Whether you wish to form a company in a foreign country to benefit from lower corporate tax rates and a more friendly business climate or to maintain confidentiality regarding ownership of the company in question, it will be far easier to achieve your goals by working with a firm that offers professional fiduciary services rather than making casual arrangements with friends and relatives in overseas locations. Whilst it may seem more cost effective to utilise your friends and family, this approach can cause difficulties in the long run, especially if the people that you choose should lose interest in helping you in the future or you should happen to fall out with each other
If you’re thinking about company registration Swiss and believe that you may need the services of nominee shareholders and trustees, or a lawyer who can deal with legal matters concerning your firm in foreign countries, there are a number of things you should know about fiduciary agencies before you decide which one you are going to work with.
• Depending
on what part of the world you are planning to start a new business, there is a good chance that companies providing these types of services will be required to hold a licence that has been issued by a government-controlled regulatory authority. It goes without saying that if this is the case, and it is in the USA for example, you should only consider dealing with licensed companies. If you were to work with an agency that was not regulated by the appropriate authorities, you would stand very little chance of recovering any financial losses that you might sustain as a result of malpractice on the part of such agents.
• A fiduciary agent
wherever they may be based, is bound to act for your benefit in all matters with which they are entrusted. In the event that this turns out not to be the case, you should dispense with the services of the agent in question and look for another one immediately. You should also consult a reputable lawyer if you or your company have suffered any financial loss as a result of the actions of your former representative. It is of course vital to make sure that your legal representative has no ties to the agents that you are taking action against or there could be a conflict of interest. As many legal firms offer fiduciary services, this is a problem that can easily occur. You should ask your lawyer directly whether he or she has any association with the company that formerly represented you, before hiring them.
• Qualified lawyers are not required to hold a separate licence in order to act as a fiduciary agent. The fact that a lawyer is bound to act in the best interests of his or her clients at all times means that there is no need for them to apply for a licence to act as your agent in legal or financial matters. However, if they are offering investment advice in any capacity, they will need to be licensed to do so in most developed countries around the world. Unless you are working with an agency that also specialists in financial services, it is probably best to look for an independent consultant to help with your investment decisions rather than relying on the opinion of somebody who is not qualified to offer such advice.
Choosing a fiduciary agent is not a task that should be taken lightly as you need to make sure that whoever you choose to represent your company is completely trustworthy and competent as well.
