If you own an international company, you may wish to use nominee shareholders to protect your privacy and, in some cases, to reduce your legal tax liabilities. Here’s how it works:
- You select one or more individuals or companies as the nominee shareholders of your company. You are then referred to as the “beneficial shareholder.”
- The nominee shareholders sign a Declaration of Trust giving up any right to exercise any powers over the shares including voting rights or the right to sell or transfer these shares.
- The nominee shareholders sign a Power of Attorney transferring all authority to manage the company to you or to your designated company director.
- The nominee shareholders sign an undated Share Transfer form which you hold for use in case you decide to terminate the nominee arrangement.
Nominee shareholders are normally paid an up-front fee and a yearly fee for maintaining your corporation. Most nominee shareholders manage shares for hundreds or even thousands of corporations. Any company which provides offshore corporation formation and management services will be able to either act as a nominee shareholder or recommend reputable nominee shareholders for you to work with.
With the yellow media currently “naming and shaming” owners of offshore corporations, the use of nominee shareholders is highly recommended to enable individuals to conduct international business securely and privately.