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Registering your company in Europe

Registering your company in Europe


The company registration processes in European countries are largely similar and fairly straightforward. Company incorporation normally takes 1 – 2 weeks. Incorporation of your company in Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, Poland and Portugal only takes 1-2 days, depending on business types.

Most countries also have a centralized one-stop shop authority that handles all administrative procedures. For example, Denmark has the Danish Business Authority, and France has the Centres de formalités des entreprises (CFE).
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However, if you are not familiar with the process, company registration is still a very time consuming task. Every Government expects businesses to submit application in a specific format.

If the application form is not submitted properly, the relevant authority will contact and request you additional documents, which will delay the process. This delay will spoil your plans especially if you are located overseas.

Therefore, it is more desirable to contact local law firms or international business consultants to register the company on your behalf, so you can allocate more time on business development. An experienced consultancy firm should be able to incorporate a company via a Power of Attorney without its clients need to travel, saving much time, energy and money.

How to open corporate bank account for your business

There are various bank account options in Europe. European banks in Switzerland, Germany and Austria are amongst the most secured and advanced, with long history in the financial industry.

If you have special relationship with banks, corporate bank accounts can be opened without incorporating a local company. This is a great way to diversify political and economic risks.

Moreover, in this modern age of business, it is not unusual to have an international business with clients and suppliers located in multiple continents. For example, you can have a consultancy business in Hong Kong that deal with Norway clients. Therefore, setting up an offshore account could facilitate payments, minimize exchange rate risk and reduce transaction costs.

The Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) is a directive to simplify bank transfer within European countries. Transactions within SEPA incur very minimal charges or even at no cost at all.

Taxation and legalisation in Europe

A factor to be taken into consideration is tax implications.

Many countries in Europe such as Bulgaria, Hungary, Cyprus and Ireland offer low corporate tax rates in the region of 10% to 15%. Low tax rate is extremely crucial for new companies as cash flows at initial stage of incorporation are generally not stable and consistent.

Many countries in Europe including UK, Germany, Belgium and Denmark do not require an LLC to have a resident director, so you are able to manage your company from abroad.

Let's sum up

Nevertheless, opening a company in Europe will be the best choice if you are a foreigner and your business in targeted towards the spending consumer power of Europe and the Middle East. Ireland, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Romania are some of our recommended countries to start your business in Europe.
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