| From: | GKoth2258@***.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | NERPS Submission: Shadow Holdings |
| Date: | Wed, 26 Jun 1996 13:02:06 -0400 |
Shadow Holdings
by Erik Jameson
The following relatively brief article describes holding corporations and how
they can be set-up and used. Additional commentary and/or suggestions are
welcome.
-----------------------------
SHADOW HOLDINGS
When the average shadowrunner thinks of corporations, they think of the
Big-8. Ares. Fuchi. MCT. Saeder-Krupp. But how many times in their
careers will they ever actually deal with the Big-8 face to face? Not as
often as you might think. Rather, for that extra level of plausible
deniability, the vast majority of times the runners will be dealing with
dummy corporations and holding companies.
>>>>>[By the way, everyone say thanks to The Marketier for uploading this
little bit.]<<<<<
--St. Stan<20:19:23/6-26-57>
Dummy Corporations
Dummy corps are pretty simple. File an application to do business with the
local authorities, and you've got it. Don't bother filling out your real
name, don't give a real address (or at least not your address). File the fee
(typically between 1000-5000nx, depending on the jurisdiction), and you are
done. That's basically it; there's actually more detail to it, but it's not
really relevant. Or interesting.
>>>>>[Shadowrunners don't have much use for dummy corps. You really can't
do
a whole lot with them. They basically function as a front, a facade, that a
LOT of Johnson's use when hiring shadow assets.]<<<<<
--Nazdack<20:30:50/6-26-57>
Holding Corporations
Holding corps are far more interesting to the average runner. Actually, make
that the well-to-do runner. Probably the best option for money laundering is
to set up a holding corporation, and have it deal with all your money. This
can work for everything from simple laundering to retaining thousands, even
millions of nuyen when the owner needs to "die" or disappear.
>>>>>[I set up a fake death for a guy, about two years ago. Needed to
disappear. The problem was, he was rolling in the nuyen. Millions. And if
he died, most of his bank accounts would freeze up. So I set up a holding
corporation in Singapore, and slowly siphoned off his money, laundering it
turning it into stocks. He lost about 10% of it in the various transactions,
but the rest ended up in his holding corp, for him to spend after he had
"died." Slickest job I've ever done]<<<<<
--Shaimus<20:41:32/6-26-57>
The entire purpose of a holding corp is to hold onto something for someone
else. Holding corps can own stocks, bank accounts, mutual funds, bonds, real
estate, futures, or virtually any kind of investment. That's about the limit
though.
The real reason behind holding corporations is because the owner of the
holding corp doesn't want the world to know that they own those stocks, or
property, or whatever. In certain jurisdictions, such as Hong Kong and
Singapore, there are no ownership reporting laws. Which means no one,
without a lot of detective work, can find out who really owns that holding
corp. And that's the real attraction; anyone from corps to shadowrunners can
own millions in investments, and no one else needs to know. It should be
noted that holding corps exist in almost every jurisdiction, but the
reporting laws are typically much stricter; in the UCAS detailed statements
must be filed.
>>>>>[Switzerland, Sweden, the Carib League, and Kazakstan are also pretty
good places to set up a holding corp. Their laws are pretty lax, but do
require you to actually show up to apply.]<<<<<
--Golden Exec<20:58:03/6-26-57>
So how do you do it?
The jurisdictions with the most lax reporting laws, Hong Kong and Singapore,
also allow electronic applications. Most other jurisdictions require a
physical application at the appropriate local office.
Fill out the application in full, then when you turn it in, either virtually
or physically, make sure the proper nuyen is transferred with it. The UCAS
ands CAS typically charge about 5,000nx for the business application. Both
Hong Kong and Singapore charge 15,000nx. Between every 3 to 5 years, the
application must be renewed.
Now you need to have an office of some sort, or at least an address. The
price of office space varies wildly, but most jurisdictions allow for an
alternative. In the UCAS, a post office box can be rented for the holding
corp for 5,000nx a year. Both Singapore and Hong Kong offer a decidedly more
advanced version of that. For between 15,000nx and 30,000nx a year,
depending on the level of security, you can rent a "virtual office." You may
not have a real life address, but the holding corp will have a matrix
presence.
The final step is to set up a bank account. The holding corp, if it is to
have cash at any point in it's life (such as from selling stocks), it needs
to have a corporate account. Most banks charge a minimal fee of 1,000nx a
year for the account and a corporate credstick. Additional credsticks may be
had for about 500nx, depending on the bank.
Other frills, such as business cards, secretaries, phones, and the like that
are necessary for real businesses are optional for most holding corporations.
These items are typically added for additional depth and to provide a strong
cover.
>>>>>[The perfect set-up is to rent an office, and actually staff it with a
secretary and a computer (for the matrix presence). Figure the secretary,
who will do next to nothing, gets paid between 15 and 20K. Office space
about that every year. Plus your computer (about 10,000Mp for a viable
Matrix presence, plus allow for business transactions.). Get it all set-up,
and you've got a holding corp that will be almost impossible to
crack.]<<<<<
--Nazdack<21:11:37/6-26-57>
>>>>>[Yeah, well, it all comes down to the fact that only the wealthy
runners
can pull this sort of stunt off. Runners like me haven't got the 30K+ to set
up a Hong Kong operation. Not many runners that I know have that free cash
either.]<<<<<
--Hamster<21:15:06/6-26-57>
>>>>>[Which is exactly the point. Only those runners with bank accounts
over
about 100K can really use holding corps. They've got the cash to set it up,
and they are the ones who stand to really lose a lot of nuyen to laundering.
I mean, ten percent of 10 grand isn't much. Ten percent of 100 grand is.
Launder your money through your holding corp and you don't lose that
percentage. Of course, you do have to shell out a pretty penny every year
just to keep the facade up.]<<<<<
--Nazdack<21:17:20/6-26-57>
>>>>>[One word to wise though. If you, as a shadowrunner, start waving
around a corporate credstick, that whole facade you spent thousands to build
up will come crashing down. Better to dump your needed nuyen onto certified
sticks, just like everyone else in the shadows. A little less
obvious.]<<<<<
--Wildsmasher<21:22:05/6-26-57>
