Panama Corporation Facts and Benefits

Panama Corporation Facts & Benefits

· Corporate Ownership: Although Panama corporations do allow “bearer shares”, meaning that the share certificates may be issued in Bearer form, our law firm does not offer formation of companies with bearer shares. Bearer Shares are an anonymous form of ownership where the “Bearer” or holder of the share certificate is the owner, which can be risky because if the shares get into the hands of the wrong person, they could claim ownership. Bearer shares must be held in custody by the resident agent or by a qualified custodian such as a licensed bank, fiduciary, or trust company. Neither the directors nor the officers of Panama corporations need to be shareholders. Nominative share certificates can also be issued privately (share certificates issued to a specific name, but not registered publicly). Our law firm only offers formation of companies using nominative share certificates, meaning that the shares are issued to a specific name, usually the name of the client or the beneficiary of the entity, and in some cases they are issued to family trusts, or other entities such as Panama Private Interest Foundations.

· Nominee Directors: We offer our clients the optional service of using our “Nominee Directors” for their corporation in Panama. For purposes of confidentiality and convenience, some of our clients prefer that we provide nominee directors/officers for their Panama corporations. When we appoint nominee directors for the entities that we establish for our clients, we always provide our clients with pre-signed, undated letters of resignation from the nominee directors so that our client can replace those directors at any time. Our nominee directors fees are only US$150 per director (US$450 for 3 directors) per year. Please note that we do not offer Nominee Directors Services to US Persons (citizens or residents of the U.S.).

· Convenience: It is not necessary for the interested parties to be present in Panama for the purpose of Panama corporation formation, unless you wish to serve as a subscriber on the corporation in which case you need to appear before the Public Notary to sign the deed of formation of the company. Otherwise, you don’t need to come to Panama to form a Panama corporation, as we can handle everything for you through email or telephone.

 

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