Offshore company formation in BVI (British Virgin Islands)

BVI COMPANIES

British Virgin Islands (BVI)

BVI Business Companies are highly popular and often used offshore companies because of their administrative simplicity, flexibility, tax exemption status, and above all, acknowledgment and recognition by the global financial community.

ABOUT

British Virgin Islands Companies

STRUCTURE

BVI company requires a minimum of one owner, one shareholder, and one director. They can be either private or corporate entities of any nationality. One entity can act as owner, shareholder, and director. The management structure of BVI company can be tailored in an accordance with a wide range of client’s requirements. A company with a sole director/member/shareholder may appoint an additional director to take his/her place in the case of bereavement.

PROVISIONS

Should for some reason (nationalization, confiscatory tax, expropriation), a foreign Government seizes company shares, the shareholder may apply to the BVI Court, asking them to disregard the seizure and hold the shares accordingly.

TYPE OF FORMATION

BVI company may be incorporated as: a company limited by shares, a company limited by guarantee (with or without authorization to issue shares), an unlimited company (with or without authorization to issue shares), a segregated portfolio company, and a restricted purpose company.

ALLOWED

BVI company may:

STEPS TO FORMING A COMPANY

What are the steps to forming a BVI company?

Generally, you may be asked to provide the following:

In addition, the following documents must be translated to English (if originals not in English): Drivers license, utility bill, bank account statement

*Documents should be certified by Independent Lawyers, Bank Managers, Accountant, Notaries, and Embassy Officials in English

Opening an offshore bank account

We offer you the service of assisting in opening a bank account. For more information, please visit our Bank Accounts page.

Price

Price list

The price depends on the type of service you want to use

Incorporation costs

Annual fees

Other services

Incorporation costs

2100 USD	Document certification
	Courier fee

Annual fees

1600 USD	Registered Agent
	Registered address

Other services

Find out more about what we can do for you…

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

About BVI

The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, is a British overseas territory located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. British Virgin Islanders are classed as British Overseas Territories citizens and since 2002 have had an entitlement to take up full UK citizenship. The capital, Road Town, is situated on Tortola, the largest island, which is approximately 20 km long and 5 km wide. The islands had a population of about 28,000 at the 2010 Census, of whom approximately 23,500 lived on Tortola. The territory operates as a parliamentary democracy. Ultimate executive authority in The British Virgin Islands is vested in the Queen and is exercised on her behalf by the Governor of the British Virgin Islands. The governor is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the British government. Defense and most foreign affairs remain the responsibility of the United Kingdom. Since the adoption of the British Virgin Islands International Business Companies Ordinance in 1984, the BVI IBC has attained a model status in the offshore services industry. On January 1, 2005, a brand-new version of the BVI Business Companies Act came into force. The new Act represents a further development in the already outstanding BVI offshore corporate legislation. The new law successfully addresses the challenges faced by the offshore financial industry in the 21st century, in particular, the pressures against ‘illegal discrimination’ between domestic and offshore companies.

What is BVI IBC?

IBC – an International Business Company – is the most commonly used official name for what is more popularly known as an “offshore company”. With more than 600,000 total incorporations and more than 5000 new companies registered every month, BVI is by far the most popular offshore tax haven. Such is the dominance of the British Virgin Islands as an offshore corporate domicile, that in many regions of the Far East International Business Companies are called simply “BVI’s”.

Tax in BVI

A BVI Business Company is exempt from the BVI income tax, the same exemption applies to all dividends, interest, rents, royalties, compensations and other amounts paid by a company, and all capital gains realized with respect to any shares, debt obligations or other securities of the company. No estate, inheritance, succession or gift tax is payable with respect to any shares, debt obligations or other securities of a BVI BC. All transactions and instruments relating to transfers of any type of property of assets, shares, debt obligations or securities to or by a BVI BC are exempt from the stamp duty, with a sole exception for land-ownership transactions in the British Virgin Islands, in which case stamp duty remains payable.

Nominee service

Nominee Service consists of Nominee Director and/or Nominee Shareholder. Both, corporate and individual Nominee Directors and Shareholders are available in BVI.

Accounting and audit

BVI Business Companies does not have an obligation to prepare or file financial accounts. However, records must be kept that are sufficient to show and explain the Company’s transactions; and will, at any time, enable the financial position of the Company to be determined with reasonable accuracy. Such records do not have to be kept in the British Virgin Islands and the location for keeping such records can be freely determined by the owners of the Company, and there is no requirement whatsoever to file or otherwise make public any commercial or financial records of the Company.

List of documents received for standard IBC

Certificate of Incorporation
Appointment of First Director
Register of directors
Register of Members
Share Certificate

Privacy

The government does not know who the directors and shareholders of companies are. That information stays with the registered agent, which is bound by law to only disclose the information under a lawful request such as through a DTA or a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA)

Corporate name

A BVI Business Company may not be registered under a name that is identical to the name of an existing BVI company, or is so similar to the name of an existing BVI Company, that, in the opinion of the Registrar, the such name would be likely to confuse or mislead. As the BVI Registrar of Companies has a name-reservation system, a reserved name would also be considered as an already existing name.

Without obtaining prior written content of the Financial Services Commission, a BVI Business Company may not be registered under a name that contains a “restricted” word or phrase (according to a published list of such restrictions) – such as the words “Assurance”, “Bank”, “Building Society”, “Chamber of Commerce”, “Chartered”, “Cooperative”, “Imperial”, “Municipal”, “Royal”, “Trust” or any word conveying a similar meaning, as well as any name suggesting the patronage of the British Royalty, British, BVI or any other government or its department.

Bank account

For BVI IBC we can assist you with the bank account opening in BVI or internationally. The banks we cooperate with are reliable financial institutions with a long tradition in private and corporate banking. Our clients are provided with excellent customer service, online banking, Visa and/or Master cards, and other services, such as factoring, foreign exchange, savings, and specialized banking solutions.

TESTIMONIALS

What our clients say

Serving our clients—including corporations, private equity firms, government organizations—is a privilege.

Call us and we will start the process of opening a company today or schedule a consultation if you have any doubts

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