The role of offshore companies in concealing assets by beneficiaries controlling the debtor in legal cases of insolvency (bankruptcy)

Abstract

This article outlines the role of offshore companies in the relations of the parties in the field of insolvency (bankruptcy), the issue of finding legal methods of disclosing the connection between the actions of beneficial owners (individuals controlling the debtor) that are aimed to conceal the assets of the debtor in offshore zones and to bring those individuals to responsibility in order to compel them to return the funds withdrawn from the Russian Federation and to pay the debt of their controlled enterprise in favor of the bona fide creditors. The concepts and norms of the Russian Codes: Civil, Tax and Criminal, Laws of N 127-FZ and N 115-FZ are analyzed. Two ways of solving that issue are proposed. The first is to include in Federal Law N 115-FZ a norm providing for the liability of beneficial owners for the withdrawal of assets to accounts in foreign banks, which entailed the insolvency and bankruptcy of the organization. The second method involves a comprehensive legal, technical and linguistic discourse analysis of key terms and concepts used in basic codified Russian laws in order to unify and differentiate its key legal concepts.