- Companies limited by shares
- Companies limited by guarantee
- Restricted purpose companies
- Segregated portfolio companies
- Unlimited companies
- Hybrid companies
Company names
Any company incorporated under the Act must bear a name ending in one of the following: Limited, Corporation, Incorporated Société Anonyme, Sociedad Anonima, Unlimited, or any of the commonly used abbreviations of the same. No company can be incorporated under the Act with a name that is identical to, or closely resembles the name of a company already in existence. Furthermore, names such as Assurance, Bank, Building Society, Royal, Trust Company, Trustee Company etc will require justification.
Restriction on activities
Licensing is required for business activities related to banking, insurance, investments and gaming.
Approval of names & time required to incorporate a company
The approval of names takes 24 hours, with a further 24 hours required for the incorporation of the company.
Share capital & government license fee
The standard authorised share capital is US$ 50,000, on which an annual government license fee of US$350 is payable. If the authorised share capital is in excess of US$50,000 then the annual government license fee is US$ 1,100. The share capital may be divided into different classes and can be denominated in any recognised hard currency. Bearer shares are allowed but must be held in safe custody by an authorised custodian.
Company officers
Shareholders: minimum of one which can be a physical person or a corporate entity.
Directors: minimum of one which can be a physical person or a corporate entity. The director(s) can be of any nationality.
Company Secretary: This is optional and can be a physical person or corporate entity, of any nationality.
Registered Office & Registered Agent
A registered agent must be appointed and a registered office must be maintained within the BVI.
Corporate records & public filings
BVI companies must keep registers of the company officers (shareholders, directors, company secretaries) and the registered offices at the registered office. Public filing of this information is optional. A register of charges must also be kept at the registered office. The disclosure of the beneficial owner(s) is not required. A BVI company is expected to keep such accounts and records as are sufficient to explain the company’s transactions and allow the company’s position to be determined with reasonable accuracy. However, such accounts are not required to be audited or filed with the financial authorities.
Corporate taxation
BVI IBCs are not subject to corporate taxation in the BVI.
Outline Map: Source: http://www.worldatlas.com
Jurisdictions