from the bank directly, which local banks are used to providing. In cases where they can't obtain it from the bank directly, you will have to provide it to hem.

Why would you start a business in Malta if you don't intend to comply with the law?

As for hiding it from the authorities, that's harder due to CRS.

I think it's common knowledge that anybody who sets up a structure in Malta does not intend to comply with the law. The reason people set up there is because the local authorities don't enforce anything whatsoever... You can even read about companies there which haven't declared any sort of financial income or tax returns in 8 years and still take official government contracts. That's what makes Malta interesting to foreigners, otherwise you would set up in a more reputable jurisdiction.

 

[slimjim]

slimjim, do you live outside of Malta? Where are u based? is it so hard for you to travel to malta?

I just don't want to travel just to open a bank account if possible. But if it's necessary I will, but then again I would not open a bank account in Malta for the following reasons:
- they are not welcoming to foreigners to open a bank account there and the process is long and tedious
- their online banking services are decades behind everyone else
- their exchange rates are very expensive
- local government will obviously know about the bank account
- the national bank there just lost access to USD due to the country's financial crime issues, there's nothing to say that all the rest of the banks there won't lose USD access as well soon, which would make a bank account there useless for me

 

[slimjim]

Try with Bank of Cyprus

Thanks! I'm taking a look at their website but it seems they only offer private banking not for companies?

 

[Sols]

I think it's common knowledge that anybody who sets up a structure in Malta does not intend to comply with the law. The reason people set up there is because the local authorities don't enforce anything whatsoever... You can even read about companies there which haven't declared any sort of financial income or tax returns in 8 years and still take official government contracts. That's what makes Malta interesting to foreigners, otherwise you would set up in a more reputable jurisdiction.

No, that's not the case.

I wouldn't look to government contractors as a comparison. They are often related to or good friends (since childhood, in many cases) with government officials, and/or are bribing them.

Malta is interesting to foreigners for it's low tax rate and favourable tax regime for non-domiciled residents.

It's so easy to follow the law and effective the tax rate is very low. In my opinion, it's completely unnecessary to break the law there when following the law means you can sleep easily your whole life without worrying about the repercussions if you are caught hiding company money.

 

[slimjim]

No, that's not the case.

I wouldn't look to government contractors as a comparison. They are often related to or good friends (since childhood, in many cases) with government officials, and/or are bribing them.

Malta is interesting to foreigners for it's low tax rate and favourable tax regime for non-domiciled residents.

It's so easy to follow the law and effective the tax rate is very low. In my opinion, it's completely unnecessary to break the law there when following the law means you can sleep easily your whole life without worrying about the repercussions if you are caught hiding company money.

Whilst what you said about government contractors may be true, I think you are missing the point about why foreigners set up in Malta. It's not about about the favourable tax rate, if it were just for the tax they would go to Estonia where you pay zero tax unless you take profit out and you can always 'reinvest' the profit and perpetually never pay a cent in tax, while in Malta it's 5%, so I wouldn't call that favourable at all.

The reason Malta is interesting is that the authorities there have no mechanisms at all to check on or enforce what companies registerd there are doing outside of Malta. I am aware of hundreds of crypto companies there which set up to launder money, run exchanges etc... and finally never declare any financial transaction whatsoever at the end of the year. You can pay a pittance of a fee and have the income tax submission pushed back to next year forever. When you're done from business there you can just stop paying company maintenance fees and forget about it and nobody is gonna come after you. Malta is the pirate's den of the EU, trust me that's why thousands of companies register there very month with no physical office, no website or anything.

 

[1nomad]

if you don't live in Malta, they don't care. But your home country does...

 

[Mark Rucken]

I will never understand people who are working hard to get things done, set-up a foreign company, hide from tax authorities and then when it comes to the account opening, which is a crucial part of the whole project their first phrase is "I do not want to travel". If I was in a desperate position and without a real bank account, I would personally travel the world in order to get a reputable bank account.

 

[Dorothy Atwater]

You can contact Europacific bank in Puerto Rico too

Europacific Bank is a scam! Stay far, far, away!

 

[Dorothy Atwater]

Tell more about please!

ECB frequently changed their wiring instructions--and it was very expensive to either send or receive a wire. When I became concerned about their integrity, I tried to close my account. It turned out that I had to get PERMISSION to close my account, and I needed to have a skype or phone conversation with Devin Balco, some "head honcho" with ECP. When I finally did get the skype phone call scheduled, I asked Devin Baldo whether to delete their wiring fees from my balance when I wired the funds. He said "yes." Well, it turned out that was not the case, and I had the balance (the amount of the wiring fees) in my account. Rather than spend several hours more of hassle, I just "ate" the money. Then I kept getting notices to log into my account to see my balance. When I tried, a message said I needed to contact EPB by phone with the issue. Again, I just said to myself...forget it.

After many hassles, and after I posted a negative review here, Devin Baldo had the NEVER to email me the following:

I hope that your wire has arrived well and I want to ensure that you do not have any further questions of me related to the bank. I did notice that you left a very bad review of us on a blog https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/euro-pacific-bank-is-a-scam.24415/ and yet we have not withheld your money and transferred this back to you. Please let me know if you could update this to at least leave a realistic review of the bank as you did not mention my service and how I helped you get the wire out after much difficulty.

Screw EPB and everything that Peter Schiff has his hand in!

 

[libicap]

Hi guys! I made a new setup in Malta (holding+trading company), but it's very tedious to get a bank account with the local banks there. Can you recommend a bank which would give me an account without having to make a visit? Anywhere?

And if I had to take it one step further, is it possible to open any bank account for this Malta setup in a country in a way where I don't have to tell the Maltese authorities/accounting firm about it?

Hey, have you already gotten a bank account for your Malta entity? We are an e-commerce company and just set up in Malta, also looking into corporate banking options to.

 

[reesek]

what is "minimum activity" please?