IBC - International Business Company

An IBC (also known as “International Business Company” or “International Business Corporation”) is a legal entity, usually a Corporation or Limited Liability Company, formed outside of one’s country of residence.

The dictionary.com definition of international is, “Of, relating to, or involving two or more nations.” (In this instance, you live in one nation and your IBC is created in another.)

A business is, of course is, “A commercial enterprise or establishment.”

A company is “A business enterprise; a firm.”

Alternatively, a corporation is "A body that is granted a charter recognizing it as a separate legal entity having its own rights, privileges, and liabilities distinct from those of its members.”

So, when you create an IBC you are creating an entity that has been granted a charter by a foreign government to conduct a commercial enterprise. You have created a legal foreign “person” who you control. You can open a bank account in the name of your IBC in a foreign country. Your international business company can receive income. Your international business corporation can operate a business. There are a number of countries in the world that have greater financial privacy laws than the US, Canada, UK, Australia, China and other lawsuit-prone or high-tax, jurisdictions.

With the advent of the Internet, a business location is really not nearly as significant as it has been traditionally. The location may now be no more digital data that can be accessed from an Internet server located anywhere in the world.

Therefore, creating an IBC allows one to operate a business or hold existing funds securely and privately, off of the “radar screen” of your legal enemies.

On a personal note, I have a close friend who is a full-time private investigator. He is one of the top Private Investigators in the Los Angeles, California area. He is hired by many law firms to track down assets of people who have lost legal battles. He is also hired to uncover the assets of potential legal targets. He said that if he knows your name and a little bit about you, he can find every account in the United States on which you are the signatory. He can find your bank balances down to the penny.

I have seen him in action. The speed in which he can find assets even amazed me.

Attorneys use this information to decide whether or not to accept a case. If assets cannot be located, it would be likely an attorney would not accept the case – especially on a contingent-fee basis.

This is where the International Business Company comes in. The IBC allows you to hold assets out of your name in a safe, secure financial center. At the same time, the IBC also allows you to retain 100% control of your IBC’s assets. When an attorney hires a private investigator to locate assets, it is extremely unlikely that they will be discovered. Keep in mind, in the offshore jurisdictions we typically utilize, there is no social security number or social insurance number required in order to open an IBC bank account. It is a crime for a banker to reveal your association with a bank account to an individual outside of the bank. Your ownership of an IBC is not recorded in any public record.

There are countries with IBC laws that take privacy very seriously. The asset protection provisions in some countries are extremely strong. Many of these countries are island nations that have become financially strong by offering a safe-haven in which to store one’s money. One of the strongest IBC asset protection laws found in on the Island of Nevis (Nee’ Vuhs). Nevis is located in the Caribbean Sea and is about a one-hour flight East of Puerto Rico.

The Nevis IBC laws offer substantial privacy of ownership. The Nevis Limited Liability Company (LLC) law provides an additional barrier. There are provisions in Nevis LLC law to protect LLC assets from being seized in a lawsuit in the event that an LLC member is sued. Corporations have stockholders. LLC’s have members. Nevis IBC law makes it extremely difficult to take away one’s membership in a Nevis LLC. Therefore, assets such as offshore bank accounts can be protected from judgment creditors in two ways:

1. Privacy because Nevis IBC law protects the owner of the LLC from being revealed.

2. Asset protection, because Nevis IBC law protects the assets within the LLC from being taken away from a member of the LLC.

Therefore, the bank account for your Nevis LLC can be protected from being taken away from you in the event of a personal lawsuit. Many people use IBCs to operate businesses such as online pharmacies, Internet gaming sites, etc., protect assets from lawsuits and provide for tax-free revenue for residents of countries that do not tax worldwide income.

To form an IBC, click below or call us at 800-830-1055 or 661-253-3303.