A trustworthy introducer to a Swiss banking needed

Forester

Forester

👁️ Quiet Authority
May 30, 2021
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A long term client / business partner of mine, a small import/export company registered in Central Europe, wants to open a bank account in Switzerland, to keep there their holdings. They have several working bank accounts in various (AFAIK) CE countries; but they decided to keep their reserves in a rock solid jurisdiction, if possible. The business is 100% legit, licensed etc., everything registered, UBO's are directors, too, with EU nationalities. However, they do not develop any business activity in CH, so it will be an offshore account.
Of course, it is, for example, pretty possible to apply for an account with CIM Banque online independently but they prefer to have some guidance and help (and, openly, perhaps even another bank).
I have some contacts (and interests 😉 ) in CH, so I am able to direct them somewhere but I would be happy if I can offer them something independent of me, too; as an another possible choice. Furthermore, I briefly discussed the case with one guy known to me and discovered that “nowadays this is a little bit challenging (but not impossible) task”, due to some specifics of the business (more evt. privately).
Any recommendations, offers... ?
(Remark: I looked here at the Resources section but surprisingly, I did not find anything that fit ”“ Swiss Company Service Providers look differently... or perhaps I am not good in searching, or just dumb? 😉 )

Last edited: Jun 19, 2022
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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...
 
Thanks for the lightspeed response 🙂
The following answers are to the best of my current knowledge...
Sols said:
Sols said:
What's the size of the wealth?
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~ 1M USD
Sols said:
Sols said:
Would the client be a holding company or the trading company?
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The trading company, directors=UBO's
Sols said:
Sols said:
Where do they import/export from?
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Import (suppliers): mainly Central and Eastern Europe; export (customers) ”“ various countries in Europe, Asia, Africa (no graylisted or sanctioned countries)
Sols said:
Sols said:
What do they import/export?
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Veterinary and partially human pharmaceuticals (all appropriately licensed), chemical substances and preparation (including explosives), military and police equipment, security devices. For explosives and military and police equipment they possess all the necessary licences and as a rule, they sell it only to public bodies (governments, police corps etc.), not to any private companies. (But I know that it can represent a problem, however.)
Remark: ~30 years at the market with no problems.

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...
 
My Spidey senses say this won't work out.

The industries they are in are high-risk (credit risk, litigation risk, regulatory risk, liability risk, reputation risk) in high-risk regions (much of Africa and much of Asia are considered high risk even if not grey listed/sanctioned). This means a lot of extra time and money for the bank during account opening and for ongoing monitoring of the account. They can't just set it and forget it.

One million USD is barely enough to get Swiss banks to listen in normal circumstance, let alone when dealing with high-risk industries. 10x and 100x that amount and they might see a return on investment.

It might be doable if there were a holding company in between the operating company and the bank. But you're basically asking a Swiss bank to take on a non-resident company engaged in high-risk activities in high-risk regions, with a relatively speaking modest sum of money being deposited into the bank.

Try Raiffeisen International in Austria, though.

In fact, other banks in Austria might be a good fit for this if the client is Hungarian, Czech, or other nearby country. I've seen Austrian banks take on medium/large business clients from neighboring countries, including high-risk ones.

I can't think of any introducers at the moment. Don't think they are necessary or help much in Austria anyway.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.
 
@Sols, thanks a lot for your input. FYI, you are well in-line with the (Swiss) guy I was talking to before (mentioned above). Your opinion is almost identical (including the recommendation for Austria), except two points: he considered it “challenging but not impossible“ (OK, this is probably very subjective) and he did not mentioned any alternative with a holding company (de facto, it would be just a shell company, if I understand correctly). I must admit, until now I assumed that the time of shell companies had already gone, i.e. it would not much help ”“ am I wrong? If so, in what jurisdiction such a holding company should be registered ”“ in the same as the trading company or elsewhere, in your opinion? (I do not consider myself to be an expert for business setup structures, so this question.)
Otherwise I agree with you that there is practically no need for an introducer in Austria...

@JohnnyDoe: Thank you very much. Unfortunately, I am afraid that both variants are above their limits... BTW, a question: I always thought that LGT Private was onboarding only/mainly individuals, not companies ”“ is it a false assumption?

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...
 
JohnnyDoe said:
JohnnyDoe said:
no problem opening for companies with LGT
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Good to know. Thanks.

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...
 
Forester said:
Forester said:
@Sols, thanks a lot for your input. FYI, you are well in-line with the (Swiss) guy I was talking to before (mentioned above). Your opinion is almost identical (including the recommendation for Austria), except two points: he considered it “challenging but not impossible“ (OK, this is probably very subjective) and he did not mentioned any alternative with a holding company (de facto, it would be just a shell company, if I understand correctly).
I must admit, until now I assumed that the time of shell companies had already gone, i.e. it would not much help ”“ am I wrong? If so, in what jurisdiction such a holding company should be registered ”“ in the same as the trading company or elsewhere, in your opinion? (I do not consider myself to be an expert for business setup structures, so this question.)
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Genuine holding companies are not shell companies in the way the term is used by FATF-GAFI, OECD, and others in money laundering or tax evasion contexts. The usage of holding companies is accepted and well understood.

For the bank, opening an account for a pure holding company is almost like onboarding the shareholders personally. The bank is only involved on the end receiving wealth, not the risky business activities. They will have to perform more due diligence due to the underlying business activities, but less than if you ask them to take the operating company.

Choice of jurisdiction is not quite as important when it comes to holding companies. Keeping it within EU can have advantages (Cyprus, Malta, Netherlands, Denmark) but UK and the various British territories are very popular as well.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.
 
Why would someone need an introducer for a Swiss bank! They don't require that!

Sols said:
Sols said:
Choice of jurisdiction is not quite as important when it comes to holding companies. Keeping it within EU can have advantages (Cyprus, Malta, Netherlands, Denmark) but UK and the various British territories are very popular as well.
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It depends on what the purpose for setting up the Holding company is. Keeping it inside the EU for asset protection isn't the best I would say?
 
aage said:
aage said:
Why would someone need an introducer for a Swiss bank! They don't require that!
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Some prefer it, especially for non-resident clients.

aage said:
aage said:
It depends on what the purpose for setting up the Holding company is.
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The purpose here would be to separate the operating company from the wealth accumulated in the company, so that the owners can bank in what they perceive as a safer jurisdiction.

aage said:
aage said:
Keeping it inside the EU for asset protection isn't the best I would say?
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Protect what assets? From what threat? I know the hive mind is very anti-EU here but I wouldn't dismiss EU without looking at the details.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.
 
Sols said:
Sols said:
Genuine holding companies are not shell companies in the way the term is used by FATF-GAFI, OECD, and others in money laundering or tax evasion contexts. The usage of holding companies is accepted and well understood.

For the bank, opening an account for a pure holding company is almost like onboarding the shareholders personally. The bank is only involved on the end receiving wealth, not the risky business activities. They will have to perform more due diligence due to the underlying business activities, but less than if you ask them to take the operating company.

Choice of jurisdiction is not quite as important when it comes to holding companies. Keeping it within EU can have advantages (Cyprus, Malta, Netherlands, Denmark) but UK and the various British territories are very popular as well.
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Thank you very much for the explanation. Well, understandable. (As I have written above, I do not consider myself to be an expert for business setup structures, my area of expertise is different 🙂)
Just a minor question, if I can ask: (I hope) I understand the reasons for what Cyprus, Malta, Netherlands and UK et al. are at the list (of jurisdictions); but why specifically Denmark? (I must admit, it is not much important for the case discussed, I am just curious ”“ wanting to educate myself 😉 )

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...
 
Forester said:
Forester said:
Thank you very much for the explanation. Well, understandable. (As I have written above, I do not consider myself to be an expert for business setup structures, my area of expertise is different 🙂)
Just a minor question, if I can ask: (I hope) I understand the reasons for what Cyprus, Malta, Netherlands and UK et al. are at the list (of jurisdictions); but why specifically Denmark? (I must admit, it is not much important for the case discussed, I am just curious ”“ wanting to educate myself 😉 )
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Denmark has a very attractive and simple holding company regime and is very reputable. Zero corporate income tax on dividends received or profits from sell of shares from any private company of which it holds at least 10%. But, I should've mentioned earlier, you can't get money out of the company tax free. Thinking about it, I only see it used by people looking to make an exit at some point and sell their shares rather than pay dividends.

Probably not a good fit in this case.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.
 
JohnnyDoe said:
JohnnyDoe said:
This would expose you to monkey pod infection.
Better to take an appointment with a suitable human in advance.
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yeah true, I thought it would be obvious. People could pickup the phone call some of the banks and make an appointment, explain their business and walk in there a day after. For people that don't want to pick up the phone because they think it is dangerous an introducer may well be the solution.
 
lostguy said:
lostguy said:
yeah true, I thought it would be obvious. People could pickup the phone call some of the banks and make an appointment, explain their business and walk in there a day after. For people that don't want to pick up the phone because they think it is dangerous an introducer may well be the solution.
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You don't want to deal with a picciotto: you always need some efforts to reach someone upper in the hierarchy of a criminal organization, and you might find that he is in a different location than expected.

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