The Marshall Islands are highly geographically isolated, being situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, midway between the Philippines and Hawaii. The country has a population of about 66,000, and its inhabitants speak English as well as Marshallese. The Marshall Islands offers commercial and corporate services to non-resident companies and is a well-known and successful offshore financial centre. The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) provides sustainable corporate programmes that have attracted thousands of international companies and holdings, such as limited liability companies (LLCs), partnerships and limited partnerships (LPs). The Marshall Islands Associations Law governs all non-resident business entities registered in the islands and is based on the corporate laws of the US state of Delaware.

Generally, companies registered in the Marshall Islands benefit from confidentiality protection with respect to international business partners, shareholders and corporate directors. The islands also provide businesses with tax advantages: tax-exemption for non-resident domestic corporations, limited liability for corporate directors and no statutory filing obligations. The Marshall Islands also ensures the protection of financial assets, with low share capital requirements and favourable asset management opportunities.

The international business company or international business corporation (IBC) is the company type most often used on the islands. IBCs operate and can be utilised as distinct legal entities, holding bank accounts and securities and participating in joint ventures, estate planning, asset protection, international trade, holding vessels and public offerings. There is no minimum authorised capital, no audit requirements and no exchange restrictions or residence requirements, and the jurisdiction also offers free domiciliation and flexibility with regard to the frequency of meetings.

The main benefit which IBCs provide is that they give business owners the ability to increase profitability and reduce liability at the same time. This is due to lower shareholders' liability in the event of a lawsuit or the loss of the business, which is limited to the total direct capital investment in the corporation by the individuals involved.

There are several requirements for IBC registration. At least one director, secretary and shareholder must be registered (they may be the same person); there must be a standard share capital of 500 shares without par value (with bearer shares permitted) or 50,000 shares with par value of USD 1.00 (about EUR 0.85); and the name of the company must end in Ltd, Corp, Inc or S.A. In general, establishing an IBC company makes it more convenient for the company owner(s) to:

preserve anonymity while conducting unlimited business transactions
bypass embargoes and international sanctions while doing business in other countries
operate as a special purpose business entity while carrying out business operations
consolidate intellectual property while licensing and franchising business entities
conduct international trade using the professional services and investment management options available in the country
protect the assets owned by the company's members

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Hong Kong is regarded as one of the most open and outward-looking economies in the world, and it is probably the best place for doing business. Firstly, it has a great location at the geographical centre of Asia, affording quick and easy access to the region’s major markets. Situated on the southeast coast of China, Hong Kong is the largest single market in the world, not least because its economy is built around free trade, free enterprise and the free market, open to all: there are no restrictions on inward or outward investment and no barriers to trade, such as quotas, tariffs or exceptions. Furthermore, in this jurisdiction there are no nationality restrictions on sectoral or corporate ownership, no foreign exchange controls and a simple tax system. Hong Kong also has the lowest corporate tax rate (currently 16.5%) of any major economy in Asia.

Taxation and the tax system in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is often referred to as a tax haven, because taxation rates are very low — dividends, offshore income and capital gains are not taxed at all. In charging tax, Hong Kong implements the territorial source principle. This means that, in general, income is taxed only when it is derived from business or trade inside Hong Kong. Nevertheless, there are a small number of business income sources to which the territorial source principle does not apply, and these revenues are taxed at source (for example, royalties received by non-residents for the use of literary property or copyrighted materials).

Hong Kong has a scheduler income tax system, which means that different kinds of income are taxed separately. For businesses, the relevant taxes are: profits tax (tax on earnings derived from conducting business, professional services or trade in Hong Kong), salaries tax (tax on income from any employment, office or pension) and property tax (tax on income obtained from property in Hong Kong).

As far as profits tax is concerned, the rate is 15% for unincorporated businesses and 16.5% for corporations (the lowest in the region, compared with 17% in Singapore and 25% in mainland China). Capital proceeds are not subject to tax. Dividends from local companies are subject to tax, but dividends from foreign companies are not, as they are offshore in nature. Tax residence is not important for calculating profits tax, only for agreements or arrangements concerning double taxation.

Salaries tax is charged at a progressive rate on a scale ranging between 2% and 17% or at the standard rate of 15%. Salaries tax includes salaries and wages, bonuses, commissions, pensions, holiday pay, fees, gratuities, etc. There is a sixty-day income exemption, whereby anyone visiting Hong Kong for less than sixty days per calendar year is not liable for salaries tax. However, tax reporting is required in some cases, depending on the employment arrangements. Property tax is currently 15% in Hong Kong, payable by the owner of the building or land.

Benefits of choosing Hong Kong
There are many benefits of establishing a company in Hong Kong. First of all, company registration is easy and cheap. Your biggest expense will be the flight to open your bank account, although in some cases this can be done remotely. Hong Kong has an excellent, world-renowned banking system and superb communications infrastructure. There is no minimum requirement for share capital, and only one shareholder and director is required to establish a limited liability company. Plus, there are no restrictions concerning foreign directors or shareholders with Hong Kong-based companies. The main business language is English — one of the official languages in Hong Kong. All communications, information and documents can be produced in English.

The Chinese market is huge and developing so that there are many advantages for registration of your trademark in the registries of the Trademark Office of The State Administration For Industry & Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (SAIC).

Since the TRIPs agreement entered into force, the legislation on registration and protection of trademarks in China has become more and more similar to the European one. Nonetheless, the process has been gradual and not completed because the TRIPs agreement provided only ground rules that could be implemented by the States, parting the agreement according to their legislative situation in the long term. Companies that do not promptly register their trademark in China may deal with many issues when trying to fight the counterfeiting of their products in order to gain trademark protection in China.

If you fail to register in time, there is a big risk that even before starting your expansion across the Chinese market, your trademark could have been already 'copied' and registered in China by a local company.

In fact, unlike Courts in Europe and United States, Chinese Courts can completely refuse the worldwide common practice of granting protection to non-registered trademarks of well-known companies. For example, in 1996 a Chinese clothing company registered a graphic of a horse identical to the Ferrari's one. The Chinese Trademark Office rejected Ferrari’s opposition to the registration, arguing that the Chinese company applied for the registration of the graphic first (first-to-file principle). Ferrari appealed the decision objecting that the symbol was recognizable all over the world, including China, as the symbol representing Ferrari brand. After 11 years of proceedings, in 2007, the Beijing First Intermediate Court decided that the Ferrari's horse graphic was not a famous trademark among Chinese consumers and it was not worthy of legal protection, although the name 'Ferrari' was.

In nearest future the situation might change due to the development of Chinese technology and commerce, which makes Chinese companies interested in trademark protection as well as the European and American ones, therefore the competition might become even tougher.

Advantages & disadvantages of POA authorisation
The main advantage of a power of attorney for a business bank account is that it gives you the security of a back-up plan in case the owner of the business or other authorised persons are unable to fulfil their tasks. Authorising an agent to act on its behalf prepares the business for any unexpected situation and enables essential business decisions to be made in a timely manner. If the owner of the business has not granted legal authorisation to anyone, there is always a risk that at some point he or she will not be able to make important business decisions or carry out essential transactions, which can lead to huge damage to the business and its reputation. Not having an appointed authorised agent can result in salaries not being paid on time, business loans or mortgages not being serviced, third-party suppliers not being paid and potential contracts being lost.

The advantage of being able to authorise someone to act on behalf of the account holder goes hand in hand with the need to be certain you can trust the appointed agent with access to your business account. Therefore, you would be firmly advised to think carefully before granting someone a POA and providing him or her with bank account access and the ability to make important business decisions. The person you designate as the agent will have unmonitored access to the company's funds, which could potentially increase security risks if the appointed person acts in any interests other than those of the business.