Hiding company ownership in Australia
Discussion
Ive had a quick google for this one but can find nothing relevant to Australia. I shall seek eprofessional advice next week but as its the weekend and its bugging me, Ill ask here first!
Is it possible to hide the true owner of a business/ABN in Australia? Not for illegal or tax reasons, just so that when another business does a cedit search or similar, theyre not presented with the real owners name.
Hypothetically, if a business started offering a service that was more competitive to an existing one, the existing business may wonder who was behind it. They would be a little miffed, to say the least, if the new business was run by a current employee. That employee has no non-competition clause in his contract and wants to test the water in a small way before handing in his notice.
Is it possible to hide the true owner of a business/ABN in Australia? Not for illegal or tax reasons, just so that when another business does a cedit search or similar, theyre not presented with the real owners name.
Hypothetically, if a business started offering a service that was more competitive to an existing one, the existing business may wonder who was behind it. They would be a little miffed, to say the least, if the new business was run by a current employee. That employee has no non-competition clause in his contract and wants to test the water in a small way before handing in his notice.
Thanks all.
When writing "owner" I really should have put owner/director as they will be the same person. I've done some further digging and am familiar with the trust ownership idea but hiding a director looks to be impossible. However, it does look like it is possible to appoint a nominee director in Australia which could well work in this situation.
One can register a business in the British Virgin Islands and remain totally anon. However Im not sure potential customers would be confident dealing with an offshore entity (even if it was the UK).
When writing "owner" I really should have put owner/director as they will be the same person. I've done some further digging and am familiar with the trust ownership idea but hiding a director looks to be impossible. However, it does look like it is possible to appoint a nominee director in Australia which could well work in this situation.
One can register a business in the British Virgin Islands and remain totally anon. However Im not sure potential customers would be confident dealing with an offshore entity (even if it was the UK).
Edited by 200bhp on Sunday 19th April 14:18
I'm not going to change my name!Gassing Station | Australia | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff