St Kitts and Nevis

Christopher Columbus discovered Nevis on his second voyage in 1493, the English arrived in 1628. St. Kitts and Nevis were a British colony from 1628 until 1983, when they became independent and formed the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. The Federation is an active member of the British Commonwealth and the United Nations.

The climate is nearly perfect and the variation in altitude and soil conditions creates a natural garden of tropical vegetation. The islands are located in the Caribbean forming part of the Leeward Island chain to the west of Antigua. The area of the twin-island state is 261 square kilometres (101 square miles), with St. Kitts occupying 168 square kilometres (65 square miles) and Nevis 93 square kilometres (36 square miles). The capital and main settlement of St. Kitts, Basseterre, is on the island's southern coast, while Charleston, the main town of Nevis, lies on the west coast.

Population

The population of St. Kitts and Nevis is estimated at around 40,000 and has remained very stable over a 20 year period. As elsewhere in the Eastern Caribbean, financial services are of growing importance. This is especially true in Nevis, which has a reputation as an efficient and discreet tax haven. Most investors are based in North America and Europe, and a few are local. The banks and other businesses offer services to customers, individuals, and businesses seeking to avoid taxation in the countries in which they are based. According to the IMF, the current legal framework "provides for a high degree of confidentiality and for income tax exemption.  There are several dozen banks based in St. Kitts-Nevis, but they provide little local employment, as most business is conducted electronically. Details as to customer identity and the value of deposits are well-kept secrets.

St. Kitts and Nevis are a vigorous democracy, based upon the British Parliamentary system, with an elected local assembly. The largest expenditure by Government is for education and St. Kitts and Nevis have achieved a literacy rate of 96%, possibly the highest in the Western Hemisphere.

An independent study has ranked the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis as one of the ten freest nations in the world for ten years running.

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Local Corporate Requirements

Each Nevis Company must;
have registered office and agent in Nevis;
have minimum of 1 director, corporate directors are permitted;
have minimum of 1 shareholder;
bearer shares are permitted;

The register of shareholders/members must be kept at the registered office and can only be inspected with the director's consent.

There are no requirements for;
registers of directors and details of beneficial owners do not need to be submitted to the Registrar, however, the company may elect to do so;

registers of shareholders to be submitted to the Registrar, however a company may elect to do so;

annual meetings to be held;

annual returns to be lodged.

Additional Information
Uncharacteristic of other Caribbean offshore centres, Nevis has always concentrated its energy on becoming a leader in offshore company formation.
This effort greatly benefited Nevis by attracting steady growth and respectability leading to its evolution as the mature centre it is today. The many benefits of company formation provided for by the enactment of the Nevis Business Corporation Ordinance in 1984 and Nevis Business Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance, 1999 continue to remain true today, namely;
No disclosure or reporting of ownership and management to any governmental or local authority;
Flexible provisions for share issuance, including bearer shares, shares of no par value, foreign currency denomination and purchase and redemption of shares from surplus;
No residency or nationality requirement for directors, officers, stockholders and office;
Streamlined transfer, amendment and dissolution provisions;
Inexpensive company registration and annual costs;
Expeditious company registration and document issuance/filing procedures.

The 1990's saw the expansion of offshore services vis a vis the enactment of additional offshore legislation and the attraction of trust operators committed to the continued growth, success and respectability of Nevis as an OFC. The additional offshore legislation enacted was:

Nevis International Exempt Trust Ordinance 1994;
Nevis Limited Liability Company Ordinance 1995;
Nevis Offshore Banking Ordinance 1996.
With the exception of the banking ordinance, the common elements of the statutes are the streamlined statutory registration procedure, annual requirements and competitive fee schedule.

The Nevis international exempt trust ordinance was enacted by the Nevis Government in direct response to the growing needs of international lawyers, fiduciaries and practitioner for a progressive trust statute incorporating modern trust concepts. One of the major benefits of the trust ordinance is the utilisation of a Nevis company established under the Nevis business corporation ordinance in conjunction with a Nevis trust. In addition to the recognition of common law trust principles, the trust ordinance includes special provisions to enhance the use of Nevis as a preferred jurisdiction for the establishment of ‘Asset Protection Trusts’ commonly referred to as ‘APTs’

The strong demand for APTs has developed particularly in the United States as a result of increased litigation, frivolous law suits and the prohibitive costs of obtaining professional indemnity insurance by business people a greater risk or exposed to law suits.

Highlights of the Trust Ordinance include:

Exempt from all forms of Nevis taxation and exchange controls;

Trustee may be either a trust company licensed to do business in Nevis or a company incorporated under the Corporation Ordinance;

Proper law may be the law of Nevis or the law of another jurisdiction;

Rules against perpetuities do not apply;

Legal challenge must be made within one year of settlement;

Forced heirship rules cannot invalidate a trust;

Permissible spendthrift and charitable trusts;

£25,000 bond requirement prior to the commencement of an action or proceeding against trust property;

Under the trust ordinance, the trust deed is not required to be registered and therefore remains a private document which ensures confidentiality of the settlor and beneficiaries.

The impetus for enacting the Nevis Limited Liability Company Ordinance was the extraordinary popularity for limited liability companies in the United States. Each of the 50 U.S States have legislation governing the recognition of limited liability companies, the most popular being the LLC laws of Delaware and Wyoming.

Nevis LLCs which are analogous to French SARLs and German GmbH's are provided full tax exemption in Nevis and treated as a transparent entity for U.S tax purposes as well as for possible other countries. In addition, with proper structuring and planning the Nevis LLC can be used as a structure providing asset protection similar to those of a trust without the limitations on control generally required of trusts. Further advantages of the LLC ordinance include:

Flexible ownership and management provisions;
Recognition of single member LLC;
No return or reporting requirements;
Foreign entities may be redomiciled to Nevis as LLC;
Exemption from all Nevis taxation and exchange controls.

The Nevis offshore banking ordinance was enacted on 30 May 1996 to facilitate the financial services available in Nevis rather than to establish Nevis as a base for offshore private banks and to allow current and future onshore retail banks to establish offshore banking units.

To qualify as an offshore bank, a bank which is regulated by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank or one that is licensed in its jurisdiction of incorporation to accept deposits from the public must register under the Banking Act. Offshore banks must file quarterly financial statements together with audited accounts and must maintain, at all times, a resident director in Nevis. Offshore banks are exempt from taxation under the Income Tax Act; however, profits are taxed at a rate of 2.5% for the first EC£10m, 2% between EC£10m, and EC£20m and 1.5% on profits above EC£20m.
The Nevis Government established a financial services department and has appointed a director responsible for the regulation of the offshore sector.

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Local Facilities And Support Services

While Nevis has a small and professional financial community the number of legal, accounting and financial institutions is way behind the Bahamas, BVI or Cayman Islands.

Clearly a small island community of 8000 people can offer a very personal service although they cannot offer the extensive range of facilities available in larger offshore centres.

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Our services

We usually have shelf companies immediately availalbe. All companies are provided with a complete kit including -

• Statutory registers
• Share certificates
• 10 copies of the M & A
• Common seal