Legal Structures for Latin American Startups (2021)

(latamlist.com)

22 points | by walterbell 6 hours ago ago

6 comments

  • dfajgljsldkjag 3 hours ago ago

    The example about the founder losing a hundred million dollars to taxes is painful to read. It makes sense why Cayman is becoming the standard now that big investors are accepting it. The old default of opening a Delaware C Corp seems like a huge trap for Latin American companies.

    • LunaSea 13 minutes ago ago

      How could the founder manage to live his life with merely tens of millions of dollars. What a tragedy.

  • laurencerowe an hour ago ago

    > You [UK companies] need to pay around $2,000 to file your accounts each year. In Cayman you do not.

    What's the evidence for this? I've run a UK company, albeit a decade or more ago. Fees are negligible. There's a £34 annual filing fee. You might choose to pay accountants to prepare and file your accounts for you, but presumably if you were to do so you would do the same in the Caymans.

  • dlcarrier 4 hours ago ago

    It's my understanding that Delaware has started becoming hostile to LLCs formed there and that Nevada is a better option.

    • walterbell 4 hours ago ago

      > hostile to LLCs

      This editorial on Delaware corporations? https://a16z.com/were-leaving-delaware-and-we-think-you-shou...

      Another view, https://handbooks.clerky.com/startup-incorporation/where

        Delaware is widely regarded as having strong protections against personal liability for corporations. Some advisors say Nevada has better protection against personal liability. This is arguably true, but the differences are very unlikely to be relevant to founders trying to build a legitimate business. Some people have also observed that Nevada has an adverse selection problem in that their unusually strong protections attract bad actors. As a result, it's possible that if you incorporate in Nevada, you'll be inviting closer scrutiny.
      • dzink 27 minutes ago ago

        Nevada protects founders from shareholder lawsuits. So if someone defrauds or intends to defraud shareholders - they are more likely to prefer Nevada. To be fair, a lot of things can turn into a shareholder lawsuit in Delaware.