General Information

First settled by the British in 1623, the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis became an associated state with full internal autonomy in 1967. The island of Anguilla rebelled and was allowed to secede in 1971. Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved independence in 1983. In 1998, a vote in Nevis on a referendum to separate from Saint Kitts fell short of the two-thirds majority needed. Nevis continues in its efforts to try and separate from Saint Kitts.

Nevis / St. Kitts is situated at 17° north latitude and 52° west longitude and is located in the Leeward Islands approximately 2.000 km south-east of Miami. The population of Nevis is 8.500 with 35.000 residents in the neighbouring Island of St. Kitts.

Nevis was a British colony from 1628 until 1983 when it became independent and joined the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. The Federation is an active member of the British Commonwealth. Nevis is a vigorous democracy based upon the British Parliamentary system with an elected local assembly. An independent study has ranked the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis as one of the ten freest nations in the world for seven years running.

There are frequent direct air services to North America and other Caribbean islands. Nevis has a deep-water port. The economy has traditionally depended on the growing and processing of sugar cane; decreasing world prices have hurt the industry in recent years. Tourism and export oriented manufacturing have begun to assume larger roles of GDP. Growth in the construction and tourism sectors has spurred the economic expansion of the Island. Most food is imported.

English is the official and commercial language of the Island. Nevis enjoys a literacy rate of 96%, one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere. The local currency is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar, which is fixed to the US Dollar. There are no exchange controls.

The type of law is the Common Law based on English common law. The principal corporate legalisation is the Nevis Business Corporation Ordinance 1984.

Company Information

The type of company for international trade and investment is the Offshore Exempt Company (NBCO). The procedure to incorporate is relatively simple: by submission of the Articles of Incorporation to the Registrar of Companies, together with the appropriate fee.

There are some restrictions on trading: A Nevis company incorporated under the Business Corporation Ordinance 1984 may not trade within Nevis. A company incorporated under the said act may not engage in the business of banking, insurance, assurance, fund and collective investment schemes or any other activity that would suggest an association with the banking or Insurance industries.

A company incorporated in Nevis has the same powers as a natural person. The language of legislation and corporate documents is English.

A registered office is required, shelf companies available upon request. The time to incorporate is just one day, but allow about one week for delivery of documentation.

There are certain name restrictions: any name that is identical to or similar to an existing company, any name that in the opinion of the Registrar is undesirable or suggests an illegal activity or any name that may imply government patronage. The name may be in any language that uses the Latin alphabet. The Registrar may request an English translation if a foreign language name is used.

The following names require consent or a valid licence: Bank, building society, savings, loans, insurance, assurance, reinsurance, fund management, investment fund, municipal, trust, trustee, Chamber of Commerce, university or their foreign language equivalent.

The following suffixes denote a limited liability company: Limited, Company, Corporation, Incorporated, Sociedad Anonima, Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung or their abbreviations.

There is no disclosure of beneficial ownership to authorities.

Compliance

The authorised share capital for a Nevis IBC may be expressed in any currency. The minimum issued capital is either one share of no par value or one share of par value.

The following classes of shares are permitted: Registered shares, bearer shares, preference shares, redeemable shares and shares with or without par value. Bearer shares are permitted, if held by an approved custodian.

A Nevis offshore exempt company is exempt from local taxation. Although Nevis does have double tax agreements, a company incorporated under the Nevis Business Corporation Ordinance 1984 cannot obtain any treaty relief through them. There is an annual registration fee of US$ 200 payable to the Minister of Finance.

Whilst there is no requirement to submit or file audited financial statements, a Nevis company is required to maintain financial records to reflect the financial position of the company.

The minimum number of directors is three if the number of shareholders is three. If fewer than three, the number of directors may be equal to the number of shareholders. The directors may be natural persons or bodies corporate and may be of any nationality and need not be residents of Nevis. A Nevis exempt company must appoint a company secretary, who may be a natural person or a body corporate may be of any nationality and need not be resident in Nevis. The minimum number of shareholders is one.