About Nominees. Good Idea/bad Idea Gf Nominee

[bquick]

Quick question.

Is it a dangerous thing to put trusted gf (not trusted family) as a nominee or is it safer just to let the laywer do what he does. If she turned nasty latter on could she make trouble for me if she owned part of the company?

And a second quick one, i see 39% and 49% ownership written about in different places. Am i right in thinking 49% is ok these days or best stick to 39%?

Yes or no is fine.

[rishi]

Quick answer:

Some gf's are dangerous - others are not. Letting a lawyer do what he does sometimes works out OK, other times it does not. 49% is okay for most things nowadays. There are no absolute yes's or no's in Thailand.

[backflip]

Use Sunbelt Asia, and leave your perhaps-maybe/maybe-not girlfriend out of it.

[Sunbelt Asia]

Use Sunbelt Asia, and leave your perhaps-maybe/maybe-not girlfriend out of it.

Thanks for the kind mention.

Is it a dangerous thing to put trusted gf (not trusted family) as a nominee or is it safer just to let the laywer do what he does. If she turned nasty latter on could she make trouble for me if she owned part of the company?

Even if the company is set up with protection with you as the minor shareholder with two different class of shares and voting rights, restriction that only the MD can register the buy, sale and transfer of shares, with other safeguards.

You still have the GF who owns part of your company. If she dies then the relatives come out of the woodwork wanting money for the shares. When it is explained that the shares are a different class with less voting rights, they simply won’t understand. You would be in the right but you have the potential to be harassed. As you know also not all Gf’s stay Gf’s and when the “honey is no longer sweet” you can imagine the problems. If you had not had good legal advice, now the nightmare could begin. With the wrong advice with no previous safeguards, it is going to cost money to get her out.

And a second quick one, i see 39% and 49% ownership written about in different places. Am i right in thinking 49% is ok these days or best stick to 39%?

49% is in reference to the Foreign Business Act. Only one Thai shareholder is required to be register on restricted businesses for foreigners

39% is in reference to the Land Act. If this company will own land, it should not be more than 39% held by foreigners. With some Land offices they will require 4 Thai shareholders to register land.

www.lawyer.th.com

[GuestHouse]

Advice #1 Blood is thicker than water.

If you can’t trust your girlfriend’s family then you are kidding yourself that you can trust her.

Advice #2 Don’t dip your bread in your gravy

If you tie your business and investments to your love life you’ll loose both if your love life fails.

[bquick]

Use Sunbelt Asia, and leave your perhaps-maybe/maybe-not girlfriend out of it.

Thanks for the kind mention.

Is it a dangerous thing to put trusted gf (not trusted family) as a nominee or is it safer just to let the laywer do what he does. If she turned nasty latter on could she make trouble for me if she owned part of the company?

Even if the company is set up with protection with you as the minor shareholder with two different class of shares and voting rights, restriction that only the MD can register the buy, sale and transfer of shares, with other safeguards.

You still have the GF who owns part of your company. If she dies then the relatives come out of the woodwork wanting money for the shares. When it is explained that the shares are a different class with less voting rights, they simply won’t understand. You would be in the right but you have the potential to be harassed. As you know also not all Gf’s stay Gf’s and when the “honey is no longer sweet” you can imagine the problems. If you had not had good legal advice, now the nightmare could begin. With the wrong advice with no previous safeguards, it is going to cost money to get her out.

And a second quick one, i see 39% and 49% ownership written about in different places. Am i right in thinking 49% is ok these days or best stick to 39%?

49% is in reference to the Foreign Business Act. Only one Thai shareholder is required to be register on restricted businesses for foreigners

39% is in reference to the Land Act. If this company will own land, it should not be more than 39% held by foreigners. With some Land offices they will require 4 Thai shareholders to register land.

www.lawyer.th.com

Thanks sunbelt.

That's interesting. even after reading ever topic on companies here for land i still went ahead with the 49% this morning on the lawyers advice even after questioning him as he was adamant(sp) about it.

So in the future that could

It took 49 signutures this morning to start for anybody whose interested.

I kept the gf completely out of it also so her family don't kill her because i get the feeling they are a bit messed up inside like that. It's sad to have to not trust like that but I think when they come from a poor background sadly it's too easy for them to fall back into the peasant logic.

It was 15k to set up here as local for 1 million baht company but have the feeling again like others said to go with reputable lawyers like sunbelt for the peace of mind. I'm guessing it would only take an extra 10k or so for the small company initial setup but don't know.

[~G~]

It was 15k to set up here as local for 1 million baht company but have the feeling again like others said to go with reputable lawyers like sunbelt for the peace of mind. I'm guessing it would only take an extra 10k or so for the small company initial setup but don't know.

bquick, whether it is extra 10K or extra 20K, it is nothing compared to ongoing costs of maintaining a company, work permit, business visa etc.

Take into consideration that the set up costs are only the beginning of it. If you've got what it takes to generate decent profits, you don't have to worry about set up costs. If you haven't, you'll have many other costs to worry about.

good luck

[Sunbelt Asia]

That's interesting. even after reading ever topic on companies here for land i still went ahead with the 49% this morning on the lawyers advice even after questioning him as he was adamant(sp) about it.

So in the future that could

It took 49 signutures this morning to start for anybody whose interested.

Thai law requires that 51% of the shares be held by Thai juristic persons, however, for several years any company with more than 40% foreign interest that purchases land was investigated by the Central Land Office in Bangkok (under Section 74 of the Land Code) to ensure that the company has not been organized in an attempt to circumvent the prohibition against foreign ownership of land. That law was repealed in 2003 but many land officers are either not aware of this or could care less, hence in a number of cases in order to register the land, it had to be 39% held by foreigners. Where ever you are, maybe your district is different in how they view the laws, if it was repealed in 2003 or not.

I kept the gf completely out of it also so her family don't kill her because i get the feeling they are a bit messed up inside like that. It's sad to have to not trust like that but I think when they come from a poor background sadly it's too easy for them to fall back into the peasant logic.

Like just happen to this poor guy.

"Wife hired two hitmen to shoot New Zealand businessman"

http://www.pattayamail.com/current/news.shtml#hd10

It was 15k to set up here as local for 1 million baht company but have the feeling again like others said to go with reputable lawyers like sunbelt for the peace of mind. I'm guessing it would only take an extra 10k or so for the small company initial setup but don't know.

Here is what our rates are.

http://www.lawyer.th.com/company-registration.asp

Please be sure your Lawyer is setting up the company with you having more voting rights. For some reason, many lawyers don't use preference shares or they don't know how to set up this form of company. Most local lawyers recommend a company with proxy setup which is illegal.

www.lawyer.th.com

[rishi]

It was 15k to set up here as local for 1 million baht company but have the feeling again like others said to go with reputable lawyers like sunbelt for the peace of mind. I'm guessing it would only take an extra 10k or so for the small company initial setup but don't know.

Are we talking about a trading company or an illegal setup with a non-trading shell for owning property, here? If the former is the case, you might consider a workpermit in which case the company would need a registered capital of 2 m (assumed you don't have a Thai wife, unknown to your gf).

[Heng]

Advice #1 Blood is thicker than water.

Advice #2 Don’t dip your bread in your gravy

Best advice so far. Never hurts to keep an account or two offshore for a rainy day. I trust my wife completely but I also trust DBS, HSBC, OCBC, etc...