TRUST Setup. Or is there a better way?

[cangarooo]

Hi everyone.
So, looking to get your advices or suggestions based on the below needs.
I'm going to open a LTD company in Belarus together with other 2 founders.
All 3 founders, we are from different EU countries.
Now, the other 2 founders cannot be visible in the Belarussian company (for different reasons).
I tough about having the current setup:
1. Open a Trust where we 3 founders are behind and funding it with 1/3 each.
2. Having me as Trustee for the Trust
3. Trust to be based possibly in EU or UK, anyway in the Europe Region (not in those countries known as "fiscal heavens")
4. The Trust will then open and own the company in Belarus.
This should give enough protection to the other 2 founders.

Now, my questions:
- is the above structure valid to achieve the needs of hiding visibility of the founders?
- if yes, I've been thinking about UK as country to open the Trust. Is this a valid option? Are there better and not so costy alternatives in Europe?
- if the above structure is not the "best", what can you suggest to achieve the hiding of the 2 other founders?

Hope I've been able to explain it well. If not, please fell free to raise your questions.
Thanks so much for your help and suggestion.
I'm very open to receive any idea.
Mr. P.

 

[Toly]

To provide any suggestions I would like to have more information.
- What are the reason(s) you are trying to hide the other 2? Tax avoidance or something else?
- To whom those 2 should not be visible? Government authorities? General public?
- In which countries those 2 are resident?

 

[JohnSeed]

For a stable Trust setup I would suggest to look into Seychelles or if possible Dubai.

 

[Larry]

For a stable Trust setup I would suggest to look into Seychelles or if possible Dubai.

Regarding Seychelles and Dubai I can give my 2 cents. Seychelles and Foundation have currently huge problems with banking. Mauritius was a good option till 2019 but this year they have much harder compliance and don't take Trusts or Foundations with online business in their structure. So you need to be creative how you tell them a nice story that you make six figures selling fruits and vegetables. If you are lucky and your account get approved you have now Skype compliance checks about higher incoming amounts starting around 5k$.

Dubai Trust? I know only Freezones with common wealth law but this purely scam. You have license at same price as in the most common law jurisdictions but need to rent a office in each Freezone that's highly overpriced.

Regarding the conditions of @cangarooo I would go with channel islands like Jersey. They are near UK and Europe. Anyway it's pricey if you want to find a good bank the minimum account balance will be minimum 100k$+.

For sure you can go with Seychelles Trust and Euro Pacific Bank account but this would remove all the sense of the Trust regarding long term asset protection.

 

[TurnedToRobot]

Dubai Trust? I know only Freezones with common wealth law but this purely scam. You have license at same price as in the most common law jurisdictions but need to rent a office in each Freezone that's highly overpriced.

What do you mean by highly overpriced, can we get any figures on it?

 

[Larry]

What do you mean by highly overpriced, can we get any figures on it?

We are talking about 200.000AED / year. More then 50k$ / year for running a Trust or Foundation in UAE.

Best example is Abu Dhabi Global Market.

 

[TurnedToRobot]

Well, that's too much for most people around here.

What fees are we looking at in Jersey as you suggested?

 

[Larry]

Well, that's too much for most people around here.

What fees are we looking at in Jersey as you suggested?

Much cheaper. Depends on the lawyer what they charge you for setting up and yearly administrative fee. But banking starts at 100k$ minimum deposit. So nowadays if you collect peanuts a Trust or Foundation isn't the right thing for you because you get only shady banking with cheap jurisdictions.

 

[Toly]

@cangarooo
Unless you clarify the problem at hand (see my questions above), you will only see here a discussion of price differences and minor advantages of this or that structure or jurisdiction. Nobody can tell you if that particular structure is suitable for your unique situation.
What list do you have in mind when saying that the trust should not be established in a "fiscal heavens"? The Bielarussian one?