The media reported that startups with Russian founders faced serious financial and administrative difficulties in the US state of Delaware due to sanctions. It is the most popular jurisdiction for incorporating companies and doing business in the US and abroad due to effective local corporate laws.
Many Russian startup founders chose Delaware to enter the American market. Now, due to sanctions, local law firms and registration agents refuse to cooperate with them. Many startups have already been blocked in the state just because one of the founders has a Russian registration. Although previously there was no such restriction.
Since the beginning of the summer, many registration agents have reviewed their contracts with such startups and terminated them unilaterally. Other similar companies refused to provide their services to startups.
The media reported that out of hundreds of Russian startups, 70% of companies in Delaware have already encountered such problems.
When breaking off relations, registration agents refer to the order of the US Department of the Treasury, where, due to sanctions, American citizens and companies are prohibited from providing accounting services, services for opening trusts and companies, as well as management consulting services to persons located in the Russian Federation or registered in this country.
On the other hand, the Delaware authorities are faced with the fact that they cannot establish the fact that a person is in the Russian Federation or outside it. As a result, they decided to block all Russian founders who indicated Russian addresses during registration. An appeal against this decision with evidence that many of the founders have not lived in Russia for a long time is not accepted by the state authorities.
Now the state authorities have changed the conditions for Russian startup founders. A passport with a border crossing mark, a lease agreement in another country and a bank statement are no longer the minimum number of documents for opening a startup. The authorities have added to this list the need to have permanent residence in the country.
Many Russian startup founders in the US have started registering new companies or trying to get residency in another country that the US has not sanctioned.
If the company is blocked in the state, then it can continue to operate, make and receive payments, but all legal actions with it, for example, changing the registered agent, address, directors, opening, closing and paying taxes, become impossible. Moreover, in other states, the authorities can use similar measures and refer to the Delaware precedent in court to refuse to open and block Russian startups at home.
Experts explained to the media that the US Department of the Treasury does indeed have a definition of a “Russian person” for this case. It is understood as an individual who is a citizen or accepted as a citizen of the Russian Federation (citizen or national of the Russian Federation), or a legal entity established in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. This clarification is binding on states and US businesses. In this case, it will not be possible to challenge the state block, since this is not a state decision, but an explanation from the US Department of the Treasury.
The founders of Russian startups have begun to use another way to get around these US Treasury restrictions. They introduce a non-Russian majority shareholder into the founders of a startup. In the most win-win case, it should be an American citizen who applies to the registered agent with a request on behalf of the company to continue cooperation. In this case, it is possible to bypass the sanctions rights, and the startup can continue to operate within the state legislative rules without restrictions.
bbabo.Net