Everything starts out small... The author of this book once heard this mysterious word offshore for the first time, too. And he, too, asked himself questions like: ‘What does a registered agent do?’, ‘How much do nominee services cost?’, ‘Why do I need an apostille?’, and ‘Where is it better to open a bank account?’. It is this inexperienced reader that the book is intended for, and its title speaks for itself. ‘Offshore Company Fundamentals’ contains basic information that is necessary to anyone who, on hearing the word Panama, thinks of a broad hat, rather than of ‘Panama Papers’. However, a sophisticated reader will also appreciate the survey of events and facts without which the topic can hardly be considered properly covered, although they do not exactly qualify as ‘fundamental stuff’: — Panama Papers and other offshore leaks – What data will be available in the era of worldwide exchange of information: sometimes the future looks back at you from your computer screen; — Cyprus deposit haircut 2013, an event that usually makes one lose faith in humanity, but in this case for some reason the only thing lost was money; — How to open a bank account in the new environment? – Learning to fly is easier; — International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), an organisation that is more like an elite Boy Scout task force digging up compromising material on the powers that be if they are in any way associated with offshores; — Where is the nominee director heading? – Wherever he is heading, now you will not be going the same way; — Compliance Officer, a bogey that sophisticated businessmen use to scare children into good behaviour. The more recent popular questions also include: What are CFC rules? Will I need to comply with economic substance requirements? How does the automatic exchange of tax information work? Why set up a trust? Of course, the author could not but cover these highly relevant topics, too. Whether he has succeeded in this and other tasks is up to you to decide!