- Not to be confused with: Shelf corporation.
- It is in no way what so ever related to: https://www.shell.com/.
Overview[]
A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or ships. Shell companies may be registered to the address of a company that provides a service setting up shell companies, and which may act as the agent for receipt of legal correspondence (such as an accountant or lawyer). The company may serve as a vehicle for business transactions without itself having any significant assets or operations. Sometimes, shell companies are used for tax evasion, tax avoidance, and money laundering, or to achieve a specific goal such as anonymity. Anonymity may be sought to shield personal assets from others, such as a spouse when a marriage is breaking down, from creditors, from government authorities, besides others.
Shell companies can have legitimate business purposes. They may, for example, act as trustee for a trust, and not engage in any other activity on their own account. This structure creates limited liability for the trustee. A corporate shell can also be formed around a partnership to create limited liability for the partners, and other business ventures, or to immunize one part of a business from the risks of another part. Shell companies can be used to transfer assets from one company into a new one, while leaving the liabilities in the former company.
Sources[]
- https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/shell-company
- https://www.dictionary.com/browse/shell-company
- https://www.thefreedictionary.com/shell+company
- https://www.lexico.com/definition/shell_company
- https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/shell-company
- https://dictionary.reverso.net/english-cobuild/shell+company
- https://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/shell+company
- https://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/shell+company
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_corporation