Frequently Asked Questions

A company may act as a trading intermediary - sales, distribution or import-export company. The company would typically buy directly from the manufacturer or wholesaler and arrange the goods delivered directly to the end-customer from the place of production or purchase. This can be of particular interest where goods originate from one country, are sold in another, yet the principal is located in a third country. A procurement company can be used by a domestic importer to source goods abroad, or a sales company can be used by a domestic producer to distribute the goods. The profits arising on the difference between purchase and sales price may be accumulated in a tax-free environment. Such profits can be re-invested into further development of the business, without incurring any excess tax liability.
A Certificate of Good Standing is an official document, issued by the Registrar of Companies or Trade Register, confirming that a particular company legally exists, has complied with all administrative requirements pertaining to its continued registration and has paid all government dues, and, therefore, is "in good standing" in the Companies Register as of the given date. In its form, the Certificate of Good Standing largely resembles the initial Certificate of Incorporation of the company.

The Certificate of Good Standing (CGS) is used to formally confirm the continued legal existence of a company after some time has already passed since its registration. The Certificate of Good Standing confirms that the status of an independent legal entity (a juridical person) has not been revoked or became void for the particular company, that this company has not been merged, filed for dissolution, or been struck-off.

Most commonly banks tend to regularly ask their clients to present a fresh Certificate of Good Standing for their companies, as soon as the companies are one year and older. You may also be asked for a CGS by any other party with whom You happen to do business. A Certificate of Good Standing can be requested and obtained from the Registrar of Companies, as and when required. This is a common service, provided by the BuyCompany.com. As the Certificate of Good Standing is basically a "snapshot" of the legal health of the company at a given moment in time, ordering of a CGS in advance, without a special need, is rather pointless.

If, over time, the company has not been properly maintained or has not paid its renewal fees, it loses its status of good standing and, ultimately, risks being struck-off by the Registrar. For such companies, it would be impossible to obtain the Certificate of Good Standing until all fees are paid and their status restored - this may be a costly and time-consuming process.

Some prudent owners of companies would use to request Certificates of Good Standing for their own companies, as it is a good method of checking if their Registered Agent has done its job and is properly maintaining the company.
A nominee director, also known under the more modern name of "third-party director", is a third party, who would be officially registered and acts as a Director of a company. The main objective of having a nominee director is to prevent the general public from knowing that a direct relationship actually exists between the beneficial owner and his company. Employing a nominee director or a nominee manager for an offshore company helps to offset potential implications that the beneficial owner is closely involved in the control and operation of the particular company (the "management and control" concept). So, in essence, the main purpose of the nominee director is to facilitate the confidentiality of the client. The nominee director may perform various administrative functions which otherwise would have to be performed by somebody directly related to the company. The actual involvement of the nominee Director in the day-to-day matters of the company may vary in accordance with the necessities, wishes, and circumstances of the client. Quite often (but not always), the involvement of the nominee remains, true to the name, nominal. In such case all practical functions of the day-to-day management of the company would be routinely carried out by the client himself, acting as a "representative" of the company on grounds of a power of attorney. Nominee directors are provided by BuyCompany.com to their client companies as an optional service.

A nominee shareholder is an unrelated third party, who is officially registered as the holder of shares in a company. The purpose of the nominee shareholder is to uphold client secrecy by shielding the actual owner of the company from being publicly associated with that particular company. In a nominee shareholder situation, a confidential legal document (a declaration of trust, a deed of transfer, a nominee services agreement or another similar document) would be issued by the nominee and held by the beneficial owner. Such confidential document would evidence the actual state of affairs - namely, that the shares are only held by the nominee for and on behalf of the beneficial owner, and that only the beneficial owner has the right to dispose of those shares and is entitled to all benefits and profits deriving from those shares.

Nominee shareholdings are commonly provided by BuyCompany.com to their client companies as an optional service.
A shelf / ready-made company is a company that has been already formed and incorporated, registered on a prior date. Shelf / ready-made companies are corporate entities that have been established by BuyCompany.com, who holds the company until a purchasing by a new owner. When the transaction is made, the ownership of the company transfers from BuyCompany.com to the third party, who then commences trading activity under the company name.

As a rule, a shelf / ready-made company hasn't been conducted any business activity so far. It was created and left with no activity - metaphorically put on the "shelf" to "age"(aged corporation). There is quite often that investors want to start business as soon as possible without waiting for all (time-consuming) procedures of brand new companies formation and registration to be completed, and they decide to buy a shelf / ready-made company which can be sold smoothly to a person or group of persons who wish to start a company without going through all the procedures of creating a new company. General, a great solution is to buy a company that has been not commenced business and has no liabilities or debts. At the same time, they are fully registered, and they allow to start the business the same day after handling formalities related to purchasing shares.

Another reason for purchasing a shelf / ready-made company is the occasional necessity for a company that has already been in legal existence for some time - for formalizing an existing de-facto deal, or for purely having a company that already has some age. A variation of this option is the so-called "vintage" or "aged" company. A vintage company may have been held one or more years "on the shelf" before the sale. A purchase of a vintage company is justified when there is a genuine necessity to show that the company has actually been in legal existence for an extended period of time.

Apostille certification is a fancy name for a bureaucratic procedure by which official documents issued in one country are certified in a uniform way, so that they become formally acceptable in another country. This procedure was established in 1961 under the Hague Convention, and nowadays almost all countries of the world are part of this Convention.

In the Apostille process, the signature of the officer, who has certified the document locally (usually, the Notary) is authenticated by a second-tier certification. A special stamp or sticker, called Apostille, is attached to the document, on top of the Notarial inscription. Contrary to a popular view, the Apostille does not confirm the contents of the document. It merely certifies that the first-tier certifier - the Notary - has been real, and had the appropriate rights and powers to make the underlying certification in the first instance.

Apostille is usually issued by a designated government office, like the Foreign Office or the Supreme Court of the country.