Month: January 2017

Belize started as a low cost jurisdiction in a highly international competitive market: the market of incorporating companies. This is one of those bad April fools. According to Belize Statutory Instrument No. 11 of 2016 – International Business Companies (Fees) Regulations 2016, the licence fee of Belize International Business Companies (IBCs) has been increased from US$100 to US$200.

The State of Delaware makes US$16 billion out of corporate fees alone (2015 report). This is the GDP of Malta or Iceland. Despite this, it took them 3 months to process a regular corporate document sent to the Division of Corporations: from October 2016 to January 2017. If you want a faster proceeding you have to pay an extra US$100 for the 24-hour expedited service (on the top of the US$200 for the filling). For that price you have a new company in Wyoming. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to send your documents by post to the Delaware Division of Corporation, or use ... Read more

Most IBCs in Belize are probably illegal because of this: §73.(4) A company incorporated under this Act shall have a common seal and an imprint thereof shall be kept at the registered office of the company. (5) A company that wilfully contravenes this section is liable to a penalty of $25 for each day or part thereof during which the contravention continues, and a director who knowingly permits the contravention is liable to a like penalty. Source: Belize IBC Act. The United Kingdom abolished the practice of mandatory use of company common seals since 1985… Strangely enough, in their LLC ... Read more

It is a classic in philosophy, and even in some religious texts: “your biggest enemy is yourself“. For that matter the Seychelles fell on its own on the 26th July, 2016, in force since the 1st of November, 2016: Section 119 of the Act requires that: an IBC to make an annual declaration that the IBC is keeping accounting records in accordance with the Act and that such records can be made available through its registered agent. Section 119 of the Act requires that: every IBC to furnish a return (either in original or scanned copies) in the form of a declaration ... Read more

It is sad to see that in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) you cannot search online for a company name… For this privilege you have to fill a form & pay US$30, send it by snail mail or email and wait for the answer back… Where are we? In this day & age when information is acquired very fast: you will spend less time acquiring knowledge about superconductivity than getting information on a company on the register in the BVI. The BVI Finance Services Commission (BVIFSC), despite having US$2.8 million in surplus (2014 report), is not even able to put ... Read more

The Botswana IFSC set up-up in 2003 is dead, today only a 5 pages website with completely outdated information is up. The IFSC death was already announced back in 2010 because South Africa restricted inward investments and is already a developed financial centre. The agencies that took over are: the BITC (Botwana Investment & Trade Centre) for normal trading businesses, and the NBFIRA (Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority) for the Financial services like stockbrokers, funds, & (re)insurances. The IFSC laws were guaranteed until 2020 anyway, so with 3 little years to go, probably no more companies will be attracted. Neighbors such as ... Read more