Money launderers use shell company to disguise businesses as reputable and legal. The checks on such companies were made more robust after the 2016 Panama Papers, which uncovered all the businesses involved in financial crimes such as money laundering. A shell company is basically a tactic for businesses that conceal their real identity to evade regulatory and law enforcement bodies. The lack of transparency usually makes it a potential tool for illegal activities.
What is a Shell Company?
A shell company is an organization that exists without active business operations or registered assets. Due to their dubious existence, these companies are often regarded as illegitimate. Nevertheless, that is not always the case, as sometimes a business could have other motives than fraud. When used for unlawful procedures, shell companies are disguised as other business owners from law enforcement or the public. Numerous reasons make a shell company legal. For example, sometimes, a startup may take another business personality to make its own name in the initial phase.
Examples of Shell Companies
People may use shell companies for different operations. Although, the real reason for establishing a shell corporation is unidentified. Here are some examples to demonstrate how they could be used.
- Offshore Accounts
An organization is sometimes created for tax evasion. All the profits may be invested in it to avoid paying taxes in their region. This apparently looks like legitimate business operations, but in reality, it is not.
- Asset Protection
In some situations, corporations create shell companies to hold huge, valuable assets such as intellectual property. The disguise helps the companies separate these assets from the main business. Ultimately, the assets are protected and shielded from lawsuits or financial problems that a company will face.
- Money Laundering
This is one of the main and most frequent activities that shell companies use. Businesses may sometimes be involved in financial crimes and exempt themselves from legal procedures. Establishing a shell company with seemingly lawful activities is considered a crime that could lead to huge penalties.
- Concealed Ownership
Shell organizations buy expensive real estate properties. For this, they usually change their identity to conceal the real owner. Regardless of the potential risk involved in this activity, some business owners still do it. In case these illegal activities are reported, the properties are seized leading to financial losses.
- Business Expansion
A company new to the business world will likely set up a shell company as a subsidiary. This will help the business comply with the local regulations and meet other ownership requirements.
Are Shell Company Legal?
What makes shell companies a potential threat? This question may arise in your mind because there is so much vagueness associated with such corporations. Shell companies that are not involved in real business are still rendered as legal. A typical example would be an organization created by an individual to own a property. Legally, the company is safe and considered a legal entity.
Individuals may also use shell companies for numerous legal transactions. Moving money across the border or business collaboration is totally fine as long as the procedure is in compliance with the laws and regulations.
To understand whether the shell company is legal or not involves analyzing the procedures that operate behind a business. Shell companies are not themselves illegal or bad. You must check if it is in compliance with the registration procedures of a specific country.
The Reason of Red Flags
Whenever the operations of a company get murky, it will automatically become a cause for concern. Understanding the purposes behind the shell company is the key component in identifying its legal status. Most of the time, a lack of transparency makes it difficult to know who runs the company. This can be a potential red flag particularly if it is used to hide illegal activities.
In addition to that, shell companies can be used for various reasons. These reasons may or need to be clarified which raises doubt on their legitimacy. Because of the potential issues, shell corporations often raise red flags for regulatory entities and financial institutions.
Final Thoughts
Setting up a shell company is not legally wrong. However, when a business aims to collaborate with another company, it must see if that company meets all the compliance standards. This will help your business prevent counterfeit organizations that may be involved in illegal activities. Conducting a KYB Know Your Business procedure verifies the Ultimate Beneficial Owners and shareholders, as well as their concealed operations. It could be risky to create a shell organization, and this is solely because of the illegal activities within the company’s framework. Visit blogsmag for more informative articles.