Open a company in Gibraltar and a bank account in Puerto Rico – from 7,699 EUR

Traditionally, ‘asset diversification’ implies the advisability of employing several investment options and putting money into stocks and bonds, residential estate, commercial property, and so on. We invite you, however, to consider the opportunity to diversify your assets geographically. Our combined service allows registering a business company in Gibraltar and setting up a corporate bank account for it in Puerto Rico.

Why should you have a foreign bank account?

If you live in a well-developed country, you may feel that your capital is secure being kept in a long-standing local bank. Besides, it is easily accessible as a bank branch office can be found across the street. But you have to look at the recent world news to realize that no national economy is immune to financial, social, or political crises. The USA is the largest economy on the planet but over 300 (three hundred!) banks were closed in that country in 2009 and 2010. If you think that your financial security is guaranteed, probably you should think again.

Besides, if you are wealthy, this fact alone can make an envious neighbor want to sue you in order to put a finger in your lavish pie. This is especially true if you live in the Suenited States of America. You probably did not know that but 80% of all lawyers in the world work in the USA. There will always be lawsuits in that country that will let attorneys earn a few dollars.

However, even if things are not so bad, you may lose access to your bank account one day anyway. Make one ‘suspicious’ money transfer and your account will be frozen. If your business company is undergoing tax audit, your corporate accounts will also be blocked for the duration of the audit.

Thus, if you do not wish to find yourself insolvent someday, it would be a good idea to set up a couple of bank accounts abroad. No tax or legal authorities of your country will have any control of your accounts in foreign banks, which will certainly help you feel much safer.

Why register a company in Gibraltar?

Gibraltar is a very convenient jurisdiction to have a business in. It is part of Europe and not a tiny island in the middle of the ocean. It is Her Majesty’s overseas territory that enjoys a high degree of autonomy having its own parliament and Chief Minister as head of government.

Gibraltar offers all the advantages that other European countries boast but it is free of some limitations found in other national states on the continent. For instance, it is an EU member but it is not a member of the EU customs union.

The territory is also permitted not to levy VAT, which is an exceptional case for Europe. In addition, it does not tax foreign companies that derive profits from doing business abroad. In case your corporation has commercial deals with Gibraltarian resident companies or individuals, the corporate tax there in only 10%.

You do have to have an office and a postal address in Gibraltar if you are to have a company registered there. Besides, you will have to hire a local resident to serve as the company Secretary. As far as the company founders and directors are concerned, their minimal permitted number is one. If you set up a joint-stock company in this jurisdiction, the Annual General Meetings can be held anywhere in the world, not necessarily in Gibraltar.

You can establish a corporation in Gibraltar remotely. This actually means that you do not have to visit the country even once and still have a company registered there, even though it is a nice location to see. Nominee services are also available there, which can help you keep your name off the public records if you wish. The price of company registration is comparatively low in Gibraltar and the annual company renewal fee is only 200 pounds. To cut the long story short, establishing a business company in this jurisdiction is a fast and inexpensive way to diversify your assets geographically. Your Gibraltarian corporation can be engaged in an international business or simply serve as a shelf company. Whatever is your choice, registering a company in Gibraltar is highly recommendable.

Puerto Rican banks

Puerto Rico is an independent country whose citizens do not want to be independent: they wish they could join the United States of America as the 51^st state. The US Congress, however, is opposed to this idea as it expects Puerto Rico to become more of a burden than a gain in case it becomes part of the USA.

At the same time, the country maintains very close ties with its rich and powerful neighbor. Puerto Ricans have the same rights as US legal residents even though not citizens.

The banking sectors of the two countries, in particular, are very closely connected. For example, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures deposits in Puerto Rican banks for up to US$ 100,000.

Banks in Puerto Rico provide all kinds of banking services including electronic ones. Operations are performed in accordance with the US rules. The competition between Puerto Rican banks is rather tough, so they offer some attractive service conditions. Almost all banks in the country issue pay cards, both credit and debit ones. These cards are cashable in ATM’s all over the world.

Bank accounts for non-residents in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican banks welcome foreign nationals to open accounts with them. What makes setting up an account there especially attractive is the high level of financial information confidentiality that a foreigner can enjoy in Puerto Rico. In case a US tax resident opens an account in a Puerto Rican bank, the bank will have to file all the reports to the US tax authorities. However, as the country is not part of the United States de jure, it is not obliged to meet the US reporting obligations. This means that it does not have to exchange the bank clients’ financial information with tax authorities in the countries other than the United States of America.

When establishing a corporate account in a Puerto Rican bank, you will have to indicate the types of your company business activities and its geographic location. At the same time, there are virtually no limitations as to the type of business nor to the company location. Banks in Puerto Rico will cooperate even with corporations registered in such jurisdictions as Panama, Belize, or the Seychelles, so your Gibraltarian company will be most welcome.

Please bear in mind, however, that if you are planning to engage in banking or any other kind of financial services, this offer is not for you. It is quite hard for a foreigner to acquire a license for this sort of business activities in Gibraltar. Besides, Puerto Rican banks are most often reluctant to provide services to foreign banking or financial institutions.

If you deal in cryptocurrencies, you can also open a corporate bank account in Puerto Rico. In this case, you will have to undergo a more serious due diligence procedure though.

Generally, bankers in this country prefer to meet with the prospective client in person before they open an account for him or her. However, we can organize a meeting with the bank representative for you in the country where you are at the moment. That is, you do not have to go to Puerto Rico in order to set up a corporate account in this country. Besides, some banks do provide for the opportunity to set up accounts with them remotely, without a personal meeting.

Banks are highly internationalized in Puerto Rico and the managers will most often speak several national languages including Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Russian. They are quite friendly as a rule and take good care of the clients.

A corporate bank account in Puerto Rico for the Gibraltarian company

You can open a US dollar or a multi-currency account with the bank that we are offering here. The minimum initial deposit and simultaneously the required security balance is US$ 500,000 with this bank. In addition to keeping the money safely in Puerto Rico, you will have an opportunity to use the following services that the bank offers:

• Postal services;
• Bankcards from international plastic card issuers;
• The possibility to withdraw money from your account by use of a bankcard throughout the world;
• Multi-currency account services;
• Precious metals trade support;
• Stocks and bonds trade support.

Of course, the bank charges fees for its services. The tariffs change over time but currently it will cost you US$ 5,000 to set up a corporate bank account in this bank. The account maintenance costs will normally come up to a few thousand dollars per year.

How to register a company in Gibraltar and open a bank account in Puerto Rico

The first of these tasks is a little less time consuming and less demanding than the second one. Understandably, you will have to establish the company prior to applying for the bank services. Depending on the type of your company business activities, the bank may require seeing you in person even though not necessarily. If this is the case, we will help you set up a meeting with the bank manager at your location or somewhere close to it.

In any case, you will have to submit all the documents that are required for company establishment and account opening. The two sets of documents are going to be almost identical with the exception of the standard forms. Both the Gibraltarian Registrar and the Puerto Rican bank will want to do the following two main things: confirm your identity and ascertain the legality of your investment funds origin. You have to supply the documents listed below to us so that we can register a company for you in Gibraltar and open a corporate bank account for it in Puerto Rico.

Personal documents of the company owner(s):

• Passport and a second ID such as a driving license, a social security card, a voter’s card, etc.
• Proof of address less than three months old such as a utility bill, for example;
• Passports and proofs of address for all company directors, shareholders, and other beneficiaries.

Corporate documents:

• Memorandum and Articles of Association;
• Company registration Certificate;
• A register of all shareholders, directors, and other company beneficiaries.

The Gibraltarian Registrar has a form that you have to fill out indicating the sources of your investment capital. The bank, in its turn, will have their own form where this information has to be provided. Both agencies will also have questionnaires of a set format each. We will send you the forms and the questionnaires to fill out when you apply for our services.

Our services

Together with you, we will first collect all the documents necessary for establishing a business corporation in Gibraltar. To make the registration process smooth and rapid all the documents have to be completed correctly and supplied in a neat order. We have registered multiple companies for our clients in Gibraltar and we know the Registrar’s requirements there very well. We will gladly help you with filling out the official forms but we will ask you to send us scans of the forms and all other documents before you send us the originals or notarized copies. (Please note that in case you are sending us a copy of a document such as your passport, for example, this copy has to be authenticated. In this case, this means that it has to be notarized and apostilled.)

We need draft versions of the application documents in order to spot and correct all possible inaccuracies. This will improve your chances of successfully establishing a corporation in Gibraltar. The process normally takes not more than five days if you make use of our skills and experience.

The company formation process involves certain fees and state duties but these are negligible.

When the company is up and running, we will immediately file an application with the Puerto Rican bank for corporate account opening. While your papers are being processed in Gibraltar, we will carefully check all the application documents that will have to go to the bank. Banks can be even more demanding in some instances than government agencies so all the documents have to be especially neat and flawless. We have been in cooperation with this bank for a long time now and we know exactly what it takes to set up a corporate account with them. We cannot guarantee that the bank will accept you as a client but with our assistance, you will stand a minimal chance of service denial. The Puerto Rican bank is going to take two to three weeks to process your application.

If you would like to use this combined service of ours, please write to us to [email protected] and place a request for it without hesitation. We will also be happy to answer all your questions that you might have prior to making the decision to open a company in Gibraltar and a bank account in Puerto Rico. If you are satisfied with the answers, you will have to collect all the necessary documents and send them to us and then cover the cost of our service. We accept bank transfers, credit card payments, Western Union transfers and even Bitcoins. Let us help you make your finances safer.