Privacy is one of the most important factors when individuals want to start their business in offshore territories. Apart from other factors that attract people to invest in these regions such as tax exemptions and the opportunity to thrive in a new market that is friendly to foreign capitals, people look to build their business off-shore in order to get privacy regarding their savings and income that they make from their projects.

Some offshore territories require information about the directors and shareholders of the business that wants to operate inside its borders, so the bureau responsible for company registration can make this data available to the public. Businesspeople might not be comfortable with their information being made public, as it might represent a risk for their investment or even their personal safety, so they may need solutions for this problem.

For those who want to keep their personal information away from the public, and want to keep the data of their investments as private as possible, there is an interesting alternative that can help investors in their task of staying anonymous while running their business.

Nominee or professional directors are intermediaries that are legally allowed to represent a business in the transactions and operations that the actual owner does not want to conduct personally. This kind of advisor or representative can be legally allowed through a Power of Attorney to conduct the activities of the business, to sign documents, or conduct relations with authorities of the government as long as the owner permits them to do so.

The founders of any business that want to remain away from the public eye or do not want to enroll directly with the bureau of the government can opt to find a Nominee Director that will help businesspeople with their investments, representing them and their capital in various activities related to the business: opening bank accounts, sign contracts, and other tasks of representation. Nominee Directors can help investors with their business responsibilities while maintaining the anonymity of the owners.

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¿Could Nominee Directors become a threat to investors?

Some people might think that the figure of a Nominee Director could grow into a risk to the investments of any individual. This train of thought is based on the idea that the Power of Attorney given by owners of the business to the nominee directors allows them to make decisions without consulting with the main investors first. Nonetheless, individuals should not be afraid of this happening, as Nominee Directors can only do the task and activities that the Power of Attorney allows them to do, and beforehand, owners request specifically to their representatives what they need them to do.

To summarize, Nominee Directors cannot become active and take decisions on behalf of the business by themselves, as they need the written authorization of the actual orders to sign documents or do any kind of activity related to their capital.

Also, professional directors do not have to earn shares made by the business as if they were official investors, they obtain their income through a previous agreement with the investors. Furthermore, Nominee Directors do not have permanent access to the information of the business that they are assisting, despite being able to open bank accounts or conducting relations with government authorities, these representatives do not have or need to know anything that the owners don’t want them to know. 

Usually, the Power of Attorney that establish the relation between Nominee Directors and investors can last up to one years’ time. If both parties agree to keep the representative services for more time, they can extend this relation once this first contract expires. These might be attractive to businessmen, as they can keep control of this relationship and see if it is being helpful to their needs.

Keeping their anonymity while making a profit offshore is possible for investors. Nominee Directors are the ideal solution for people that want to keep their privacy in and out of these territories regarding their investments and will let them enjoy all the benefits that they look for when they think of investing offshore.

However, as the world is moving towards a higher level of transparency and legislations are constantly changing, we recommend that you ask for a consultation with a corporate expert. This article is merely informative and does not constitute legal advice. For detailed and updated information on the confidentiality conditions of each jurisdiction, please contact our experts. 

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