BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS (BVI)
Country’s geography & information in brief: British Virgin Islands are located in the north part of the Caribbean sea to the east from Cuba, Haiti & Puerto Rico. Up to now the territory is an autonomy colony of Great Britain. Currency US dollar. Official language- English.
Entity type: Business Company (BC)
Directors: Minimum number – one. Directors may be capable private or legal persons, residents of any country. There’s no public register of directors. The information is kept by the registered agent.
Shareholders: minimum number – one. Shareholders may be private or legal persons, residents of any country. There’s no public register of shareholders. The information is kept by the registered agent.
Secretary: there are no special requirements concerning the secretary.
Authorized Share Capital: the Company is authorized to issue 50 000 no par value Shares of a single class or with par value of US$1.00 each. There are no legal requirements for paying out the whole or part of it. There are certain restrictions to issue Bearer shares.
Names’ restrictions: name shall end with Limited, Corporation, Incorporated, Societe Anonyme, Sociedad Anonima, Company, Limitada, Societe par actions, Aktiengesellschaft or Ltd., Corp., Inc., A/S, AG, N.V., B.V., GmbH, S.A. Names containing such words as Bank, Building society, Savings, Loans, Insurance, Assurance, Reinsurance, Fund management, Investment Fund, Trust, Trustees, Chamber of Commerce, University, Municipal, Royal & their derivatives are not allowed without special consent.
Requirements: company must have a registered address & registered agent in BVI.
Owner’s data: the information about the real beneficial owner of the company is confidential & provided only to the registered agent.
Constituent documents set: Certificate of Incorporation, Appointment of First Director, General Power of Attorney, Declaration of Non –Trading, Declaration of Share transfer, Declaration of Trust, Letter of Resignation, Register of members, Register of directors & officers, Share Certificate, Memorandum & Articles of association
Nominee service: allowed.
Transfer of an alien company to Midland Consult service: possible, but only with consent of the previous agent in BVI.
Currency control: no
Audit & financial reports: there are no requirements to file annual return & financial statements, however financial reports must be prepared & kept in the company’s office so that the financial status may be seen any time.
Taxation: taxation rate for BC is 0%
Double Taxation treaties: BVI has such treaties with Switzerland & Japan, however according to the BVI legislation they are taxpayers & not subject to these treaties.
Government fees: for companies with authorized capital up to 50 000 USD the fee is $350. For the companies incorporated in the first six months the payment period is from January till the end of May, for companies of second half of the year the payment is due to be done within June – end of November annually.
Additional information: BVI don’t appear in so called “black lists” such as ones of FATF (International Group Against Money Laundering), OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation & Developments). There is no need to point out the objects of the company in its constituent documents. The local laws admit the flexibility of such an information given in the constituent documents. Subject to the BVI legislation it is allowed to note just the number of shares without nominal value that the company is empowered to issue. (There is no limit for the number of shares). The information about directors & shareholders is not reflected in the Public Register of BVI & not available to the third party inquiries. It is not allowed to carry on business on the BVI territory as well as to act as insurance, reinsurance company, to manage funds, incarnate collective investments schemes, to act as trustees, i.e. in other words, to carry on any type of insurance or banking activity. A person of any nationality & not necessarily a BVI resident my be a director. A BVI company is to pay government fee for the renewal & its registered agent fee for its maintenance annually.
On 31st December 2004 a new edition of the International Business Company Act was introduced, according to which they are now called Business Company (BC). It was resolved that bearer shares shall be kept by an authorized holder.
On 22nd February 2008 amendments to the Money Laundering Law came into force, stating that information about the real beneficiaries of the company, including passport copy, residence address proof, bank & commercial references, company’s activities descriptions shall be held by its registered agent.
