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A shell corporation is a company which serves as a vehicle for business transactions without itself having any significant assets or operations. Some shell companies may have had operations, but those may have shrunk due to unfavorable market conditions or company mismanagement. A shell corporation may also arise when a company's operations have been wound up, for example following a takeover, but the “shell” of the original company continues to exist.〔(【引用サイトリンク】year=2010 )〕 Shell corporations are not in themselves illegal, and they do have legitimate business purposes. However, they are a main component of the underground economy, especially those based in tax havens. They may also be known as ''international business companies'', ''personal investment companies'', ''front companies'', or ''"mailbox" companies''. Shell companies can also be used for tax avoidance. A classic tax avoidance operation is based on the buying and selling through tax haven shell companies to disguise true profits. The firm does its international operations through this shell corporation, thus not having to report to its country the sums involved, avoiding any taxes.〔Nicholas Shaxson, ''Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men who Stole the World,'' Random House, January 2011〕 ==Abuse== Shell corporations have been used to commit fraud, by repeatedly creating an empty shell corporation with a name similar to existing real corporations, then running up the price of the empty shell and suddenly selling it (pump and dump). There are also shell companies that were created for the purpose of owning assets (often intangible, such as royalties or copyrights) and receiving income. Reasons behind creating such a shell company may include protection against litigation and/or tax benefits (some expenses that would not be deductible for an individual may be deductible for a corporation). Sometimes, shell companies are used for tax evasion or tax avoidance.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shell corporation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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