offshore company
Overseas business entity
An offshore company is a business registered in a country other than where its owners reside or conduct operations, typically chosen for tax advantages, privacy, or lighter regulation.
Common jurisdictions include the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Panama.
The term carries connotations of tax avoidance or hidden wealth: The leaked documents revealed dozens of offshore companies linked to politicians.
While offshore structures serve legitimate purposes like international trade, they're frequently associated with sheltering assets from taxation or scrutiny.
- tax havenZero-rate wealth jurisdiction
- shell gameStreet swindle with cups
- Cayman IslandsCaribbean British overseas territory
- PanamaIsthmus nation with waterway
- incorporationForming a legal entity
nominee · secrecy · assets · jurisdiction · Swiss bank · numbered account · bank secrecy · loophole · wealth · registration · brass plate · paper trail · hidden assets · trusts · evasion · avoidance · Delaware · banking
- business entitiescorporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership, subsidiary
- maritime groupsport authority, coastguard, navy, merchant marine, yacht club