Is an affiliate company really an option?

It's a very common setup and while you won't have the full spectrum of PSPs available to you, it is easier.

These are normally formed in EU (Cyprus, Malta) in order to contract with PSPs that are restricted to only doing business with EU companies.

Yes.

To what degree depends on where you incorporate. All EU countries have UBO registers now but they aren't always public. For example, Cyprus doesn't have a public UBO registry and some like Latvia and Bulgaria are cumbersome. But the EU is pushing towards increased transparency.

UBO is the natural person (you, the human being) who is the ultimate beneficial owner of a company.

The payment agent should not be the seller but just an agent. There is normally no VAT obligation for that but seek legal advice before proceeding.

However, you are probably already in violation of EU VAT rules if you avoid VAT through a US company while living in EU and selling to EU clients.

Sols said:

Yes.

To what degree depends on where you incorporate. All EU countries have UBO registers now but they aren't always public. For example, Cyprus doesn't have a public UBO registry and some like Latvia and Bulgaria are cumbersome. But the EU is pushing towards increased transparency.

UBO is the natural person (you, the human being) who is the ultimate beneficial owner of a company.

Just to clarify - the UBO register in Cyprus will be public, it's just that the system is not ready yet to be publicized, it will be within the next few months. Anyone will be able to access it by paying a small fee (around 3 euro).

CyprusLaw said:

Just to clarify - the UBO register in Cyprus will be public, it's just that the system is not ready yet to be publicized, it will be within the next few months. Anyone will be able to access it by paying a small fee (around 3 euro).

Interesting. My understanding had been that it will initially be limited to the government and law enforcement but you're absolutely right. It's going to be fully public behind a 3.5 EUR fee. Thanks!

vought said:

Thank you both for your info. I have two more questions, please.
1) Can be Malta an option? Do they have a public UBO registry?
2) I found a different option in another thread: Saint Vincent and the Granadines. Does someone know if that could be an interesting option

All EU states have implemented the UBO register.

I note that if anonymity is vital then there are a couple of options: (a) A UBO is defined as someone holding 25% plus 1 share, so if you break down the company shareholding to, let's say 4 shareholders of 25% each then there is no obligation to declare their information.

Another way to avoid this, at least in Cyprus, where the CypCO shareholder is a non-EU trust then the disclosure obligation stops there.

vought said:

1) Can be Malta an option? Do they have a public UBO registry?

Yes and yes.

vought said:

2) I found a different option in another thread: Saint Vincent and the Granadines. Does someone know if that could be an interesting option?

SVG is a toxic jurisdiction and will most likely not help you find PSPs.

CyprusLaw said:

Another way to avoid this, at least in Cyprus, where the CypCO shareholder is a non-EU trust then the disclosure obligation stops there.

That may be one of the best option within the EU to avoid your name to go public if that is an issue.

As an affiliate for another Forex company you will have a variety of options to hide your personal information behind some entity setup, you can find some threads inside the mentor group about how to go about it. The reason for this is, you don't need to handle any payment processing nor banking yourself, so you will have more options.

vought said:

Thnak you again for the info. I'm afraid I don't understand option 2. What does CypCO mean exactly?

Cyprus company

maybe
offshorecorptalk.com/forums/anonymity-darks.51/
could be of interest :D

vought said:

Ok. Thanks. So what about this? I'm the owner to two US based companies. What if both create the CypCo at 50% each? Will that hide completely my name?

Only if the US companies are trusts, if they are normal companies then there is still an obligation to disclose the UBO