Offshore service providers in review – Part V – HB Management

Anyone who has spent time in Curaçao as more than a tourist will know the name Herman Behr.

Mr. Behr has shaped Curaçao into the reputable offshore jurisdiction it is today.

In this post, we will go through HB Management or, as it’s also known, HBM Group. “HB”, of course, stands for Herman Behr.

I won’t be spending too much time on the due diligence, since much of it is set up in jurisdictions without public records. Instead, the reputation of HBM stands on its own merits.

Website: http://www.hbmgroup.com/

Offshore Services

HBM providers incorporation, trusts, asset management, and other services in the following jurisdictions:

  • British Virgin Islands
  • Curaçao
  • Malta
  • Panama
  • St Maarten
  • The Netherlands
  • Uruguay

Other jurisdictions, such as Anguilla and Cayman Islands are covered but through partners, although I am told they are working on becoming a licensed registered agent and trustee in Anguilla.

Due Diligence

Let’s look into HB Management.

Whois

Domain Name: HBMGROUP.COM
Registry Domain ID:  
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.networksolutions.com
Registrar URL: http//www.networksolutions.com/en_US/
Updated Date: 2010-03-29
Creation Date: 2000-04-03
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2015-04-03
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
Registrar IANA ID: 2
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: [email protected]
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: 1-800-333-7680
Reseller: 
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID: 
Registrant Name: HB Management N.V.
Registrant Organization: HB Management N.V.
Registrant Street: Emancipatie Boulevard #31
Registrant City: Curacao
Registrant State: AN
Registrant Postal Code: 99999
Registrant Country: AN
Registrant Phone: 5999-734-1000
Registrant Phone Ext: 
Registrant Fax: 5999-734-1200
Registrant Email: [email protected]
Registry Admin ID: 
Admin Name: Behr, Herman
Admin Organization: HB Management N.V.
Admin Street: Emancipatie Boulevard #31
Admin City: Willemstad
Admin State: null
Admin Postal Code: null
Admin Country: AN
Admin Phone: 5999-734-1000
Admin Phone Ext: 
Admin Fax: 5999-734-1200
Admin Email: [email protected]
Registry Tech ID: 
Tech Name: Network Solutions, LLC.
Tech Organization: Network Solutions, LLC.
Tech Street: 13861 Sunrise Valley Drive
Tech City: Herndon
Tech State: VA
Tech Postal Code: 20171
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: 1-888-642-9675
Tech Phone Ext: 
Tech Fax: 571-434-4620
Tech Email: [email protected]
Name Server: NS0.DNSMADEEASY.COM
Name Server: NS1.DNSMADEEASY.COM

The address matches the address of their New Haven, Curaçao office.

HBM Curaçao

Corporate Structure

HBM Group – officially HB Management N.V. – is a company in Curaçao, with company number 56554. You can visit the Curacao Chamber of Commerce & Industry to verify.

HBM

 

HBM

Licenses

HBM Group’s primary jurisdiction is Curaçao, but they are physically present and licensed in all other jurisdictions they cover.

Here I will go through the most popular.

British Virgin Islands

There are three regulated entities belonging to the HBM Group in BVI. All three are licensed to perform Company Management.

HBM BVI

 

HBM BVI

 

HBM BVI

Curaçao

With Mr. Behr being a former chairman of the board of the Curaçao International Financial Services Association, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that HBM is a licensed, regulated service provider.

HBM Group

http://www.cifa-curacao.com/en/members/company-management/59-hb-management-nv

Malta

In Malta, HBM is present as HBM Group Malta Limited with company number 34837.

HBM Malta

 

Conclusion

At the end of it all, we can conclude that HBM Group can be verified and provides a satisfactory level of transparency. We don’t really need to know the names of all shareholders. It’s enough that the company is licensed by multiple FIUs across the world.

Prices are high, though, often two or three times higher than the cheapest bottom-of-the-barrel providers. For more serious projects, I always make sure to use a high-calibre provider such as as HBM, but their costs might eat up a lot of the initial capital for smaller entrepreneurs.

HBM Group has a well-deserved reputation for excellence. My personal experience with them has remained positive throughout the years.

9 Comments on "Offshore service providers in review – Part V – HB Management"

  1. Hi Streber, I’m a big fan of your OSP reviews since I’ve looked at tons of websites and find it difficult to assess the quality of those firms. One provider who has a very informative website and afaik competitive prices is Offshore Companies International – http://offshoreincorporate.com
    Do you happen to have any experience with them? If someone is relatively new to the whole offshore topic, is there one specific provider you can recommend?

    • Hi Carter,

      Thanks for your feedback!

      I’m not familiar with the OSP you mention. What can you find out about them if you do the same type of due diligence I’ve done in this series of posts? Look them up in public company registries, check if they are licensed in the jurisdictions they offer, and so on.

      I can’t really make a specific recommendation. The OSPs I’m going through in this series are ones I’ve worked with and had positive experiences with (though I recently had to amend the one about SFM). That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re suitable for my readers. Many of the OSPs I work with are on the expensive side of things while the average person might not need all the bells and whistles that come with paying 2,000 for an IBC that elsewhere costs under 1,000.

      That said, unless I know an OSP and for some reason need to approach a new one, I prefer to work with ones that are licensed in the relevant jurisdiction(s). The drawback is that they often do not have a vast international network of banks, like reseller OSPs typically tend to have. Consequently, you might have to find a bank on your own and open the account on your own – for better or worse.

    • Hello Carter,

      I am about to use the services from offshoreincorporate.com, did you finally work with them?

      What was your experience?

      Thank you!

  2. Hi Streber, thank you for this blog, it’s a great place to learn about all things offshore. I noticed that you’re using Linux (at least to make the screenshots used in this post) – any particular reason? I’m considering making the switch from Windows, maybe you have any insights?

    • Hi Carter,

      Thanks for your comment!

      I vary between platforms and devices. After a hardware failure on a laptop a few years ago ago, I was convinced to give Linux a shot and I just stuck with it for a couple of devices. There’s good and bad to it.

  3. Hi Streber, I came across this article a couple of days ago and I was wondering what’s your opinion:
    The end of the offshore company. Insights and reflections-Consequences and future behavior

    Thanks!

    • Not a month goes by without someone somewhere declaring offshore dead. Meanwhile, the offshore financial services industry is stronger than ever.

      Illegal tax evasion is being fought very hard these days, though. It is getting harder and harder to hide money and evade taxes. Legal tax avoidance will still be possible and offshore companies with bank accounts all over the world will continue to be a thriving business.

      The article is right in that it’s becoming more difficult to open bank accounts for offshore companies in onshore jurisdictions and we are moving towards a more transparent world. There are more compliance requirements now than a few years ago and more and more banks require a personal visit to open an account.

      That blog seems to be a company blog to rally customers. It is in their interest that people incorporate more expensive companies (Malta, Cyprus), so I would take anything they write with a pinch of salt. They’re not completely wrong about what they write but the reason they write is to get customers; not necessarily to provide neutral information.

  4. Great posts

    Have you had a chance to work with this OSP http://www.zetland.biz/ ?

    If so and if not, what would your opinion on them be?

    Thanks

    • Thanks for your feedback!

      No, I have no experience with Zetland nor have I heard of them before. There are hundreds of service providers in this industry.

      At a very quick glance, I see nothing obviously wrong with them. Just another reseller; not licensed anywhere but that’s common.

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