Bosco Online Workshop "Tax, Banking, Company Set-up": short review

Bosco Online Workshop "Tax, Banking, Company Set-up" On 10th June,  where  international experts and more than 250 listeners from 40 countries have participated.

The following topics were discussed at the conference:

Purpose of setting up companies and investment funds in Singapore. - Nikita Kabanovs, Director at Global Green Path;

Is Financial Privacy Really Dead? No, It’s Just In A Coma. - Jonathan L. M. Shaw, Barrister-at-Law at Corporate & Chancery Group;

Navigating an Offshore Bank Account Opening. - Jamie Vrijhof-Droese, Managing Partner at WHVP Ltd.;

Georgia – Doing Business Through Tax Preferences. - Giorgi Rogava, Commercial Director at Huashun International Industrial Investment Group.

Nikita Kabanovs, Director at Global Green Path, spoke about the advantages of registering companies and investment funds in Singapore.

Nikita started with the benefits of Singapore for business:

- Various organizational and legal forms of companies;

- An effective taxation system;

- Strategic geographic location;

- Financial, IT and International Trade Center;

- Ability to use a legal system based on English law.

Nikita also voiced the goals of setting up companies in Singapore.

Holding companies and regional headquarters:

- More than 90 agreements on avoidance of double taxation and special tax agreements;

- Reducing the risks of compliance with tax requirements.

Investment Funds / Family Offices:

- The specified income can be exempted from paying corporate income tax during the entire life of the fund;

- Immigration to the country / change of tax residence;

- World Financial Center and Venture Capital Center.

Export-Import Subsidiaries / Service Companies:

- Territorial taxation system;

- Communication and Commodity Trading Center;

- Preferential rates 0%, 5% or 10% for trading houses, shipping companies, and logistics operators.

The statutory corporate income tax is 17%. However, multiple tax breaks are available. Local startups are eligible for lower tax rates and tax breaks for the first 3 years.

Jonathan L. M. Shaw, Barrister-at-Law at Corporate & Chancery Group, spoke about financial privacy in 2021.

Shares are personal property and, as such, are taxable. In particular, the owner of the shares can be quite taxed when he sells the shares at a profit. It can also be taxed on any dividends that the stock yields. Unless, of course, the company is registered in a tax-free jurisdiction, such as the Cayman Islands, Monaco, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Virgin Islands and the UK family of jurisdictions where tax is not levied.

However, if shares are a major issue of ownership, control and taxation, is it possible to ensure that the shares do not exist in the company?

These are limited liability companies without share capital.

Today these companies tend to be non-profit organizations, in many cases charitable and used by friendly societies and small clubs. Unlike trust companies, the investor is given control over their assets in the company.

Essentially, the investor signs a guarantee for a certain amount, which he will pay to the liquidator in the event of the liquidation of the company. He then becomes a member of the company, whereas in a limited liability company he becomes a shareholder by purchasing shares. Now that there are no shares, he is just a “member of the company”.

Jamie Vrijhof-Droese, Managing Partner at WHVP Ltd., spoke about opening and managing an offshore bank account.

Among the advantages of opening offshore accounts, it is worth noting the withdrawal of part of the funds outside the country, taking advantage of investments in other regions. According to Jamie, if you take 20-30% of your assets offshore, it will reduce the level of volatility and increase the level of capital stability.

Jamie also talked about why Switzerland is an excellent financial center. For example, a low level of public debt, when compared with the United States, as well as a stable economy.

Regulation. This is a very important point in cross-border investment. The speaker advised to work with a specialist in the competence you are looking for, because asset management specialists are needed for successful regulation.

Documentation. We are talking about documentation about the origin of money and about KYC. It is important to document and explain the origin of the funds. Thanks to competent documentation, negotiations with the bank begin, and the chances of their success increase. You also need a specialist in asset management, because having a local partner is a key factor when creating and opening an account.

Working with an independent asset manager. This is also a very important factor, as this person should be your confidant.

Giorgi Rogava, Commercial Director at Huashun International Industrial Investment Group, spoke about doing business in Georgia through tax preferences.

The speaker started with the advantages of Georgia:

- 6th country in the world in terms of ease of doing business in 2019;

- 2 in the world in starting a business;

- 4 on property registration;

- 8 in the list by the free trade index;

- 12 on the index of economic freedom.

Georgi spoke about the benefits companies can get by type of activity and jurisdiction.

Activities:

- International trade \ Services \ Production;

- Production \ Processing \ Packaging \ Assembly \ Trade;

- IT software and technology development;

- Trade.

Which companies are profitable to register in Georgia:

- ordinary companies;

- free zone companies;

- virtual IT companies;

- companies with international status;

- special trading companies.

According to Georgi, opening a company takes from 1 day to 3 weeks, depending on the type of company and the type of activity.

More detailed information about the event is available by the link:

https://bosco-conference.com/en/archive-2021/bosco-online-workshop-10-june-2021

Video recordings of the conference and other events are available on our YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5rGKWFFr7HXqFRrKS-7CKA

Register for our next events and stay tuned!