British virgin islands

British Virgin Islands (B.V.I.) include 60 separate islands that are situated in the Caribbean basin and it is near from Puerto-Rico. The capital Road Town is situated on the principal island, Tortola. The political system is British colony. It is having own government and its own constitution. The government is headed by the governor appointed by Great Britain. The legislative system is based on the British law. Banking and auditing services are developed on the islands. Over 300.000 thousand off-shore companies have been registered in the B.V.I. since 1984 giving the evidence of great popularity of the islands as a tax harbor.

1.	Corporate Law	The International Business Companies Act of 1984, with amendments of 1988, 1990, 1994 and 2004. The New Companies Act 2004.
2.	The form of tax-free company	International Business Company (IBC), hereinafter referred to as the “Company”
3.	Permitted activities	Any activity not prohibited by the law. A special license for banking, insurance, reinsurance and trust services is required. Keeping the offshore status, the Company is allowed to conduct the following local business activities: - to open deposit accounts with banks ; - to use services of local specialists (lawyers, accountants etc.); - to prepare and to keep the accountancy documents; - to hold the meetings of shareholders and directors; - office lease for another permitted activities; - to hold the shares and the other IBCs’documents; - to hold the shares and other documents of the company belonged to the resident of BVI.
4.	Prohibited activities	- Making transactions with residents of British Virgin Islands - owning real estate in the territory of British Virgin Islands,( permitted only office leas); - Provide banking and trust services without special license.
5.	Taxation	The Company is free from any taxes and duties.
6.	The period of registration	Within 24 hours
7.	The possibility to buy a shelf company	Yes
8.	The name of the Company	Should not be identical or similar to any existing one. The name should have the words: “Limited”, “Corporation”, “Incorporated”, “Societe Anonyme”, “Sociedad Anonima”, “Limitada”, “Societe par actions”, “Aktiengesellschaft” or the abbreviations “Ltd.”, “Corp.”, “Inc.”, A/S”, “AG”, “N.V”, “B.V.”, “GmbH Limited”, “S.A”. The words: “Assurance”, “Bank”, “Building Society”, “Chamber of Commerce”, “Chartered”, “Cooperative”, “Imperial”, “Insurance”, “Municipal”, “Royal”, “Trust Company”, “Trustee Company” or other words and word combinations having the same meaning may not be used in the name of an IBC.
9.	The documents required for the registration	Memorandum of incorporation, the Articles of Association
10.	Who signs the incorporation documents?	At least two subscribers whose function is only to sign the incorporation documents and appoint the first Director.
11.	The share capital of the Company	The share capital of the company is authorized, there is no requirement of obligatory payment and minimum size.
12.	The recommended share capital	USD 5,000 divided into 5,000 shares with the par value of USD 1.
13.	Shares	The issue of registered shares and bearer shares is permitted, with the face value and without it. However, the bearer shares have to be deposited with an Authorized and Recognized Custodian and the annual license fee for these companies will be US$1,100.00.
14.	Trustees - authorized - recognized	- should comply with requirements of Financial Operations Comission: to act as competent authorized trustee of bearer shares, to have necessary security and compliance systems fir safety keeping of bearer shares; - may be any investment stock exchange, or clearing organization dealing with securities clearing or regulation in the jurisdiction being FATF member.
15.	Shareholders: - minimum number -nominee shareholders	- a single private individual or legal entity - permitted
16.	Directors: - minimum number - ethnic origin and nationality - status	- A single private individual or legal entity - No requirements - All rights except those within the exclusive competence of the shareholders (determined by the memorandum, Articles of Association and/or the law) It is necessary to keep register of directors with of the Company’s Registered Agent at the Registered office address. This register should be provided to the Registered Agent not later than 30 days after the Company registration with Company Registry.
17.	Whether the law provides non-disclosure of the information: - on the beneficial owner of the Company - on banking operations	- The beneficial owner of the Company is not filed at the state authorities of the British Virgin Islands - Yes
18.	The existence in the territory of the British Virgin Islands of: - registered office - registered agent	- Obligatory - Obligatory
19.	Holding of shareholders/ directors meeting	The meetings may be held in any part of the world. Meetings may be held by phone. The minutes of the meetings may be kept in any place.
20.	The requirement of: - the accounting - preparing the annual report - submission of the auditors’ opinion	- None - None - None
21.	The information available upon request of any third parties	Memorandum of incorporation, the Articles of Association, the name of the registration agent and the registration office.
22.	Documents kept in the registration office	The register of shareholders and directors, the imprint of the seal
23.	Double taxation avoidance treaties	None
24.	Currency control	None