Freeport advice

[jayh8ch]

My client has a number of assets he is seeking to shield his ownership of. The first step discussed was to transfer the ownership of an offshore company where their beneficial ownership can be hidden. The second step would ideally be to also hold these assets offshore and as there is potential for the value to increase in the mid to long future, an idea considered is storing in a freeport.

It is the latter step which is uncharted territory for me. I was therefore wondering if any members had experience of using freeports before and if so, any recommendations on a particular port and the process behind gaining access and storage?

Thanks in advance

 

[onemansomewhere]

What kinds of assets are we talking about?

 

[jayh8ch]

Thank you for your reply.

The assets consist of a number of pieces of artwork and antiques. Given the potential increase in value, non attributable storage is at the forefront of my clients mind.

 

[Martin Everson]

You can use any freeport aka bonded warehouse anywhere. Singapore or Switzerland have safety deposit boxes and entire temperature controlled rooms you can use to store stuff if that is what you need. Or you can store in a common area. To move items into the bonded warehouse it is easier to simply organize shipping the item there with their approved shipping methods. Plenty of people store classic cars and other items they have bought at auction for example in bonded warehouses.

The privacy issue however is bigger problem. A lot has changed since I last used a storage box in Geneva Freeport. I don't think you can conceal ownership so easily as they need to know a lot more these days. Compliance changes literally every week so best to ask them for latest KYC info they require. You also cant enter from inside the country to deliver the goods. You need to enter the freeport from outside the country it is based.

You can try either of the following but there are freeports everywhere:

Geneva Freeport Ports Francs & Entrepôts de Genève SA | Rte du Grand Lancy 6a - Genève
Malca Amit Fine Arts Storage - UltraVault

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Please note my posts should not be taken as financial or tax advice. Please seek professional advice in that respect.

 

[jayh8ch]

Thank you for your reply Martin. I will certainly/ look into this.