Chapter 67 Registering an Offshore Company

  Kwok Yu returned to Hong Kong, as he had an appointment with Cheung Chung in the afternoon to discuss the autumn auction, and there were many small matters to attend to. He arranged for a car from the auction company to pick him up at the airport, planning to settle everything in the afternoon, so that these minor issues wouldn't hold him back.

  Guo Yu walked into the spacious office hall, and people stood up shouting "Good morning, Chairman." Guo Yu nodded in response. His little secretary, Mu Tong, seeing that Guo Yu had arrived at the company, hastily opened the door to the room and ushered him in, then quickly brewed a cup of Longjing tea.

  Mu Tong put down his teacup on the table and said with a smile: "Chairman, it's been several days since I've seen you."

  "What's wrong, thinking of me?" Gu Yu teased the little secretary, making her blush. Then he let the little secretary go and call Zhang Chong.

  Zhang Chong brought over a thick stack of documents, which was the appraisal information for the batch of antiques that Guo Yu had handed over to Zhang Chong a few days ago. One thousand pieces of antique was not a small number, fortunately, the company has expanded a lot nowadays and there were enough personnel, otherwise it would have been really busy.

  Zhang Chong put the materials on Guo Yu's office desk and said, "The appraisal of that batch of antiques has been completed, and they are extremely valuable. According to the auctioneer's estimate, it should be around 10-12 billion euros, possibly even higher. We have already organized people for promotion, and the auction will go ahead as scheduled. Now we are mainly working on the details."

  "I know, I just wanted to ask if it's possible to take a long shot now and also about opening an auction house in other countries. How is the company operating now?" Guo Yu asked.

  "If we only consider Hong Kong, we have already made it. After a year of development, we have established ourselves here and gained a reputation. Now, Huafu Auction House is ranked very high in the industry, probably among the top five in Hong Kong."

  "If we were to hold an auction abroad, our company's strength is not enough at present. The company can be opened and the auction can be held, but if it is not operated well, the effect will not be as good as in Hong Kong. I'm afraid that the price may not reach our expected effect, and some of the auction proceeds will be lost. After all, sometimes the reputation of the auction house can also affect the transaction price of the goods." Zhang Chong said.

  Guo Yu understood this principle, but now he really doesn't care about these things. As long as the transaction volume increases, the money will naturally increase, and those minor price differences are not within his consideration range.

  He said to Zhang Chong: "If it's a price difference, then let's vigorously expand the market. Let's open one in New York, Paris, London, and Dubai respectively. I'm preparing to apply for an offshore company to unify all my industries."

  "Do you have another company?" Zhang Chong was somewhat puzzled.

  "I'm planning to start a timber trading company, buying and selling wood from Africa and Southeast Asia. The source of goods is already found, just need to set up the company." To be honest, Zhang Chong was quite surprised by Guo Yu's performance over the past year. The two were university classmates, so he naturally understood Guo Yu, but his performance over the past year was really unbelievable. Suddenly, he had such a large capacity, not to mention others, just talking about antiques, how many people can gather so many antique art pieces to let the company operate? However, everyone has their own secrets, and it's not necessary for him to dig into Guo Yu's secrets. He positioned himself clearly as just a manager, no need to uncover Guo Yu's secrets.

  Two people studied the details, and Zhang Chong bid farewell and left. However, when he was about to leave, Zhang Chong told Guo Yu that the company had recently discovered a commercial spy. Since the incident did not cause any consequences, the person who wanted to steal the company's information was caught red-handed while trying to do so. The commercial spy has been handed over to the Hong Kong police and there is no news yet. Because the company is managed by Zhang Chong, Guo Yu didn't take it too seriously after hearing about it.

  Guo Yu again asked his secretary to call his lawyer Yan Song, to inquire about the application for an offshore company. Yan Song told him that the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Niue Island, Bahamas, Seychelles, Panama Republic and Mauritius Republic are all good places to register an offshore company. The local government does not impose any taxes on these companies, only a small annual management fee is charged. At the same time, all major international banks recognize this type of company, making it convenient for them to set up bank accounts and conduct financial operations. In general, these regions and countries have good trade relations with developed countries around the world.

  Moreover, offshore companies have many advantages, and using an offshore company for cross-border transactions has the least restrictions.

  Open an offshore bank account, receive offshore transaction payments, and be exempt from paying taxes; Can issue or transfer letters of credit, convenient and reliable; Offshore company's offshore account deposits are not subject to foreign exchange control, free withdrawal; Use the offshore company as a holding company, investment financing is unlimited; Transfer of shares of an offshore company does not require payment of stamp duty; Can use an offshore company to register trademarks and hold copyrights, protect valuable assets; Purchase real estate in the name of an offshore company, no tax is required when transferring; Use an offshore company for personal property trusts, avoid personal income tax; Arrange inheritance with an offshore company, also avoid inheritance tax.

  Offshore companies are simply a paradise for tax evasion, and basically all large international companies have one, so Guo Yu had to set one up too.

  Hong Kong is also a relatively well-known offshore company registration location, but Hong Kong requires tax reporting. Each year, transactions need to be audited, and if there are no transactions in Hong Kong, it is possible to apply for tax exemption, overall it's more troublesome than others.

  Guo Yu naturally chose the simpler and more convenient option, wanting his business transactions to be as discreet as possible. He decided to set up an offshore company outside of China and eventually chose to establish it in the Cayman Islands. The company was named "GY Company". Other formalities were handled by lawyers, and there are many specialized companies that assist with registering offshore companies. Guo only needed to prepare the necessary materials, making the process very convenient.

  At the same time, Guo Yu also instructed Yan Song to help him apply for the establishment of a timber trading company in Hong Kong. After its establishment, it would be directly affiliated with the offshore company.

  Guo Yu also called in his little secretary, Mu Tong, and asked her to contact a headhunting company to find a suitable candidate for the wood trading company. Since agarwood is quite complex, this person needs to be familiar with wood, as well as the prices of the wood market and the art market, and also understand corporate management.

  This is Mu Tong's second task since he went to work. After receiving the task, he happily contacted the headhunting company. It seems that even the little secretary was getting bored.

  Guo Yu contacted Huang Jiaqiang again to inquire about the procurement situation at the factory. Huang Jiaqiang told him that he was currently at the port, organizing employees to monitor the entry of various machines into the warehouse. It would take about two days to sort everything out, and then Guo Yu could see the machines he purchased in the warehouse. However, Huang Jiaqiang also told Guo Yu that someone in his company was causing trouble, as some employees had discovered that someone was secretly collecting information on the company's transactions, but they didn't know who it was.

  Huang Jiaqiang's words made Guo Yu vigilant, his auction house had commercial espionage, trade was being monitored, who would it be, the state or individual, or some power organization.