During negotiations for purchasing the Moscow Sheraton by a holdings company from Central Europe owned by an oligarch from Moscow from its Austrian owners, it was learned that issues that had to be overcome included a debt of 100 million euro to a development bank of the Austrian Government.
The purchasers reached the conclusion that it would be more appropriate for the attorney and the owners of the acquirer to have a non-Russian and/or non-Muscovite identity, thus avoiding the need to leave formal documentation of the actual owners should the deal fall through.
Accordingly, an instrumental trust was form, while the actual owner sat with the representatives of the acquiring company during the negotiations.