Originally Posted by Webby

Just noticed you are in Canada - that kills any US/IRS bullshit problems.

OK... Quick overview - this may suit or not. A corp can be formed in under 14 days. Along with the paperwork is a POA (power of attorney), the usual articles of incorporation and an apostille (certificate of good standing). The POA gives you complete control over the corp - ie to buy boats, property, open X bank accounts blah. If you are using nominees - they don't feature in any aspect of your corp operation - you are in complete control. Nominees do not want (and should never get) any information about the "inner operations" of the corp or whether it has bank accounts or not. The nominees are usually Panamanian lawyers or justices. Under Panamanian law a nominee is given immunity from any potential legal/criminal action by a future corp beneficiary - so they have no problem passing over a POA and no interest in the future activity of the corp. There are some annual costs - think around $200 in Panamanian govt fees.

Ah.. tho can be different if you so choose - it's normal to have bearer shares with the corp - ie whoever is in possession of these shares is the legal owner of the corp. There are no tax filings required in Panama and no need for your name/data to appear on any public records within Panama. It is also a criminal offense for a bank/lawyer/agent to disclose corp data to a third party.

You on ICQ? I have a formation agent we use regualarly - they are the "actual" formation agents and the corp formation costs are often a lot less than on some weirdo websites. Lawyers often buy corps from them, but charge a lot more. Think the current costs are around $700, but may be less, depending if you don't want nominees and registered office stuff.