Agreed -- Munich would be better for me as well. There's also a StartupDigest Newsletter there. My guess is that would be an easy way to promote the event?
From what I understand, this seems to be a bigger problem in European countries (government/regulation included).
The cost of forming a German equivalent LLC is about 27,000EUR after legal fees, and take about a week to complete.
I heard a similar story from a friend who used to work at a German bank (a regional one). She mentioned that four or five copies of almost every single paper had to be made, with a copy going into a separate individuals inbox (a physical in-box).
Now she works for an IT startup in Alaska... You can imagine that she really appreciates the difference!
I completely agree. You can find trusting people overseas... It all comes from building a relationship.
Granted, being 5,000 miles away (and not having face to face contact) can hamper that process, but there are plenty of trusting and responsible "outsourced" individuals that can handle quality control jobs.