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British Virgin Islands (BVI)
Introduction
The British Virgin Islands are a British dependency
located in the Eastern Caribbean, about 80 kilometres East of Puerto
Rico. English is the official language and the official currency is
the United States Dollar. The Government is stable and promises to
remain that way. There is good commercial and professional
infrastructure and the Government is actively encouraging the
development of the offshore finance business and has now upgraded
the Companies Registry by installing state of the art technology.
The International Business Companies Act was passed
in 1984 and created the International Business Company (IBC) which
is the preferred offshore company vehicle. In recent years the BVI
has become extremely popular, particularly in the Far East region,
due to the extensive marketing of the jurisdiction particularly by
lawyers who moved from Panama during the Noriega regime and set up
offices in the BVI.
Offshore Company Features
Taxation
IBCs pay no taxes in the British Virgin Islands.
Authorised and Issued Share Capital
The normal authorised share capital is US$50,000 with all of the
shares having a par value, this being the maximum share capital for
the minimum duty payable upon incorporation and annually thereafter.
The share capital may be expressed in any currency. The minimum
issued capital is one share of no par value or one share of par
value.
Shareholders
A minimum of one shareholder is required and either registered or
bearer shares may be issued. No details of the shareholders appear
on the public file but a register of shareholders must be kept at
the registered office address of the company in BVI.
Directors
A minimum of one director is required and corporate directors are
permitted. Details of the directors do not appear on the public
file.
Annual Reporting
No annual return or accounts need be filed. It should be noted that
penalty fees of up to 50% of the annual Government fee will be
incurred if the licence fee is not paid when due.
Processing Time
Incorporation can be achieved within 14 working days. We do keep ready-made
companies in stock available for immediate purchase.
Restrictions on Name and Activity
Names must end with one of the following words, or abbreviations
thereof - Limited, Corporation, Incorporated, Societe Anonyme or
Sociedad Anonima. The following words, and their associated
activities, cannot be used: Assurance, Bank, Building Society,
Chamber of Commerce, Chartered, Cooperative, Imperial, Insurance,
Municipal, Royal and Trust.
Local Requirements
As a matter of local company law the company MUST maintain a
registered office address within BVI and must also appoint a BVI
resident as registered agent. We would generally provide these
services as part of our package.
Secrecy
There are no specific statutory provisions governing secrecy in
relation to companies but English Law, which applies within the
jurisdiction, does impose a common law duty on professionals to keep
the affairs of their clients confidential.
Registration and Maintenance Fees
Our registration fee for a company with a share
capital less than US$50,000 is
US$1200.
The fee covers first year licence fee, first year registered agent
fee and first year registered office fee.
Annual maintenance fee is
US$850
which covers annual licence fee, annual registered
agent fee and annual registered office fee. |
