Business Setup & Company Formation
SK Consult supports company formation and cross-border setup—structure, governance, and documentation built for operational reality and due diligence readiness.
Company formation is only the start. To operate smoothly and avoid delays with banks, PSPs, and counterparties, you need a clean structure, clear transaction logic, and properly prepared documentation. SK Consult helps to design the setup, coordinate formation through trusted providers where required, and build an execution-ready foundation.
What we offer
Setup strategy & structuring
Formation coordination
Governance & corporate documentation pack
Due diligence readiness (UBO/management logic, narrative, supporting docs)
Post-setup roadmap + optional ongoing support
The company is the easy part. The structure around it is the work
Registering a company is an administrative act that takes days. Deciding which company, in which jurisdiction, held by whom, funded how, and operating from where — that is the decision the business lives with for years. Most of the problems we are asked to repair began as a registration that was correct on its own terms and wrong for the business that grew inside it.
The questions that decide the answer are rarely about incorporation. Where will revenue actually be earned, and which authority will consider it taxable there? Which bank or payment provider needs to accept this entity, and what will they ask about its owners? Does the activity require authorisation, now or at the next stage of growth? Will the group need to demonstrate that decisions are genuinely taken where the company is registered? A structure that cannot answer these questions is a liability with a certificate of incorporation attached.
SK Consult designs the structure first and registers second. We work with founders, established groups and private clients across Cyprus, the EU, the United Kingdom, the UAE and selected offshore jurisdictions — including the cases where our advice is that the intended structure should not be built at all.
What the engagement covers
Scope depends on the structure selected, but these components appear in most formation mandates.
Jurisdiction and vehicle selection
Comparative assessment of the jurisdictions that fit the activity, tested against the constraints that usually decide the outcome: tax treatment of the actual revenue, banking acceptance, substance expectations, reporting burden, exit and reorganisation flexibility, and how the jurisdiction is perceived by the counterparties you need.
Corporate architecture
Holding and operating layers, intra-group agreements, allocation of intellectual property and risk, treasury arrangements, and the shareholding chain up to the ultimate beneficial owners.
Incorporation and constitutional documents
Name approval, memorandum and articles tailored to the actual shareholder arrangement rather than a registry template, share classes, first appointments, and the statutory registers.
Shareholder and founder arrangements
Shareholders' agreement, reserved matters, transfer restrictions, tag and drag rights, deadlock mechanics, vesting for founders and options for key personnel.
Registered office and company secretarial
Registered office, secretarial function, statutory filings, annual returns, register maintenance and beneficial ownership filings where the jurisdiction requires them.
Directors and governance
Board composition, resident directors where substance requires them, delegation of authority, signing rules and the documentation that evidences where decisions are actually taken.
Banking and payment readiness
Preparation of the corporate file, ownership narrative and source of funds evidence to the standard banks and EMIs now apply, and selection of institutions that will realistically accept the activity.
Tax and reporting position
Tax residency analysis, permanent establishment risk, treaty access, VAT and indirect tax registration, transfer pricing exposure, and the reporting calendar the structure creates.
Substance planning
Office, personnel, decision-making and operational footprint sized to what the structure actually claims — designed at the outset rather than retrofitted after a challenge.
Who this is for
Founders entering a new market
Teams that need the jurisdiction, vehicle and ownership settled before they hire, raise or sign their first cross-border contract — and that would rather hear the objections now than from a bank later.
Established groups adding an entity
Businesses opening a subsidiary, a holding layer, an IP company or a regional hub, where the new entity has to fit an existing tax and reporting position without disturbing it.
Owners repairing an inherited structure
Groups that acquired their structure from a previous adviser or an acquisition and now face banking refusals, substance challenges, tax residency questions or a shareholding chain nobody can explain quickly.
How the work runs
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Fact-finding and objectives
3–5 daysActivity, markets, customers, revenue flows, residency of the owners, funding, exit intentions and the counterparties the structure must satisfy. Output: the constraints that will actually drive the design.
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Structure design and options memorandum
1–2 weeksTwo or three viable structures compared on tax, banking, substance, cost and reporting burden, with the trade-offs stated plainly and a recommendation that identifies what could go wrong with it.
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Documentation and due diligence
1–2 weeksConstitutional documents, shareholder arrangements, board and officer appointments, and the KYC pack on every owner and officer — assembled to the standard a bank will apply, not the minimum the registry accepts.
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Incorporation and registration
3 days – 3 weeksFiling and registration, tax and VAT registrations, beneficial ownership filings, employer registration where relevant, and the opening statutory records.
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Banking, substance and go-live
3 weeks – 3 monthsAccount applications and the question rounds that follow, office and personnel arrangements, accounting setup, and the first reporting cycle. Banking is normally the longest step and the one least under anyone's control.
Timelines are indicative. Registry speed varies with workload, and account opening depends on the institution's own risk appetite and internal review, which no adviser can compel or predict precisely.
Jurisdictions we work with most
The right jurisdiction is the one that survives contact with your bank, your tax position and your customers — not the one with the lowest headline rate.
What actually decides the outcome
Tax residency follows management, not registration
A company is taxed where it is effectively managed. If the board meets elsewhere, the contracts are negotiated elsewhere and the decisions are taken elsewhere, the certificate of incorporation will not settle the question.
The bank is the real gatekeeper
Compliance teams decline structures they cannot explain internally. Layered ownership, jurisdictions on a heightened-risk list and activities the institution does not understand cause refusals more often than any tax authority does.
Beneficial ownership is visible
Registers, exchange of information and enhanced due diligence mean ownership is disclosed as a matter of course. Under the EU anti-money-laundering package applying from 10 July 2027, the beneficial owner threshold becomes 25% or more, capturing holdings that sit exactly on the line today.
Substance costs money and must be budgeted
Office, staff and local directors are a running cost. A structure whose tax benefit is smaller than the substance required to defend it is not a saving; it is a slower loss with more paperwork.
Documents that match the business
Articles copied from a template, intra-group agreements that describe transactions nobody performs, and invoices with no underlying substance are the exhibits in every dispute we are asked to defend.
Design for the exit as well as the entry
Share transfers, investor entry, reorganisation and liquidation are far cheaper when anticipated at formation. Unwinding a structure built without them regularly costs more than building it did.
Where company formations go wrong
- Choosing the jurisdiction on tax rate alone, then discovering that no acceptable bank will service the entity and the business cannot collect revenue.
- A registered address with no genuine presence, in a structure whose entire tax position depends on being managed in that country.
- Ownership layered through several jurisdictions for confidentiality, which produces exactly the compliance scrutiny it was intended to avoid.
- Off-the-shelf articles that contradict what the founders actually agreed, discovered at the first disagreement or the first investor.
- No shareholders' agreement between founders, on the reasoning that they trust each other. They usually do — at the time.
- Ignoring permanent establishment risk where the people doing the work are physically located, and treating the registered seat as decisive.
- Missing VAT, employer or beneficial ownership registrations because incorporation was treated as the end of the process rather than the beginning.
- Building a structure for an activity that will require authorisation at the next growth stage, then having to rebuild it before applying.
What we typically need from you
Having this ready shortens both the formation stage and, more importantly, the banking stage.
- Passports and proof of address for all shareholders, directors and beneficial owners
- Tax residency details for each owner, and any second citizenship or residence permit
- CVs or professional profiles for the individuals who will manage the company
- A description of the activity, target markets, customers and suppliers
- Expected turnover, funding source and the amount of initial capital
- Source of wealth evidence for the funds being introduced
- Existing group structure chart, if the new entity joins one
- Any existing bank relationships, and any prior account closures or refusals
- Contracts, licences or agreements the new entity will assume or enter into
What drives cost and timeline
Formation itself is a small and fairly predictable cost. These are the variables that move the total.
- The number of entities and layers in the structure
- Whether owners are resident in jurisdictions that trigger enhanced due diligence
- Whether the activity is regulated, adjacent to a regulated activity, or in a sector banks treat as high risk
- How many banking or EMI applications are needed before an account is opened
- Whether substance has to be built from zero or an existing footprint can be used
- The complexity of the shareholder arrangements and any investor documentation
- The quality of the documentation you already hold on owners and source of wealth
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to register a company?
Registration itself typically takes between three days and three weeks depending on the jurisdiction and registry workload. That is rarely the binding constraint. Opening a bank or EMI account usually takes between three weeks and three months, and it is the step that determines when the business can actually operate. We plan the two in parallel rather than in sequence.
Do I need to be physically present to incorporate?
In most jurisdictions we work with, no — incorporation can be handled under power of attorney with certified documents. Banking is different. Many institutions still require at least one meeting or a supervised video identification with the beneficial owner, and in some cases a physical visit. We confirm the requirement before you commit to a jurisdiction, not after.
Is Cyprus still attractive now that corporate tax is 15%?
For most of our clients, yes, though for different reasons than a decade ago. The rate rose to 15% on 1 January 2026 to align with the OECD Pillar Two minimum, so the headline arbitrage against other EU states has narrowed. The same reform reduced the defence contribution on dividends to 5%, repealed the deemed dividend distribution rules and abolished stamp duty on most transactions, which improved the position for distributing and transacting companies. What continues to matter is EU membership, the treaty network, an English-language legal system built on common law, and a professional base that can actually support substance. Structures built purely on the old rate differential should be reviewed.
Can I keep my ownership confidential?
Confidentiality from the general public is achievable in several jurisdictions. Confidentiality from banks, tax authorities and regulators is not, and should not be the objective. Beneficial ownership is reported, exchanged between authorities and verified during onboarding. Structures designed primarily to obscure ownership attract precisely the scrutiny they were meant to avoid, and increasingly result in account closure rather than privacy.
What is the minimum substance a company actually needs?
It depends entirely on what the structure claims. A company that simply holds an asset and makes few decisions needs little. A company claiming tax residency, treaty benefits or a favourable regime needs decisions genuinely taken locally, directors who can explain the business, and usually an office and personnel. The correct test is not "what is the minimum" but "what would this structure need to survive an audit" — and that is the figure we budget.
Can you also open the bank account?
We prepare and manage the application, select institutions realistically matched to the activity and ownership, and handle the compliance questions that follow. No adviser can guarantee an account: the decision belongs to the institution's compliance function. What materially improves the outcome is a coherent file, a clean ownership narrative, documented source of funds and an activity description the bank can place within its own risk framework.
We already have a structure. Is it worth reviewing?
It is worth reviewing if any of the following applies: it was built more than three or four years ago, a bank has recently asked questions it struggled to answer, the business has changed what it actually does, owners have changed residency, or the group has entered a regulated or heightened-risk sector. Substance expectations, ownership transparency and banking standards have all moved substantially, and a structure that was entirely sound in 2020 may now be a live exposure.
Related services
This page describes SK Consult services and general practice. It is not legal or tax advice and does not create a client relationship. Rules change and are applied to specific facts; any decision should be taken on advice addressing your own circumstances.
Contact us
If you need practical legal and compliance support for cross-border operations, please get in touch with a brief overview of your business model, the jurisdictions involved, and your key counterparties—such as banks, EMIs, PSPs, or other partners. Based on that information, a proposed scope of work and recommended next steps can be provided.
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