The same points apply, most it contractors (and there are many in finance) have an LTD. Never met anyone working as a sole trader. IANAL but most of the liability gubbins falls away too, since you and the company are legally distinct entities.
In the US at least, a sole proprietorship/single-member LLC doesn't do much to shield you from liability. You can't really say "it was the company's fault!" when you are the company.
But it provides a strong backstop against the consequences of liability. E.g. if your house and your car aren’t assets of the corporation, they can’t be seized and liquidated to satisfy debts or settle litigation.
IANAL. Yes you absolutely can, the whole reason why businesses should NOT want to do businesses with an LLC and why you have to put the letters LLC/LTD on letterheads etc is because the person you are dealing with will have no recourse to assets beyond those owned by the corporation.
Maybe he should do it, as ridiculous as it sounds. Going from a place called "Stratfordshire upon " something to ... the NM or better yet, AZ! Imagine the adventure.
I did it. From the same area as OP, I traveled and worked as a freelancer for several years before settling and starting a business in Vietnam. I've been doing it as a sole trader and never experienced any issues but maybe that depends on the area (setting up an LLC is probably good advice though).
It's not for everyone of course and there have been hardships. But this has and continues to be the adventure of a lifetime. When I hear about people working a decade in an office and then think about the last decade that I lived I would never change it. Stability is overrated.
Bonus: I have way more personal savings and investments than I could have had by staying back in crazy expensive Europe.
Side note: the only time I had a frustrating experience as a freelancer, from a legal perspective, was when working for a UK company. The UK seems to have a crazy amount of rules and regulations around this. Fortunately I was able to get out of the project within a few months and I made a personal rule of "no UK clients from now on".
