🧙🏼 🚋 🍡 Does modern businessmen and companies need privacy? 💆🏾 🖕🏿 🐂

“Anonymous companies and accounts are needed only by corrupt officials and criminals!”, “Honest people have nothing to hide!”, “Just obey the law and there is nothing to fear!” - you probably heard such statements more than once and even partially agreed with them.

The thesis that information hiding is a direct path to criminals is often put forward by the media, politicians, and public figures. Even more: OECD and major world powers are actively opposing confidentiality in financial matters, hiding behind the need to collect “honest taxes” from all and pay social payments to their people.

Paying taxes is right, but in practice, business encounters a serious penetration of bureaucracy into the interests of entrepreneurs. Including it slows down the growth of the economy and provokes some crisis phenomena. Especially if the authorities act ineptly and uncertainly.

And while confidentiality is not able to solve all the problems of the economy by itself, it can help a particular business or person to act more freely. Further we will consider it on an example.

In this article, we, firstly, will understand what anonymity is in business today. Secondly, we evaluate the real risks of confidentiality. Thirdly, let's see in which cases confidentiality is not a whim, but the protection of investments and personal security.
Join the discussion in the comments.

What is anonymity in the 21st century?

It was believed that anonymity is when information is completely closed to everyone. In this understanding, of course, anonymity looks dangerous. Is there only an object that does something? But what? Why and how is not clear.

Anonymity is believed to exist in the digital world, and many community members are well aware of this. However, even here, the average user for several years can not talk about complete anonymity: almost every site can determine the IP location of a person. If you enter the network through the phone, the provider will know not only the time of calls, but also the geolocation, save all traffic and, if desired, will be able to process it.

Anonymity is also present in business, but to a much lesser extent. Less than 10 years ago, you could create a company using a driver’s license (including someone else’s), remotely, without providing additional data. Then open an account on such a company and quietly transfer money anywhere.

Now it’s far from always possible to open a company just like that. And in order to open an account, it’s not necessary to dance a striptease. The bank has the right to receive all other information about you.

And not only what to get: if a tax or other government agency requests this information by weighty argument, it will need to be provided.
More than 100 countries have joined the automatic exchange of tax information, which means that data on personal and, in some cases, corporate accounts will fall into the hands of tax authorities annually.

And the list of countries that are ready for exchange is gradually growing. So from the point of view of taxes, anonymity is almost gone.

There is another trend: registries of beneficiaries, that is, the true owners of companies. On the one hand, it is a tool to protect the economy from fraudsters and criminals. It is also a way to combat tax evasion through international diversification.
On the other hand, when there is too much information in the public domain, then this is an excellent springboard for the work of scammers themselves, who know exactly who to contact.

Again, some states, after reflection, came to the conclusion that the registers are needed, but closed, so that only those people who legally have access to it can work and / or transfer it to third parties.

Therefore, more and more often in professional circles they say not about anonymity, but about privacy. Because confidentiality implies specific rules for keeping information secret and rules when it can be disclosed.

The real risks of anonymity for the economy and business

Would you like a casual person or competitor to read the financial statements of your company? Or did activists who disagree with the policies or decisions of your company find you and your loved ones to express your dissatisfaction?

Unfortunately, the availability of information allows you to do unpleasant things in relation to specific people.

You can assure yourself that this will not affect me as much as you want, but we will be honest: if your task is a successful business that brings big profits and you systematically go towards this goal, then you automatically become the target for the hatred of many people.

Someone else's success provokes envy, therefore it is not surprising that every reasonable star of sports, cinema or business builds an impenetrable wall around himself and his assets for a quiet investment and development.

Or a more practical situation: former spouses or other relatives who suddenly felt that you owe your success to them. So you are “obligated” to share, and preferably in their favor. This is especially common in developed countries, but is gaining popularity in the latitudes familiar to us.

Courts, frauds, provocations - the tools of such people are extremely wide. Moreover, if they know exactly what and where you have it, because they went to the Internet and studied the register data in the public domain.

An interesting trend is that people who have nothing - no money, no interesting life, will actively share information themselves and demand the same from others. Those who have secured an income and an eventful life filter what gets into the public domain.

Probably because people who achieved the result know something about responsibility for their actions and how their actions will affect others.

So why should business information be made public? Let everyone do their own business: business earns and creates value, auditors check, tax services collect taxes. And everyone else is building their life.

And let everyone decide what information to share, within the framework of the current legislation. So far, the opportunity to maintain the privacy of private and business life exists - why not take advantage of it?

Confidentiality as a tool to protect investment and privacy

Let’s answer for ourselves the question: which company’s shares are the most profitable for investment today?
Someone will say Apple or another company name. However, in general, the profitability of a company is determined by a whole list of factors: stock price, its profitability, growth prospects, company status, the presence of a cache on its accounts and much more.

In our free time, everyone is free to invest their money anywhere. And if the company or person considers himself a follower of capitalism, then most likely an attempt will be made to invest in order to get the maximum benefit on the dollar invested.

Now think about how you would react if a smart uncle and a polite aunt came to you and said that the money should be invested not where you consider necessary and profitable, but where they say it?

It is unlikely that you would be pleased. Most likely, someone would have associations with dictatorships, restrictions, and something far from capitalism.

Unfortunately, today such "recommendations" really have a place to be. And it’s not about the fact that the Japanese authorities are asking Japanese companies to support the country's economy or that the Russian president is urging businessmen to return to their homeland.

No, such “uncles and aunts” today can be, for example, fans of green energy, who require pension and investment funds to take their investments from the coal or oil industry, because they harm the environment.
At the same time, funds that secure the future of their investors or even retirees do not listen to the voice of reason and strict numbers, but listen to the indignant voices of activists of various kinds. Lobbyists even propose that funds that have the assets of bonds of states engaged in the production of cheap energy using "dirty" sources put pressure on these countries for the sake of greening.

Of course, not all entrepreneurs will reach the level of investment funds or other large investors. However, it is worth considering: madness is contagious and there is always an extreme one on whom you can break your anger. First of all, these are those who are different from the crowd and people who have more than others.

You may not consider yourself a rich person, but if you are thinking about investing in other companies, buying shares, stocks and other assets, then you are already wealthier than the majority. And that means that a portion of discontent in the coming economic crisis will also go to you.

And just at that moment, privacy of information will play into your hands:

If it is not possible to directly see that you own assets worth tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars;
If this information is not available to journalists and greedy relatives;
If you can safely invest assets further, multiplying your own condition, which means comfort and safety for yourself and your family,
then your hands are untied, and you can act on the basis of your interests.

And you don’t need to be a billionaire in order to ensure an adequate standard of living. Yes, you need to have funds to create a structure that will protect your information and you need funds for investment. However, for IT workers, not to mention the owners of medium and large businesses, this is all feasible.

What privacy protection tools are there?

Firstly, data protection can be laid down at the level of the legislation of the country. For example, in Switzerland or Luxembourg, bank customer data is protected seriously. The only exception is the tax issue. Hiding from the tax and from other state bodies is not recommended everywhere. Although there are countries where even tax errors are treated appropriately.
Secondly, the banks themselves and other financial institutions protect information. At the same time, they, of course, will hand it over at the request of the authorities in the presence of weighty arguments.
The following are various legal entities and persons without forming a legal entity, for example, funds.

An example of a modern structure for protecting privacy is a holding in Switzerland. When you register an AG (an analogue of a closed joint-stock company), information about the owners does not fall into the Register and is stored only at the notary who draws up the documents. There is nothing in the public domain.

A third-party person will know that you are the owner of the company and the assets inside it only if you yourself talk about it or the information is declassified in connection with any case in court.
If you do not violate anything, then your information about the company will be available: to a notary, to the bank in which you opened an account, in some cases to the tax office. If you do not want to report to the Federal Tax Service about foreign companies, then you should think about changing your place of residence and obtaining resident status in other countries.

You can also use various funds and trusts - it is extremely important to set it up correctly in them. The only serious minus of such organizations is that you lose direct control over the assets inside. In the same holding in Switzerland this does not happen.

Final word

Anonymity or privacy is another tool. In modern conditions, he is able to give freedom from other people's opinions, from pressure from a noisy but less educated minority and a lazy majority.

To use it or not is your choice. So far, it is still available, but every year it becomes more expensive.

If you decide to build a system that protects your personal information from prying eyes, use only the help of trusted professionals. Do not become addicted even to them.

Good luck.

And share your thoughts in the comments: do you think the business needs privacy or not?

Does modern businessmen and companies need privacy?

What is anonymity in the 21st century?

The real risks of anonymity for the economy and business

Confidentiality as a tool to protect investment and privacy

What privacy protection tools are there?

Final word

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