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Offshore Company Incorporation In Panama

Offshore company incorporation is a three word term that scares many people when they first hear it. Put simply offshore company incorporation is the process of forming a company in a country other than the one where you live. There are many reasons to incorporate an offshore company with every person or entity having a different list of requirements / needs when thinking of incorporating.

The press has recently been focusing it's attention on one tiny country in Central America called Panama. Known the world over for it's famous Canal, Panama also happens to be one of the offshore company incorporation centers of the world. Panama has over 400,000 companies domiciled there with only Hong Kong having more active registrations than Panama.

One of the main reasons why Panama has seen a boom in company incorporations is that Panama offers one of the most private company registrations in the world. Companies in Panama can be incorporated using bearer shares and nominee directors. The actual person who controls the company is not written down in any public registries. This makes figuring out the real owner rather difficult. Ownership of these corporations can be transferred by simply handing the shares to another person.

Under Panamanian law, a bearer share corporation (usually called an S.A. Corporation), can be owned by the individual(s) holding company stock certificates. The owner's name will is not entered into the database or registry, hence the anonymity factor. Stock certificates are transferred privately with no recorded documentation of the sale. As the director of the corporation, you have the right to remove any of the former directors and replace them with your own --- anonymously.

Panama has set up their rules so favorably that you do not even need to leave your home to have a Panama corporation incorporated for you. You will need the services of a lawyer since a lawyer is the only one who can actually walk into the public registry and properly register the offshore company with the government of Panama. A Panama corporation can own; real estate, a stock trading account and even bank accounts (in the company name). Since Panama's banks are covered by strict secrecy laws leaving your name as a signatory on the corporate account leaves you legally covered.

The article of incorporation is the only document recorded in the public registry when you incorporate an offshore company in Panama. Neither the people of Panama nor the Panamanian government knows the true identity of the company owner. The bank you register your offshore company bank account will have records of the bank account signatory but this information is confidential and can only be accessed for a serious criminal investigation. Furthermore, this litigation must be registered in a court in Panama since only Panama courts have jurisdiction over Panama banks.

Typical fees for incorporating an offshore company in Panama are $300 for the government fee, typically $150 each for each nominee director each year and anywhere from $1000 - $2000 in legal fees depending on the complexity and privacy required when registering.

Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles

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