Most entrepreneurs build their business first and think about structure later. By then, their companies, properties and investments sit in their own name, exposed to the same risks.
A claim, a guarantee or a failed venture can reach personal assets that have nothing to do with it.
Without a plan, assets can be frozen for months, divided against your wishes or end up in disputes.
Property in one country, companies in another and accounts in a third, with no single point of control.
Shared deals without a vehicle mean unclear rules, unlimited liability and difficult exits.
It is not about hiding your wealth. It is about protecting it.
Answer four quick questions and see the structure we would typically start from. No registration, no commitment.
How each structure works, who it is for and what makes it different.
A QFC holding company that simply owns: shares in your companies, stakes in real-estate vehicles and investments in any country. It does not trade, so it keeps your wealth one step removed from the risks of the businesses below it.
Best for: Entrepreneurs, investors and families who want their companies, properties and investments owned by one protected vehicle instead of in their personal name.
Key features
Typical uses
The head of a group of companies. Besides owning subsidiaries in Qatar and abroad, it can finance them with intra-group loans, grant guarantees and security, and run head-office, management and treasury functions from the QFC.
Best for: Groups and growing businesses that want one regional parent to control, finance and expand their subsidiaries.
Key features
Typical uses
A legal entity with no shareholders that holds assets for the purposes and beneficiaries set out in its constitution. It continues after the founder's death, so assets and income are distributed exactly as the founder intended.
Best for: Families planning succession and generational wealth, and founders who want to separate control of the family business from its economic benefits.
Key features
Typical uses
A small group of 2 to 15 individuals or companies who pool their money in one legal entity to invest in a common portfolio, monitor it and decide together, with liability separated between the club and its members.
Best for: Friends, business partners and families who already invest together and want a proper, protected vehicle with clear rules.
Key features
Typical uses
A private wealth-management company dedicated to one family. It manages the family's investments, money and assets, provides custody, fiduciary and accounting services, and can organise philanthropy and the family's other entities and structures.
Best for: Families with at least USD 5 million in investable assets who want professional, centralised management of their wealth across generations.
Key features
Typical uses
A company created for one transaction or series of transactions: acquiring and holding an asset, raising finance, holding IP rights or a joint-venture interest. If anything goes wrong, the risk stays inside the SPC.
Best for: Property purchases, project financing, IP holding and joint ventures where one asset or deal must be isolated from everything else.
Key features
Typical uses
| Passive Holding Company | Active Holding Company | QFC Foundation | Investment Club | Single Family Office | Special Purpose Company | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main purpose | Own and protect shares and assets | Head, finance and manage a group | Succession and asset protection | Pool money to invest together | Manage one family's wealth | Isolate one asset or transaction |
| Ideal for | Entrepreneurs, investors, families | Groups and expanding businesses | Families, founders | 2–15 partners or friends | Families with USD 5M+ | Property, financing, IP, JVs |
| Owners / members | 1 or more shareholders | 1 or more shareholders | No shareholders: founder, council, enforcer, beneficiaries | 2 to 15 members | Members of a single family | 1 or more shareholders |
| Minimum | No minimum capital | No minimum capital | No minimum capital | No minimum capital | USD 5M investable assets | No minimum capital |
| Audit & annual return | Not required* | Required | As per its constitution and QFC rules | As per QFC rules | As per QFC rules | Not required* |
| Survives the founder | Shares pass by inheritance | Shares pass by inheritance | Yes, perpetual | Shares pass with QFCA approval | Continues for the family | Until the transaction ends |
| Best feature | Simplicity and low maintenance | Intra-group financing and treasury | Confidential constitution | Shared control with clear rules | Professional family governance | Tax-exempt status available |
* Unless the QFC Authority directs otherwise. Summary based on QFC factsheets; every structure is reviewed case by case.
We build from Qatar and extend into the European Union when your assets, investments or future residency require it.
All six structures, onshore in one of the Gulf's leading financial centres.
A long-established EU holding jurisdiction.
For European assets and families relocating to Portugal.
Tax rates and conditions change and depend on each case. EBS coordinates with licensed local advisers in Cyprus and Portugal.
Many firms design a structure and leave. We set it up and keep it compliant year after year.
We map your companies, properties, investments, family and residency, and agree what you want to protect and why.
We propose the structure chart, jurisdictions, governance and roles, and review tax impacts with local advisers.
Incorporation, licences, constitutional documents, transfers of shares and assets, and bank accounts.
Company secretary, filings, UBO updates, accounting, renewals and an annual review as your life and assets change.
Client details anonymised.
A structure is only valuable if banks, regulators and tax authorities accept it. That is why every structure we design is transparent, documented and has real purpose.
Beneficial owners are always reported to the regulator, as international standards require.
Registered office, directors and governance in place where the rules require them.
Every entity has a clear commercial or family purpose, recorded from day one.
We work with licensed tax and legal advisers in the countries where you and your assets are.
A passive holding only owns shares and assets, so in the QFC it does not need an auditor, audited accounts or an annual return unless the QFC Authority directs otherwise. An active holding can also finance its subsidiaries, give guarantees and run treasury or head-office functions, and therefore files audited accounts and annual returns.
Yes. Subsidiaries of a QFC holding company do not need to be in the QFC or in Qatar, and can carry on any activity. Moving existing assets into a structure can trigger taxes in the country where the asset is located, so we review each transfer before recommending it.
No. Shareholders, founders, members and beneficiaries can be of any nationality and live anywhere. Some roles, such as the resident director, secretary or Senior Executive Function, must be held by a Qatar resident, and EBS can provide or coordinate them for you.
The constitution of a QFC Foundation is filed only with the QFC Registrar and is not public, unless a statutory obligation or a QFC Court order requires disclosure. Beneficial ownership is still reported to the authorities, as required by international transparency standards.
A Single Family Office in the QFC requires at least USD 5 million of investable or liquid assets, realisable within 180 days, and must serve only one family. Below that threshold, a Foundation combined with a holding company usually gives the same protection and can grow into a Family Office later.
For assets and investments inside the European Union, an EU holding company can benefit from EU directives and double tax treaties. Cyprus and Portugal both offer participation exemptions on qualifying dividends and share gains. We often combine them with a QFC structure at the top.
No. Our structures are designed to protect assets, organise control and plan succession, fully transparent to regulators and with real substance where required. Where tax is relevant, we coordinate with licensed tax advisers in the countries where you and your assets are.
Yes, and the strongest structures usually do: for example a Foundation that owns a passive holding, which owns the operating companies and SPCs for each property, with a Family Office managing the investments.
Tell us about your companies, assets and family. We will come back with a first view of the structure that fits you, at no cost.
Book a structuring consultationTell us what you want to protect and who it is for. A structuring advisor will get back to you to arrange a confidential first conversation.
Prefer email? hello@ebs.qa