Cayman Islands Company Incorporation |
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Many people from many countries have found the advantages of basing their business operations in the Cayman Islands - a fact shown by the approximately 40,000 companies listed on the Cayman Registry of Companies in 1998.
This flow of interest and investment, starting in the 1960s, has played an integral part in the development of the Cayman Islands as an offshore centre highly ranked in the international business community. The growth continues at a steady pace, with over 4,000 new companies registered in a typical year.
Company Registration: Banks, Trusts, Funds, Exempted, Ordinary, Captive Insurance & Partnerships
The cornerstone of Cayman's financial industry, company registration, continues to experience steady growth with over 8,000 companies registered in a typical year. The Company Registry is responsible for the licensing of corporations under the Companies Law (1998). All corporations required to be licensed under any law - Banks and Trust Companies Law (2001 Revision), the Insurance Law (2001 Revision), the Mutual Funds Law (2001 Revision), and the Companies Management Law (2001 Revision) - must also be registered with the Registry of Companies. A company wishing to trade within the Cayman Islands, e.g., in retail trading, real estate, hotel operation, restaurants, maintenance services or local shipping, must obtain a licence under the Local Companies (Control) Law, and, if less than 60 percent of the equity is Caymanian-owned, the Trade and Business Licensing Board will have to be convinced of the need for the company's services.
In addition to the speed of processing, other advantages of registering a company in the Cayman Islands include the following:
The Registrar is allowed to release only the name and type of company, the date of registration, and the address of its registered office. This assures a rigorously upheld standard of privacy for companies transacting a wide range of legitimate business. This level of privacy is subject only to specified legal channels in the context of illicit activities. The range of purposes includes investment, sales processing, trading, shipping operations, stock dealing, real estate holding, the ownership and licensing of patents, and international financing.
A prospective promoter of a Cayman Islands company will be well advised to obtain sound professional advice so that the way it is structured does not adversely affect his tax status in his home jurisdiction.
He is likely to find that to take full advantage of the benefits of a Cayman operation the business decisions should be seen to be taken in the Islands. To allow this to happen without the owner's continual residence here it is convenient to make arrangements with one of the company management firms, law and accountancy practices or trust companies which have much experience of this type of work.
COMPANY REGISTRATION AND ANNUAL FEES
Fees currently payable to the Registrar of Companies are given below (all figures in Cayman Islands dollars [CI$1=US$1.22]).
Resident (ordinary) Companies
Non-resident Companies
Exempted Companies
Segregated Portfolio Companies
Foreign Companies
Exempted Corporation
Exempted companies are identitites where the proposed activities of a company are to be carried out mainly outside the Islands. The most appropriate use of offshore transactions is the exempt company which is prohibited from doing business in the Cayman Islands except in pursuance of its offshore business.
Benefits the Exempted Corporation:
An Exempted Company:
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Due Diligence
Although we will proceed with the formation and incorporation procedures no documents will be forwarded to the applicant until the following due diligence materials have been received (see note 2 below for professional intermediaries)
1. Original completed IMS application form
2. Notarised or bank certified copies of operative pages of passport
3. Current bank reference Ideally the reference should reflect a satisfactory relationship of at least two (2) years)(Original or notarised copy)
4. Address confirmation (eg ) copy recent bank statement or major credit card bill (Original or notarised copy)
5. Reference from a lawyer or accountant
6. Written statement describing (a) purpose of company, (b) source of funds used to fund the company, (c) brief C.V. for applicant and beneficial owner
Notes:
The above materials are required for the applicant and the beneficial owner. If there is more than one beneficial owner then the materials are required for only the contolling beneficial owners. |