With the right paperwork and initial outlay, it is possible for a foreign citizen to open a bank account in Saudi Arabia. This opportunity for international accounts and investments offers several advantages based on economic regulations and tax structures. Interest rates, tax laws, and fees vary depending on the specific country in which you are investing; careful research and strategic financial moves could result in significant portfolio growth.
When considering opening a bank account in Saudi Arabia, one must enlist the help of international experts to guide them through the process.
Legal structures in Saudi Arabia Every international jurisdiction abides by a different set of legal structures for taxation and banking. Confidus Solutions helps you to understand the nuances of each country's legal structures. To do business in Saudi Arabia, it will be critical for you to have a firm grasp on the financial and legal implications.
Initial investments The vast majority of bank accounts in Saudi Arabia will require an initial financial outlay to secure account opening. This value differs from bank to bank and also depends on variable rates of currency exchange. An international finance expert will help to navigate these conversions as well as the assorted fees and minimums involved in sustaining a bank account. Be sure to understand interest and growth rates associated with any potential international bank account so that you are able to maximize your earnings while minimizing risk.
Tax structures in Saudi Arabia For best results and to avoid bureaucratic and legal pitfalls, enlist the support of an expert in international finance and economics. This initial investment in proper processes and research will help to avoid a litany of long-term costs and fees associated with unforeseen errors and legal miscues. Language expertise, financial knowhow, and bureaucratic experience will ensure that your account opening is handled smoothly and without unintended consequences.
Set up a company with Confidus Solutions in any of the Asian states, and we will offer you our highly valued expertise. Earth's largest continent by surface area, Asia consists of 48 sovereign states as well as several partially recognised countries and dependencies. As a global entrepreneur, make sure you choose the right corporate structure with the advice of Confidus Solutions. Contact us now to proceed with incorporating your business in Asia.
Legal structure and advice At any point in the lifetime of a business, the need might arise for a company registered in Asia, especially if your business is concerned with petroleum extraction, the copper or silver mining industries or financial services. Nonetheless, companies in any industry might wish to take advantage of our company formation services, including those with commercial activities in forestry, fisheries, water filtering and rice production. Before registering a company, you must have a solid knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of each of the numerous options in Asia and nearby islands such as Cyprus (you can read more about this option in the Forming a company in Europe section), Christmas Island or the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, so you can make an informed decision as to where you wish to establish your company.
Confidus Solutions is here to provide you with the best financial advice, a neat corporate structure offering full privacy as well as tax compliance and incisive legal advice on jurisdictions within the Asian continent. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you are an individual or corporation working on plans to start up or expand a business.
Company type Sociedad de garantia reciproca and sociedad anónima are frequently encountered company types throughout Asia. All Asian states are independent from each other, which makes it difficult to recommend one specific legal entity for registering a company.
Please bear in mind that if you need to incorporate a foundation in Macau or Hong Kong, it would be best to contact us. There are fundamental differences between company formation procedures in mainland China and those in Macau or Hong Kong. However, if you are looking for an easy-to-follow tutorial on the major legal structures for companies in Asia, please continue reading, as there are a number of factors that may present significant challenges and risks.
Confidus Solutions’ top-choice suggestions are Hong Kong, Macau, Christmas Island, Lebanon, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.
Multinational companies and governments around the world are increasingly looking to Africa as a new business destination. Africa's economy has grown at a rate of around 5.3% per year over the last decade and six of the world's ten fastest growing economies are located here. These countries have a fast-growing middle class that contributes to rapid urbanization that is increasing faster than their cities' infrastructure can keep up. It is a common misconception that many economies in Africa are heavily dependent on energy production. In reality, the oil and gas sector accounted for only 11% of Nigeria's GDP in 2014, while the construction sector accounted for 20%.
When considering doing business in Africa, it is not a matter of choosing just one country or all 54; A regional approach makes more sense. Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, refers to sub-Saharan countries such as Angola, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. Many companies already doing business in Africa are separating their businesses in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa due to the stark economic, linguistic and cultural differences between the two regions. Here are our top 5 African countries for doing business:
Mauritius Mauritius is known for offering an extremely favorable business environment for investment and business growth. The process of incorporating a company and starting new business activities in Mauritius is believed to be straightforward and relatively easy. Mauritius' economy is mainly based on textiles, tourism, sugar and financial services, although recently other sectors such as renewable energy and information technology are expanding rapidly. The World Bank ranked Mauritius 49th in its Doing Business 2017 ranking, largely due to its pro-business approach to dealing with building permits, enforcing contracts and protecting minority investors. Another ranking of African countries places Mauritius first based on factors such as law and security, economy, human development and human rights.
Rwanda Despite nearly a decade of Rwanda's civil war, the country's leaders and citizens alike have worked to achieve a healthy business climate and a strong overall economy. According to the World Bank, Rwanda is the second easiest place to do business in Africa and ranks 56th in the Doing Business ranking. This is because the procedures for registering a property, obtaining credit and trading across borders have been greatly simplified. Tourism is currently the fastest growing sector in Rwanda. According to our research, businesses can be incorporated and operating in as little as three days.
Botswana Since gaining independence, Botswana has had one of the fastest per capita economic growth rates in the world. As the government works to diversify the country's profitable industries, the mining of diamonds and other precious metals is currently the main contributor to the country's economy. Recently, Botswana has managed to reduce the time it takes for various processes including import and export and business formation procedures. In addition, technological upgrades have reduced the average court length for commercial disputes to 625 days (from 987 days in 2008). Thanks to these improvements, Botswana ranks 71st in the World Bank's Doing Business 2017 ranking.
South Africa South Africa's key industries are automobile manufacturing, tourism, mining and information and communication technologies. South Africa has managed to simplify its import and export procedures, resulting in less time and fewer documents being required. In addition, the South African authorities have simplified tax legislation, reducing the number of hours required to prepare tax reports. The World Bank ranked South Africa 74th for ease of doing business in 2017.
Kenya Another country to keep an eye on is Kenya, which is currently making huge investments in sectors like telecom, transport and energy. With a tech-savvy workforce and high-speed internet, Kenya stands out as one of the top countries in Africa for tech startups, while its diversified economy, strong ownership rights, excellent tourism sector and improving infrastructure make it a great location for general start a new company. If you have further questions about company formation or banking in Africa. Please contact us now.
A Power of Attorney is a legal document that gives someone power of attorney to act on behalf of the company. Typically, the instrument of attorney carefully details the transactions and acts for which the person is being granted power of attorney, rather than providing a general mandate that would allow the agent to act with complete freedom.
A power of attorney gives legal powers to a person acting as an agent. For a business, this authority may include the ability to access financial accounts, sell or place new orders in securities, and write checks, although the agent may also perform a number of other activities to keep the business going. For security reasons, a POA document should strictly restrict the agent's activities or access to specific accounts.
Advantages & disadvantages of POA authorisation The main advantage of a power of attorney for a business bank account is that it gives you the security of a back-up plan in case the owner of the business or other authorised persons are unable to fulfil their tasks. Authorising an agent to act on its behalf prepares the business for any unexpected situation and enables essential business decisions to be made in a timely manner. If the owner of the business has not granted legal authorisation to anyone, there is always a risk that at some point he or she will not be able to make important business decisions or carry out essential transactions, which can lead to huge damage to the business and its reputation. Not having an appointed authorised agent can result in salaries not being paid on time, business loans or mortgages not being serviced, third-party suppliers not being paid and potential contracts being lost.
The advantage of being able to authorise someone to act on behalf of the account holder goes hand in hand with the need to be certain you can trust the appointed agent with access to your business account. Therefore, you would be firmly advised to think carefully before granting someone a POA and providing him or her with bank account access and the ability to make important business decisions. The person you designate as the agent will have unmonitored access to the company's funds, which could potentially increase security risks if the appointed person acts in any interests other than those of the business.
Colombia is mainly located in northwestern South America with some areas in Central America. Colombia borders Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru, while its maritime border borders Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Colombia is the third most populous country in Latin America and almost five times the size of Great Britain.
Colombia has a relatively advanced and diverse economy, as well as economic and political stability. Entrepreneurs have numerous opportunities in various industries, especially in niche areas. Major industries include textiles, clothing and footwear, food processing and beverages, petroleum, chemicals, cement and automobiles, coal, gold and emeralds, and household appliances. Main exports are coal, crude oil, coffee and non-ferrous metals.
Colombia is home to numerous local and multinational companies. Below is the list of the top five companies in Colombia.
Ecopetrol Ecopetrol, previously known as Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos SA is the biggest company in Colombia and its main activity is oil and gas extraction and other operations. As a result of efficient operations and continuous growth, the company managed to enter the Fortune Global 500 top as among the biggest companies in the world measured by revenues. In 2012, Ecopetrol was the 346th biggest company in the world according to Fortune Global 500 top. It also was among the 25 biggest petroleum companies in the world and one of the 4 principal petroleum corporations in Latin America. Since then, the company has lost some of its income year after year and with its revenues of nearly 16 billion USD in the financial year 2016 was not included in Fortune Global 500 top of biggest companies in the world but is currently number 559th company in Forbes Global 2000 top.
The biggest company in Colombia was founded 1921 and currently has headquarters in Bogota, the capital city of Colombia. Exploration is one of the key activities of the company. It has achieved numerous significant steps in the exploratory segment, especially in the search for hydrocarbons offshore. Some of them are Rydberg together with companies Shell and Nexen, Lion with Repsol as well as part of the team to discover Orca-1, which is the first such discovery in the deep water of Colombian Caribe. Other business activities include production, innovation, science and technology, transport, supply and marketing.
Grupo Aval In recent years, Grupo Aval has managed to grow in terms of revenues and surpass Bancolombia to take the second place in the top with biggest companies in Colombia. Grupo Aval is a holding company headquartered in Bogota, Colombia and operating mainly in Colombia and Central America. The company is engaged in wide variety of activities, such as banking, telecommunications and real estate. The holding is controlled by Luis Carlos Sarmiento with directly and indirectly owning over 90% of the company’s shares.
Grupo Aval is the owner of BAC-Credomatic operating in Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Florida in the US. Additionally, the holding owns enough shares in other companies to control their operations. Most of them are financial institutions in Colombia: Banco de Bogota SA, Banco de Occidente SA, Banco Popular SA, Banco AV Villas SA, etc.
Grupo Aval takes the 693rd place in Forbes Global 2000 top with 8.5 billion USD in revenues and figures in many other Forbes based tops: #88 in Top Regarded Companies, #377 in Assets, #899 in Profit and #1289 in Market value.
Bancolombia Bancolombia with its operating income nearly 7 billion USD in 2016 is the second largest commercial banking financial institution in Colombia and among the top biggest in Latin America. The bank was founded in 1945 and currently headquartered in Medellin, Colombia. Bancolombia is a full-service bank that provides a broad range of financial products and services to a diversified corporate and individual customer base not only in Colombia, but also in such jurisdictions as Panama, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Peru, Brazil, the Cayman Islands, the United States, Australia, Spain, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. Bancolombia operates in nine segments: Banking Colombia and Banking El Salvador, Trust, Investment, Leasing, Pension and Insurance, Brokerage, Offshore and All other.
In cooperation with its subsidiaries and partners, Bancolombia provides a broad range of products and services, such as financing, savings and investment, mortgage banking, financial and operating leases, factoring, treasury, foreign currency, comprehensive cash management, bancassurance and insurance, investment banking, brokerage services, as well as asset management and trust services. With earnings of 6.7 billion USD Bancolombia takes the 724th place in Forbes Global 2000 top.
Banco Davivienda Banco Davivienda is a Colombia-based bank founded in 1972 and with headquarters in Bogota, Colombia. It is currently a part of Grupo Bolivar, the third biggest financial institution in Colombia by profits and assets. Banco Davivienda offers financial services to corporate and individual customers as well as the rural sector. Banco Davivienda currently is number 1374 in the Forbes Global 2000 top with 3.3 billion USD.
Grupo Bolivar Grupo Bolivar is a holding company with over 70 years of experience and operating in various sectors, such as financial, insurance and construction. Interestingly, although Grupo Bolivar had a slightly bigger amount of revenues than Banco Davivienda, Forbes has placed it below its daughter company – it takes 1546th place in Forbes Global 2000 top.
In Latvia, a residence permit is a document issued by the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs to foreigners, granting the right to reside in Latvia either for a specified period of time, usually between six months and five years, or permanently. Residency in Latvia gives you the opportunity to live, work and/or study in the country and use the medical, public and other services available to Latvian citizens. Latvian residency not only offers you the opportunity to travel visa-free to all countries within the Schengen zone, but also facilitates the visa process for other countries, such as the USA and the UK. The main advantages of obtaining a temporary residence permit in Latvia are:
Be able to stay in Latvia without restrictions (according to the conditions of your temporary residence permit) The ability to travel to any country within the Schengen area for a period of up to 90 days within a period of six months After obtaining your residence permit, your family members (husband/wife and any children under the age of 18) are entitled to obtain a residence permit and enjoy the same benefits as Latvian citizens. After five years of temporary residence in Latvia, you can apply for a permanent residence permit, and after ten years, you have the right to apply for Latvian citizenship through the naturalization procedure. Secondary deposit: a ticket for a temporary residence permit One option is to place a subordinated deposit with a credit institution; this is a legal way to obtain a temporary residence permit for a period of five years. In order to apply for such a residence permit, you must make an investment of at least EUR 280,000 in the form of subordinated capital - e.g. subordinated debentures or a subordinated loan — to a credit institution, becoming its partner for a period of time.
Various Latvian credit institutions offer subordinated deposits as a service to non-residents, and each offers individual terms and conditions for subordinated loans. The most common conditions are as follows:
The deposit currency can be either EUR or USD; Some banks accept RUB and other currencies. The minimum deposit is usually EUR 100,000 or USD 150,000, but if you receive the subordinated loan to apply for a temporary residence permit, the investment must be at least EUR 280,000. An additional government fee of EUR 25,000 is required to process your residence permit application, regardless of which bank you invest with. The term offered is typically five, seven or ten years. In contrast to other investments, a subordinated deposit cannot be canceled during this period. Due to the non-cancellability of subordinated deposits, banks can offer significantly higher interest rates compared to other types of deposits.
Procedures and requirements for child deposit requests If you have decided to apply for a temporary residence permit in Latvia through the subordinated deposit route, you must first contact one of the banks that offer this service. After acquiring the subordinated capital of a Latvian credit institution, you can prepare the documents to be submitted to the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs in Latvia. The most important documents include:
Proof of sufficient assets and residence in Latvia Criminal record reference letter from your home country Completed questionnaire with attached photos Confirmation of marriage and/or birth of children, if applicable Confirmation that all government fees have been paid After receiving your residence permit, you must obtain medical insurance and a medical certificate issued by a medical institution registered in Latvia. Most banks that offer subordinated deposits to obtain a residence permit have set up extensive advisory and support services to make this process easier for their customers.
Benefits of acquiring subordinated deposits Aside from the residence permit itself, which is of course the main purpose and benefit of investing in the subordinated capital of one of the Latvian credit institutions, another notable benefit is the larger profits that can be made due to the higher deposit rates offered compared to other types of deposits . This is because these deposits are non-callable, meaning you cannot withdraw your money before the agreed maturity date. However, on the Maturity Date you can get back your original balance in addition to the interest paid periodically throughout the investment period. The only non-retrievable payment is the government office fee of EUR 25,000. In addition, banks usually consider subordinated deposits to be the most convenient way to obtain a residency permit.
France has a corporate tax rate of 33.3%. Companies that are subject to VAT must pay 20% tax on purchases. Certain services, e.g. B. related to some food, some pharmaceutical products, intra-community passenger transport, intra-community and international road transport (some exceptions) and inland waterway transport, entry to amusement parks (with cultural aspect), pay/cable TV and others, benefit from a VAT rate of 10% .
In some countries, Value Added Tax (also known as Value Added Tax) is levied on the sale/purchase of certain goods and services. In general, it can be defined as a consumption tax that is estimated and levied based on value added. Normally VAT is considered to be destination based as the application of VAT depends on the jurisdiction of the seller and the buyer. It must be noted that VAT accounts for almost 20% of the total amount of tax levied worldwide.
Whenever you decide to do business in the EU, you will surely face the question of VAT number registration. VAT issues are complex. Nonetheless, all EU member states follow the EU VAT Directive, therefore each EU country has drawn up its own legislation regarding VAT requirements and reporting.
Once the company is registered for the VAT number, it has to regularly submit its VAT report, which contains information about the incoming and outgoing invoices, regardless of whether they were issued/received from other EU counterparties or non-EU partners or not . Most importantly, all transactions must be declared in the VAT report, including invoices that have 0% VAT applied.
Mandatory VAT registration for EU companies There can be several conditions when an EU based business is required to register for VAT and file VAT reports. In most EU jurisdictions, VAT registration should be done in the following cases:
Through thresholds When a company registered in the EU makes a certain turnover, it has to register for VAT. The thresholds for mandatory VAT registration are set by the VAT legislation of each EU member state. For example:
€16,000 in Estonia, €30,000 in Austria, 1,000,000 CZK in the Czech Republic, etc. A complete table of EU VAT registration thresholds can be found here: EU VAT registration thresholds by Member State
Voluntarily Any company registered in the EU can voluntarily apply for VAT registration even if the thresholds set by local VAT law have not yet been reached.
Registration of foreign companies for EU VAT Foreign companies operating across the European Union may have requirements to obtain an EU VAT number. The requirements are not only listed in the EU VAT Directive, but also in the local VAT laws of each member state. In general, the requirements for registration for EU VAT are:
A foreign company is moving goods across EU borders; A foreign company stores goods in warehouses in the EU; A foreign company provides works and services such as conferences, exhibitions, installation of equipment, etc. in the EU; A foreign company is involved in distance selling, i. H. in the online sale of goods to consumers in the EU.
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