The association can also be used as a legal form for a business organization consisting of a number of independent offices, each of which has limited liability "vis-à-vis" the others. The form is often used by multinational professional firms so they can operate globally under one brand whilst maintaining separate profit pools (and ring-fencing liability) in each country in which they operate. One advantage to the Verein structure is that because control of the firm is decentralized, offices are only bound by regulators in their country. For instance, non-US offices of accounting firms in a Verein structure are not bound by Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenas from the United States.