Switzerland client case studies in 2024

• Philippines based tech entrepreneur establishes a Switzerland Foundation to enhance development of R&D using blockchain technology

  Background

  Our Client is a technology entrepreneur based in the Philippines with keen interest in enhanced use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency in the hotels and resorts industry. Having found Healy Consultants Group business website through Google, our Client’s attorney rang us in February 2018 to determine how our Firm could assist determine the optimum jurisdiction for the intended non-lucrative activity to be conducted by the Client. After expert analysis of several jurisdictions and deliberations with Petar Chakarov and Kunal Fabiani, our Client decided to proceed and engage Healy Consultants Group for the setup of a foundation in Switzerland.

  Engagement planning

  Healy Consultants Group prepared and emailed our Client an engagement advancement proposal including a formal invoice and engagement letter with the agreed services including provision of nominee resident foundation council members. Thereafter, Healy Consultants Group prepared a detailed engagement project plan mapping out a step by step plan to engagement completion as well as a quality business plan to assist with foundation bank account opening with a top tier Swiss bank.

  Entity registration

  • Healy Consultants Group reserved the preferred entity name with Swiss Foundations Authority and completed i) the foundation registration application forms ii) power of attorney and iii) council members KYC declarations and consent and iv) emailed the same to our Client for signature, notarization and attestation at the closest Swiss embassy and courier return to Healy Consultants Swiss affiliate office;
  • Since the Swiss Embassy in Manila would take time to attest the required documents, and the founding member was travelling in Europe he decided to visit Geneva to sign the required documents in front of a local Public Notary. Healy Consultants’ Swiss affiliate scheduled the meetings with the Public Notary accordingly and accompanied our Client to timely submit the foundation registration documents;
  • Healy Consultants Group submitted the complete quality foundation registration application with the Swiss Foundations Authority. Within 4 weeks of application submission, Healy Consultants Group obtained approval and immediately emailed our Client a scan copy of the Certificate of Registration.

  Corporate bank account opening

  • With the company registration now complete, Healy Consultants Group approached numerous Swiss banks to secure interest in onboarding our clients new entity. Within 2 weeks, Healy Consultants Group confirmed interest from multiple banks in welcoming an application from the client’s foundation and requested additional KYC information advance the account opening application;
  • Healy Consultants arranged for the Swiss resident council member to meet with each bank’s relationship officer, understanding each offering and signing the bank account forms. Within 2 weeks after the meeting one of the banks confirmed our client’s account had been successfully opened and emailed Healy Consultants the banking account details. In the following week, the bank couriered the online banking tokens to the foundations registered office.

  Engagement completion

  Upon receipt of the online banking token, a complete company kit comprising i) the foundation registration documents and ii) bank correspondence was compiled and couriered to the client, completing the engagement.

• IT consulting in the heart of Europe: remote Switzerland business setup

  Background

  

  • Our Indian client is a leading IT management and consulting firm, based in Hyderabad, with subsidiaries all around the globe. The company aims to expand their global reach on all continents within five years;
  • Registering IT companies in Europe has been a trend over the past decade, due to strong regulations, significant market, competitive presence of global players and very often optimized taxation. Our Client wishes to tap into this important market and its high ROE potential;
  • Switzerland was chosen as place of operations due to i) low corporate taxation ii) abundance of R&D Government grants and ongoing support for business start ups iii) high quality staffing solutions and infrastructure;
  • Our Client prefers to retain full 100% control of the company and remain as sole parent company to the local subsidiary, without initial local presence in the country. Our client prefers remote company setup service from Healy Consultants, where the structure and bank account opening process are completed without personal travel;
  • Because Switzerland requires the appointment of resident director, Healy Consultants are ready to offer this service as part of the engagement.

  Engagement planning

  • Over a 3-way conference call, initially over the phone and then over Skype, David and Petar described the initial due diligence requirements and specific steps required to register a new business in Switzerland without personal travel of the beneficial owners. Furthermore, Petar described additional professional fees that our Client may need during the engagement, such as nominee directorship and ongoing accounting and tax obligations;
  • David explained further the differences between choosing one Swiss canton over another, thus minimizing taxation burdens for the new company;
  • During the call, Mr. Aidan Healy, the managing director of Healy Consultants, further explained in detail that Switzerland is not part of the European Union, nor the single currency market, and while businesses enjoy lower taxation burdens, operational and employment costs are one of the highest in Europe and globally;
  • Our Indian client understood their obligations, tax exposure and additional service options, then advanced to approve and sign and stamp Healy Consultants’ client engagement letter. Over the coming weeks, the Client supplied the bulk of the required due diligence in a scanned form via email;
  • Following settlement of our initial instalment, within a week, Petar supplied our Indian Client with multiple engagement deliverables, including: i) detailed engagement project plan ii) detailed business plan iii) updated partially paid invoice and iv) initial company setup forms for review and approval;
  • To negate the risk of errors and engagement delays, our quality deliverables and updates to our Client were reviewed by senior management team from our head office. This way, Healy Consultants ensures our Client receive timely up-to-date feedback for the work concluded on the ground.

  Company incorporation

  • Immediately after instalment fee settlement and company form completion, Petar advised our client of the legalization process, mandatory for all company registration papers. All company application forms and power of attorney, are required to be sighted and legalized by our Client in India, in the closest Switzerland Embassy and couriered back to Europe for submission. This process took two business weeks to complete;
  • During this process, Petar initiates the opening of a capital account in Switzerland with a top online bank. Our Client transfer the minimal required share capital, and within a week, the bank supplies Petar with a certificate of deposit (support paper required to complete the company setup);
  • Following receipt of the legalized set of due diligence, Power of Attorney and setup forms, Petar submits quality company setup application to the Switzerland business registry and obtains company numbers within two business weeks.

  Other services

  • Because, all companies in Switzerland need to appoint a resident director, present at all times in the country, Healy Consultants supplies our Client with a quality, professional nominee directorship service;
  • Within a week from services payment, our Client receives a detailed set of personal and professional due diligence on our nominee, inclusive of Criminal record proof. Thereafter, the nominee is lodged in the Swiss Registry within two business weeks to comply with local legal regulatory requirements.

  Corporate banking

  • Now that our Client’s company is successfully registered, Petar began negotiation with the same reputable online Swiss bank for transition from capital account to corporate ban account;
  • As part of the bank’s due diligence process, our Client’s two ultimate beneficial owners convene a conference call over specialized video software with the branch director;
  • Within 3 business weeks thereafter, our Client obtained approval from the bank’s compliance department, and managed to receive corporate bank account numbers;
  • Online banking in English is activated within a business week, with receipt of bank account opening kit, inclusive of online login details and token device.