Offshore Company Formation

The increasing popularity of offshore company formation in recent years can be attributed to many factors, including the rapid globalisation of the world economy, and the substantial advances in communications technology.

Offshore company formation - an introduction
A major element in the rapid globalisation of the world economy is cross-border investment and operations. Such investment and operations generally require an appropriate entity to hold and maintain the investment or manage the operations. In many cases, an offshore company is the ideal entity, which may reduce the amount of unnecessary regulation that might exist in the countries of the investors or the investment, and in many cases attracting a reduced or zero level of taxation.

How do you set up an offshore company?
The ready availability of information and ease of communication make setting up an offshore company relatively straightforward. Once the client has established, often in conjunction with their professional advisors, that an offshore company is appropriate for a particular investment or transaction, we will obtain from them all the necessary information we require to assist the client in establishing the correct structure to meet their requirements.

How is offshore company incorporation different?
The primary difference in offshore company incorporation is that the domicile of the offshore company is not the domicile of the owner(s), or the country in which the investment is actually made or the operations actually conducted.

Offshore company registration - where is it registered?
An IBC incorporated in the British Virgin Islands is registered in the BVI at the Registry of Companies, a division of the BVI Financial Services Commission. The Registry's files are publicly open to search, but the only information that is required to be filed with the Registry by an IBC is it's name, date of incorporation, a copy of it's Memorandum & Articles of Association, and the name and address of its registered office and registered agent in the BVI.

How do offshore company services work?
Services for an offshore company work in very much the same way as for any company incorporated anywhere. For an IBC registered in the BVI, the only annual filing that is required is the name and address of its registered agent and registered office in the BVI and payment of it's BVI Government licence fee (which is the only tax or Government charge to which an IBC is subject).