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If you decide to take your business offshore for instant in Cyprus it is highly recommended to make a good planning for what you need, how you want to set everything up and what the outcome should be.

The best you can do is to write everything down, make a brief description of what it is you want it to be and what you expect once everything is done.

We have such many new client requests which just asking us to open a Cyprus Offshore Company and a bank account, some have not considered what it is they are going to use it for, they open the company (which is pretty easy) and then want a Cyprus bank account for this company but fail to deliver the few required documents we ask for or they become everything ready but don’t use it in fullest.

We think it is time to explain a few general and basic about how to make the prober Offshore Setup to conduct business for instant Online.

Do I need a nominee shareholder and if so should it be a local or foreigner?

First off, you only need a nominee shareholder if you want the company to be anonymously or if you want to avoid paying any TAX on net income.
If you reason to choice a nominee shareholder is to avoid TAX you will need to choice a foreigner, which we also provide. If you want to use a nominee shareholder because you don’t want to be listed in the public register of Cyprus ( become a anonymous company) you can choice a local shareholder, in anyway you only need one.
Do I need a nominee director (local direct) and if so should he be a foreigner?
As explained above in the chapter about nominee shareholder then almost the same apply for a nominee director, it depends very much on what it is you want, is the reason to avoid paying TAX or is it to become an anonymous company! If it is the first you need a foreigner if it is the second one, you can use a local director.

Do I need to have a nominee shareholder or director?

No not at all, you can just incorporate your Cyprus Company in your name or your local company’s name, you just need to bearer in mind that you will be listed at the public register in Cyprus, but you won’t have to pay TAX at all for this Cypriot company.
Also you can open a bank account in Cyprus for your company which is what many clients do. Whether the account is kept anonymously or as a regular business bank account depends on how you made your Cyprus Company structure as described above.
With your Cyprus Bank Account you can send and receive International Wire Transfers, you will become a IBAN number for your account and e-banking (Internet Banking) from where you can manage your bank account 24/7/365. The Cyprus Bank Account can be opened as single currency account (with only one currency of your choice) or as multi currency bank account where you can choice from the currencies EURO, USD, CYP, GBP.
Typically it takes about 4 - 5 days after we received all your original documents for the opening of the bank account to have the account opened, additional 14 days for the codes to be generated and send to your address for the internet access (e-banking).
Another thing which we often get asked is if it is possible to become a merchant account to accept credit card payments for on a website with this company.
Well, yes it is, you can open a Merchant Account and you can use your Cyprus Company for the opening of that account as well as a regular bank account as explained above. However, we don’t work with any bank in Cyprus in regards for the Merchant Account opening, so we use some Banks in Europe which have specialized in this. The moneys can of course be transferred to your Cyprus Bank Account which is connected to your Company in Cyprus.

What are the steps to get started if I would like the full scale of your services?
This is also a question which we get asked often, and to clarify, then we always start with the company since we need this in place to be able to sign a bank account and/or a merchant account on behalf of the Cyprus Company.

Once the Cyprus Company is established (which in average takes 7 days) we go ahead and open the Bank Account with a Cyprus Bank and then we go and apply for the merchant account, since the Acquiring Banks which do the credit card processing will ask for the company details and the banking details before they open the Merchant account, therefore it is important to have the Cyrus Company and Cyprus Bank account in place first.