| The British Virgin
Islands (BVI) are a British dependency located in the Eastern Caribbean,
about 80 kilometers 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.
A BVI IBC has the following characteristics:
TAXATION
IBCs pay no taxes in BVI.
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.
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 the service fee.
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.
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