Any experience with Samoa?

[Clip]

I'm interested on creating a crypto company with not need of bank accounts, no annual report filling or sharing any directors information. Samoa looks interesting, any experience here ?

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Expat in Hong Kong - There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt. - John Adams

 

[Sols]

On a high level, Samoa is the same as any other IBC jurisdiction. What sets it apart is the laws around "specified event", which supposedly is a fairly unique piece of asset protection legislation.

228B.Asset protection ”“
(1) This sectionapplies to an international company where the articles of that international company state that the section shall so apply.

(2) In this section:
"expropriation" means any act of confiscation, compulsory acquisition, nationalisation or any similar act;
"membership interes" means:
(a) any interest in a share of an international company; or
(b) any other interest of a person where that interest arises from or in connection with the fact that the person is a member of an international company;
"specified person" means the person or persons nominated in the articles of an international company for the purposes of this section;
"specified event" means any event stated in the articles of an international company to be a specified event in respect of one or more of the members of that international company.

(3) The articles of an international company may provide that on the happening of any specified event (including without limitation where any foreign government expropriates any membership interest of a member of an international company) then the provisions of this section apply.

(4) Upon the occurrence of any specified event:
(a) the membership interest of any member of an international company affected by that event shall automatically vest in the specified person and if more than one specified persons, to those specified persons in the proportions and in the manner stated in the articles of the international company; and
(b) no other person (including the original owner) shall have any rights in or to the membership interest.

(5) The holder of a membership interest in an international company is entitled to nominate one or more specified persons and if more than one specified person is nominated by a holder of a membership interest, the proportions and manner in which the membership interest shall vest, in each of those specified persons, shall be stated.

(6) A holder of a membership interest in an international company shall be entitled at any time, and from time to time, to nominate or remove a specified person by notice in writing to the international company.
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There are creative ways to use this to protect the company's assets from seizure, creditors, and other undesired scenarios.

IIRC, some basic accounting is expected, much like in other IBC jurisdictions. Enforcement is lax.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.

 

[Davis123]

Sols said:
On a high level, Samoa is the same as any other IBC jurisdiction. What sets it apart is the laws around "specified event", which supposedly is a fairly unique piece of asset protection legislation.



There are creative ways to use this to protect the company's assets from seizure, creditors, and other undesired scenarios.

IIRC, some basic accounting is expected, much like in other IBC jurisdictions. Enforcement is lax.
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Million dollar question is where would you get a reputable bank account with offshore companies like Samoa, Nevis, Belize, Seychelles etc ? As far as I know reputable banks started having problems with these jurisdictions from 2014 onwards. It's even difficult to open up accounts with reputable offshore jurisdictions these days.

 

[islandmoney92]

Davis123 said:
Million dollar question is where would you get a reputable bank account with offshore companies like Samoa, Nevis, Belize, Seychelles etc ? As far as I know reputable banks started having problems with these jurisdictions from 2014 onwards. It's even difficult to open up accounts with reputable offshore jurisdictions these days.
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Looks like the OP isnt concerned about having access to a bank account though. Assuming he will deal entirely in crypto since its a crypto related business.

 

[Davis123]

Well he will need one in future to get it transferred to fiat ? Wouldn't he. But the idea looks nice. Marshall Islands had a bearer share company offered years ago but banks wanted a UBO so it wasn't possible to get anything done even years ago.

 

[Clip]

Davis123 said:
Well he will need one in future to get it transferred to fiat ?
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No need, in some countries the Btc can be used to pay salaries, services or invoices.

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Expat in Hong Kong - There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt. - John Adams

 

[CaptK]

If the bank account doesn't matter then go for a Seychelles Foundation. The Assets dont belong to anyone.

 

[Praetorian]

If you need a bank account you better have a lot of assets to play with that kind of legal set up. No decent bank is going to onboard you unless they can justify the risk.

If you are dealing with 100% crypto assets and don't really care about fiat, then the legal set up makes sense, even though most other IBCs are less sketchy than Samoa/Marshall Islands/Cook Islands at this point. Make sure you make an educated decision before making any moves.

 

[Clip]

Praetorian said:
most other IBCs
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What other IBCs that para provides privacy and cheap to maintain are there?

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Expat in Hong Kong - There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt. - John Adams

 

[Praetorian]

GiGoGo said:
What other IBCs that para provides privacy and cheap to maintain are there?
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Seychelles and Saint Kitts of Nevis, still bottom of the barrel in terms of IBCs and but will look a tad bit less sketch than Samoa.

 

[Outlander]

If banks are slowly becoming redundant (and they are), will we witness the rebirth of the golden era of offshore havens?

Today we have not only Bitcoin but stablecoins representing dollars, pounds, etc. Say what you want about the safeguards of these vehicles, but they're surely maturing and driving banks out of business. Faster technology, and immune to governments.

Soon enough, OECD will try to regulate crypto exchanges.