Re: PROPOSAL: Incorporate the Veres One Non-Profit Foundation

Dear Adam

Apologies for not having spoken on this previously.

Check in with Markus Kummer who is a Swiss citizen and has contacts that
will be useful if you have not done so yet.

The figures you quote do seem extremely high.

One other option might be to incorporate in the UN as a Section 501 (c)
3, and then to register a branch in a European country. This is
relatively simple and not expensive.

The Internet Society (ISOC) does have an office in Switzerland, so they
definitely have a legal identity. I am not sure what the legal status of
the local chapter is but will try to find out.

I can also put you in touch with the people from http://www.comunica-ch.net/

They have not been active recently, but they might still have a legal
identity and they would have a compatible mission, I think.

Best

Anriette Esterhuysen




On 13/07/2018 19:15, Adam Lake wrote:
>
>
> On 7/13/2018 11:54 AM, Manu Sporny wrote:
>> On 07/13/2018 09:53 AM, Markus Sabadello wrote:
>>> I don't really have any experience in what it takes to set up or run
>>> organizations like this.
>> It's not difficult to incorporate, as long as you have the cash and the
>> lawyers, which Veres One does.
>>
>> One of the issues I'm concerned about is that I feel that we're being
>> gouged on the cash incorporation requirements ($~5K to do this in the US
>> vs. ~$70K to do this in Switzerland).
>>
>>> But I am sympathetic to Veres One and everything related to it, and
>>> I happen to have dual Austrian/Swiss citizenship, let me know if
>>> this could help in any way.
>> Thank you for that very generous offer, Markus... I had no idea about
>> your dual citizenship!
> Yes, thanks so much for offering to help.
>>
>> This could be very important as you need to have a Swiss citizen
>> involved in the incorporation paperwork, IIRC. Adam will be able to
>> provide more detail there.
> The requirement is for a Swiss "domiciled" person to be an officer of
> the org. This
> officer does not need to have Board voting power. My understanding is
> that having
> a Swiss domiciled person as an officer of the org would reduce the
> operating costs
> as we would no longer have to pay for domociliation services but that
> it would not
> eliminate the 50K capital requirement to open a bank account in
> Switzerland. I have
> reached out to a Swiss attorney to confirm this.
>
> Markus, do you live in Switzerland?
>
>> oc. Fundamentally, you might have
>> to show up in person once a year to file some paperwork and handle bank
>> account setup, etc... effectively becoming a trustee of the Veres One
>> Foundation, a position which I'd fully trust in your hands.
>>
>> In any case, that's a very compelling option that I didn't know we had
>> available to us.
>>
>> Is that something you'd be willing to do, Markus? Show up in person in
>> Switzerland to file paperwork or open bank accounts, as long as your
>> costs/time are covered, if required?
> Another, perhaps more far fetched option but worth mentioning, is that
> we could
> find a parent Foundation in Switzerland, what is called an umbrella
> nonprofit in the US,
> that is willing to house the Veres One Foundation. Since they already
> have the capital
> requirement satisfied it would free us from this requirement. This
> would need to be a
> Foundation with a compatible mission such as the Internet Society of
> Switzerland or the
> like.
>
> If anyone can suggest organizations that might be a good match I am
> happy to explore
> this option.
>
> I am continuing to explore other countries mentioned as well: Estonia,
> Canada, Finland,
> Iceland, and a few others. I plan to report my findings next week.
>> -- manu
>>
> Adam
>

Received on Monday, 23 July 2018 11:12:05 UTC