We set up our offshore structure more than 20 years ago because we were operating in a number of different countries around the world and at the time of setting up the structure the offshore agent introduced us to Euro Pacific bank (EPB) for our banking. This all worked well with good service from their professional bankers until 2017/2018 when the news regarding the Plutus Payroll scam broke in Australia. This together with the release of the Panama Papers saw an exodus of the professional bankers from EPB and the appointment of non-banking call center staff at EPB provided by staff placement agencies such as Global Corporate Staffing.
In 2019/2020 Australia, Netherlands, USA Canada, and the UK launched Operation Atlantis to investigate EPB. Even though our business was totally legitimate and fully tax compliant in the different countries in which we operated we knew the writing was on the wall regarding EPB. So we started searching for bankers to replace EPB. However we had been out of the loop regarding aspects such as the EU Black and Grey lists, new AML laws, and the Due Diligence surrounding the KYC laws. After 18 months contracting many offshore agents and bank introduction services without any success it was obvious that our offshore structure was obsolete and we needed a total restructure of our business.
So we started a search for a company that could assist us in understanding our structure and in recommending a domicile and re-structuring for our business. This took almost a year with many false starts by people making huge promises and unable to deliver. Eventually we came across Fred and DLS Dubai. By this time we had information that things were going to get very bad for EPB so we knew that we had very tight deadlines to get our money safely out of EPB.
Having been burnt by EPB and outdated company structures we were extremely cautious and conducted as in-depth research as possible into Fred and DLS Dubai and except for one dodgy review everything looked very good for Fred.
After calls with Fred we did get a feeling that he has a real in-depth knowledge of how things work in Dubai, and they are complicated, and he grasped our predicament with EPB and our very tight deadlines.
The initial contact with DLS Dubai was impressive we received email responses within hours and then a very detailed timeline of how the process would progress.
I flew to Dubai and arrived on a Sunday. That afternoon Mr Mohammed the DLS Dubai PRO collected me from my hotel and we went to collect the original company registration documents. The next day, Monday, Mr Mohammed took me to complete the forms, photos, finger prints, and medical for the Dubai residence application.
On Tuesday I received my residence card and applied for personal bank account which Fred assisted me in completing on Tuesday evening. On Thursday I received my ATM card from the bank and deposited funds and tested the ATM card for withdrawals.
I left Dubai on the Saturday having achieved my goals of the restructuring and applying for bank account.
After leaving Dubai, Fred assisted me in applying for a business bank account. When I say assisted, Fred handled 95% of the work, I only provided aspects such as a photo, resume, and other personal information, all the rest was handled by Fred. To say that this process was frustrating is an understatement as the bank kept on coming back with ever more compliance questions even requesting the same document about 5 times. But Fred handled everything with aplomb, and after a month the business account was opened.
I am glad to report the we moved our funds out of EPB 1 week before they basically went out of business in June this year.
Having spent many years working with offshore agents I have nothing but praise for the service I received from DLS Dubai, Mr Mohammed was an absolute pleasure to work with, Dina in the office was very efficient, and all issues were handled by Fred extremely professionally.
I may have made it sound as if everything is very quick and easy but believe me without Fred's contacts, knowledge, and guidance on what is required, what to submit, and how to respond to questions it would not have been possible to succeed in achieving what we did.
