HLM -Chapter 1239 Setting Up a Shell Company

Wang Bo had once applied to join TAANZ, but unfortunately he didn’t have a company as a legal entity. He wasn’t a travel agent either, nor did he own a travel agency, so it was difficult for him to be accepted.

Moreover, he had applied too early—more than three years ago. At that time, Sunset Town didn’t have much of a reputation yet and was still in the hype-building stage. He had applied under the identity of a tourism broker, and the result was rejection.

Back then, his application to TAANZ was mostly out of boredom. He hadn’t really expected to succeed in the first place, so when he was rejected, he wasn’t angry or disappointed. He simply tossed the matter aside and forgot about it.

And now, a member of TAANZ’s board of directors had personally come knocking on his door.

Rudolph asked for a glass of sparkling wine. When Wang Bo saw that it was brought in a medium-sized glass, he deliberately went back and had it replaced with a large one.

Seeing this, the old gentleman couldn’t help but laugh wryly. “Don’t do that, Mayor Wang. I can’t drink that much.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Wang Bo said. “Mr. Rudolph, you’re an honored guest of Sunset Town. I must treat you warmly.”

Rudolph laughed heartily. “Well, this is bad. It looks like I’m going to end up being accused of taking bribes.”

Joking as he spoke, he took a sip of the sparkling wine.

After swallowing it, he blinked and said, “Mayor Wang, the sparkling wine here is really both beautiful and delicious. I think I misspoke just now—I can finish this whole glass.”

Wang Bo waved his hand boldly. “No problem at all, Mr. Rudolph. From now on, whenever you’re in Sunset Town, your sparkling wine is on me. Drink as much as you like.”

Rudolph said, “In that case, it seems I must carry out what I said earlier—placing Sunset Town on TAANZ’s list of key destinations for focused development.”

Wang Bo chuckled. “That would be wonderful.”

TAANZ had several rather assertive yet highly praised service programs, such as “advance compensation.”

This program meant that if any TAANZ member failed to meet professional service standards, causing specific losses to tourists, and if the member travel agency no longer had the financial ability to compensate—or had already gone bankrupt—TAANZ would assume the corresponding responsibility and provide compensation to tourists for losses of up to 250,000 New Zealand dollars.

Thanks to several service programs like advance compensation, TAANZ had successfully won the goodwill of many tourists throughout New Zealand and even the entire Oceania region.

Just as Michelin is to the food industry, TAANZ holds an equally lofty status in New Zealand’s tourism industry.

Rudolph hadn’t come to Sunset Town alone this time. He had brought along an inspection team to assess whether Sunset Town truly lived up to the praise it had received from the media and tourists.

Obviously, Wang Bo had given their inspection trip a great start, and the old gentleman had developed quite a favorable impression of him.

According to TAANZ regulations, official inspections were not allowed to have any interaction with scenic area managers or responsible organizations, in order to prevent subjective factors unrelated to the tourism projects themselves from influencing their judgment.

After Wang Bo finished treating Rudolph to sparkling wine, the two sides parted ways.

However, Wang Bo still had to spread the word that TAANZ had come to Sunset Town for an inspection. He needed his subordinates to present their best possible image. After all, what Sunset Town sold was service, and the government itself was the largest service provider.

He went from office to office to notify everyone. After hearing the news, Hani said, “If that’s the case, why don’t you register a tourism company and then join TAANZ? Focus on promoting Sunset Town tourism and use TAANZ’s platform and channels to market Sunset Town globally.”

Wang Bo asked, “Is that really necessary? TAANZ has already agreed to list Sunset Town as a key tourism destination in New Zealand. If we register a company and hire tour guides, wouldn’t that be a waste of manpower and resources?”

Hani shook his head. “Why go that far? Just register a shell company. It’s simple, isn’t it? You can even make some money on the side.”

Hearing this, Wang Bo looked shocked. “What did you say—have me register a shell company? You’re the town’s inspector, and this is how you do your job?”

Hani raised his hands. “You don’t understand what a shell company is, do you?”

Of course Wang Bo understood. Shell companies existed all over the world. They referred to companies that had a name, legal registration, and a corporate legal person, but no actual business operations.

Hani nodded. “That’s right. A shell company is a legal corporate form established under company law. It’s a limited liability company set up by the founders in accordance with local laws, but without appointing a management team, without investors subscribing to shares, and without engaging in operations or incurring creditor–debtor relationships…”

“Say it more simply,” Wang Bo shrugged.

Hani shook his head. “Simply put, shell companies aren’t illegal at all. New Zealand has plenty of them—they all exist legally.”

Indeed, shell companies themselves were legal business entities in New Zealand and were protected by law.

In New Zealand’s economic environment, whether you called them shell companies or empty shells, the term itself was neutral rather than derogatory. The key lay in the intentions of the people who set them up.

New Zealanders believed that there was no right or wrong in starting a company—the only thing that could be wrong was the human heart.

“Okay, I was just joking earlier. I think registering a shell company is a good idea. Teach me how to do it,” Wang Bo quickly changed his tune after understanding the situation.

Hani shook his head and continued to educate him on some common knowledge about shell companies.

At present, the main reasons for setting up shell companies in New Zealand were as follows:

Some specialized business service companies, law firms, and accounting firms would establish a number of shell companies in advance, with names that were likely to be popular, and then sell them to clients who might want those names in the future.

Some investors, in order to avoid or reduce tax burdens, would hold properties under the name of a shell company. They would use company transactions when buying or selling properties to avoid taxes or mitigate potential risks. When the property was sold, they would apply to the tax authority for a large tax refund and then quickly shut down the company.

Some joint-stock companies had one company as the operating entity, but for financial, legal, or corporate control structure purposes, they would use a shell company as the “holding company” of the operating entity to facilitate interest transfers.

Purely for fraudulent purposes, some would set up a shell company to trick people into investing, painting rosy pictures of the future to attract a group of investors. In reality, the company had nothing at all. Once the investors’ money was deposited, they would take the money and disappear.

There were also companies established specifically to deceive people by continuously recruiting employees. After collecting training fees or résumés, they would inevitably use some method to make the applicants fail. Companies that used such methods to scam information and money from job seekers weren’t common—but they did exist.