Who sees my name?
Company privacy guide 2026

Anonymous company: how private you can legally be, and who always knows

Updated 10 November 202626 places mappedAbout 20 minutes to read
The short answer

No company is anonymous. But in many places your name can stay off the public record: the BVI, Cayman, Nevis, the Marshall Islands, Wyoming, New Mexico and Delaware among them.

Four audiences see different things. The public may see nothing; the registry, your bank and your tax office always know the owner. That's privacy, and it's legal. Secrecy isn't on offer anywhere.

Who can see my name? Nominees, honestly
Private, not secret 15 of 26 places in this guide keep shareholders off the public file None of them hides the owner from banks or tax offices, which see it every year.

Search "anonymous company" and you'll be promised the impossible. We read the 19 pages that rank, and not one mentioned the rule that reports every offshore account to its owner's tax office. This guide starts there, then shows how much privacy is really on offer, place by place.

Key takeaways

  • No company is anonymous. Registries, banks and tax offices always know who owns it.
  • In 15 of the 26 places mapped here, shareholders stay off the public file.
  • The UK, Gibraltar, Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria, Georgia, Hong Kong and Bermuda show owners to anyone who looks.
  • A holding company as owner or our name as organizer keeps you off the public record lawfully.
  • Nominee directors are banned in the Bahamas and Bermuda, recorded with the registry in several places, and never the beneficial owner.
  • Since August 2026, US LLCs don't report owners to FinCEN. The IRS still sees you on the EIN form and Form 5472.
Chapter 1

Can you really have an anonymous company?

One company, four audiencesWho sees the owner?
The publicDepends on the place
The registry or agentAlways
Your bankAlways
Your tax officeEvery year, under CRS
You live in your country.

Not in the sense most pages sell. Since the FATF set the global standard, every country must be able to name a company's real owner when its authorities ask. What still varies is who else can look.

The publicCan be kept out

Competitors, clients, ex-partners, scammers. In many places they see only the company name and its agent.

The registry or agentAlways knows

Collects your passport at formation and must hand it to authorities on request.

Your bankAlways knows

Identifies every owner of about 25% or more before it opens anything.

Your tax officeIs told every year

Banks report you as the owner under CRS, or FATCA for US persons.

Privacy from the public is legal and common. It protects founders from fraud, harassment and competitors. Hiding from the other three isn't privacy, and no lawful structure offers it.

1
Key takeaway

Privacy from the public is legal. Secrecy from banks and tax offices isn't on offer anywhere.

Chapter 2

Who can see the owner of a company? Check a place

Pick where the company would be registered and how you'd hold it. The four lines show what each audience sees, from each place's own law, read in 2026.

Will you be a director or manager?
Who holds the shares?

A guide to each place's law and registry practice, not legal advice. Rules change; dates are in the table below.

Heirson study, 10 November 202619 ranking pages on anonymous companies, read line by line
0 of 19Mentioned CRS, the rule that reports offshore accounts to the owner's tax office
0 of 19Had a tool to check who sees the owner
1 of 19Mapped who can see ownership data across places
Several sell nominee directors as a way to hide owners from banks and authorities. Nominees are disclosed to both.
Pages from 2026 still sell bearer shares. Most places abolished or locked them years ago.
One page still ranking on EU registers dates from 2014, before the EU court closed public access in 2022.
Method: the pages the search results returned for 14 anonymous company and nominee questions on 10 November 2026, read in full and compared with each place's law. Pages are not named.
2
Key takeaway

Check what the public, the registry, the bank and the tax office each see before you choose.

Chapter 3

Where company owners stay off the public record

The same three questions, everywhere: are directors public, are owners public, and who can open the owner register?

What the public can see, by place, 2026
PlaceDirectors public?Owners public?Owner register opens to
3
Key takeaway

Pick the place for its register first. It's the biggest privacy lever you have.

Chapter 4

How to keep your name off a company's public record, lawfully

Four tools do the work, and none of them hides anything from the authorities. Most founders need only the first two.

1Choose a place with a private register

The biggest lever. In the BVI or Nevis, owners aren't filed publicly at all.

2Let us sign as organizer

In Wyoming, New Mexico and the Marshall Islands, the signer is the only name on the filing.

3Hold it through your own company

A holding company in a private place appears as owner or manager in a public one.

4A professional director

Where it's lawful and disclosed, a licensed director signs. You remain the owner, on record with the registry.

4
Key takeaway

A private register plus us as organizer is enough for most founders.

Chapter 5

Nominee directors and shareholders: legal, limited and disclosed

A nominee lends a name to the public record. Under the global standard, a nominee is never the beneficial owner: the real owner is recorded behind them, and banks see it too.

BannedBahamas, Bermuda

Nominee directors banned, in the Bahamas since January 2026 and in Bermuda since December 2025.

Allowed, disclosed to the registry or regulatorBVI, Seychelles, Panama, Labuan, Gibraltar

The nominee and the person behind them are on record with the registry or agent.

Still liableEverywhere

A nominee director carries a director's legal duties. In the UK, the person giving instructions can be treated as a shadow director.

US$600a year and up: what published offers charge for an offshore nomineeDirectors from about US$600, shareholders up to about US$1,500. Ours start at US$480 a year, only where lawful, with prices on each country page. More in our nominee director guide.
5
Key takeaway

A nominee is never the beneficial owner, and still carries a director's duties.

Chapter 6

Anonymous LLC: which US states keep owners private

Three of the five states we form in file no owner or manager names. The federal owner report is gone for US-formed companies since August 2026. The IRS still learns the owner from the EIN form and Form 5472. More in our US LLC guide.

New MexicoNo names; we sign as organizer WyomingOnly the organizer's name DelawareNo owner or manager names FloridaA manager on every yearly report NevadaManagers on every yearly list
6
Key takeaway

New Mexico, Wyoming and Delaware file no owner names. The IRS still sees you.

Chapter 7

Beneficial ownership registers: who can look in 2026

Owner registers used to be heading towards full openness. Then the EU's top court stopped it.

  1. 22 November 2022EU court ends open accessPublic access to owner registers breaches privacy, the Court of Justice ruled. Most EU states closed theirs.
  2. 10 July 2026Legitimate interest rules applyJournalists, researchers and business partners can apply, and must be answered within 12 working days.
  3. 14 August 2026US companies stop reportingFinCEN's final rule exempts every company formed in the US.
  4. Still publicUK and GibraltarThe UK's register of people with control and Gibraltar's register stay open to anyone.
7
Key takeaway

EU owner registers closed to the public in 2022. The UK and Gibraltar stay open.

Chapter 8

What no company structure keeps private

Whatever the place and however it's held, these four always know the real owner:

Your tax office

Through CRS, 119 places report company accounts and their controlling persons every year.

Every bank and payment firm

They identify owners of about 25% or more before opening, and again at each review.

The agent and registry

They hold your passport and must produce it when authorities ask.

Courts and police

With an order, they reach every register above, in every place in this guide.

8
Key takeaway

Your tax office, your bank, the agent and the courts always know. Plan with that in mind.

Chapter 9

Five anonymous company myths

!
"A nominee hides you from the bank"

Banks ask for the real owner behind every nominee. Refusing to name them ends the application.

!
"Bearer shares keep you untraceable"

Most places abolished them or require them held by a licensed custodian who records the owner.

!
"An offshore account isn't reported"

CRS reports it to your country every year, with your name as controlling person.

!
"US LLCs are anonymous to everyone"

The IRS sees the owner on the EIN form and Form 5472, every year.

!
"EU owner registers are public"

Not since 2022. Access now needs a legitimate interest, except where national law still allows more.

9
Key takeaway

Bearer shares and hidden nominees belong to the past. Pages selling them are out of date.

Chapter 10

Three founders, three levels of privacy

Say you sell software from Lisbon

Wants competitors not to find the owner
CompanyNew Mexico LLC
Public recordHeirson as organizer
Bank and IRSSee you
Public sees you?No
$99 for year one, $69 a year.

Say you hold investments from Dubai

Wants owners off any public file
CompanyBVI company
ShareholdersNot public
DirectorsNames can be bought
Public sees you?As director only
A professional director, where lawful, removes that too.

Say you need a UK company

UK clients ask for one
Owner registerPublic
Through a BVI holdingHolding's name shows
Person with controlStill you, publicly
Public sees you?Yes
The UK names the real controller even through a holding.
10
Key takeaway

The same founder gets very different privacy in New Mexico, the BVI and the UK.

Chapter 11

How to keep a company private over time

The registry is only one leak. Most owners are found through what they publish themselves.

  1. Don't sign filings yourself

    Use the organizer or agent where the law allows. A signature is a name on the record.

  2. Use a business address

    Never your home on filings, websites or invoices.

  3. Watch your website and invoices

    A legal notice, a WHOIS record or a signed contract can name you faster than any registry.

  4. Keep the paperwork current

    Late filings and lapsed agents are what bring a company, and its owner, to an official's desk.

11
Key takeaway

Most owners are found through their own website and invoices, not the registry.

Chapter 12

Anonymous company questions, answered

?!
What is the most anonymous company structure?
A company in a place with no public owner or director filing, such as Nevis or the Marshall Islands, with us as organizer. It's private from the public, never from banks or tax offices.
Is an anonymous company legal?
Keeping your name off a public record is legal and common. Hiding the owner from authorities, banks or your tax office isn't possible lawfully anywhere.
Is a nominee director legal?
In many places, yes, if disclosed to the registry or agent. The Bahamas and Bermuda ban them, and a nominee keeps a director's legal duties.
What is a nominee shareholder?
Someone who holds shares in their name on trust for you, under a declaration of trust. In most places the registry or agent, and always the bank, still record you as the beneficial owner. More in our nominee shareholder guide.
Which US state is best for an anonymous LLC?
New Mexico, Wyoming and Delaware file no owner or manager names. New Mexico also has no yearly report or state fee.
Can anyone see who owns a BVI company?
Not the shareholders, unless the company chooses. Anyone can buy a list of current directors' names. Authorities, and since April 2026 people with a legitimate interest, can reach the owner register.
Are EU beneficial ownership registers public?
Not since the EU court's ruling of 22 November 2022. Since 10 July 2026, people with a legitimate interest, such as journalists, can apply.
Will my tax office know about my offshore company?
Yes, if your country takes part in CRS: banks report the company's accounts and, for most small companies, you as the controlling person.
Do you offer nominee services?
Where the law allows and the arrangement is disclosed, yes, from US$480 a year in most offshore places. We don't offer them to hide anyone from banks or authorities.

Cite this guide: Heirson, "Anonymous company: how private you can legally be, and who always knows", updated 10 November 2026.

Changelog

  • 10 November 2026: first published, covering 26 places.
A private company

A BVI company, with your shareholding off the public file.

Formed without a visit, with the agent and bank setup handled. You pay in crypto after signing.

See the BVI company Check another place