How to keep a Nevis offshore company in Good Standing

If you would like to register a company in a reliable and reputable offshore jurisdiction, you might well consider Nevis. The country offers everything that a true asset protection haven must have:

• Fast company registration;
• Favourable tax treatment of worldwide income;
• A high level of privacy and asset protection.

In addition to this, several factors inherent to Nevis alone are beneficial for the international entrepreneur. These are such factors as warm relationships with the Caribbean neighbours, respect on the part of the United States, maximum protection from creditors, angry relatives, and fraudsters – and maximum confidentiality of the information about the Nevis-registered trust or company.

Nevis is NOT on the EU blacklist and even in this “brave new world” it has continued functioning quite successfully as a financial centre. The popularity of this jurisdiction remains as high as it has always been. The Government of the country has taken some measures to keep Nevis attractive for foreign investors while complying with modern international requirements.

Besides, Nevis has also signed a  number of double taxation avoidance agreements so your trust or company registered in this jurisdiction is protected from unexpected double taxation.

One of the most attractive characteristics that Nevis possesses is the ability to protect the businessperson’s assets in the most effective way. This goal is achieved via several means.

First, the court decisions made in other countries are invalid in Nevis until a local court of law finds the evidence conclusive. Imagine that a judge in your home country has sentenced your Nevis-based company to a judgement, for example. Before you will be obliged to pay the judgement, a judge in Nevis will have to be convinced that the accusations against you are well grounded and the judgement must be paid indeed.

Second, creditors are often reluctant to file suits against Nevis-registered companies. On the one hand, the legal charges are very high, around US$ 100,000 bond being a basic requirement before anyone can sue in Nevis. 

Your property including your fixed assets based in Nevis cannot be possibly taken away from you. There have been attempts to do so but they have all been unsuccessful, as far as we know. Besides, a class action suit cannot be filed against a Nevis-based company either. Every creditor or plaintiff has to sue the company individually.  

This sort of protection does not contradict the EU requirements nor does it cause any suspicions in the financial controllers. However, even Nevis has some weak points that are found in other business aspects.

The ‘problematic’ Nevis

All offshore jurisdictions are currently going through hard times. Without a doubt, offshore companies registered in the offshore jurisdictions suffer from these changes. They have to sacrifice part of the privacy that they used to enjoy before. Now Nevis has joined the group of countries that exchange their residents’ fiscal information automatically.

In addition to that, today companies have to have some economic substance in Nevis. It does not come at too high a price, of course – but an additional expenditure is required anyway.

The cost of company registration has also increased, which is one more global pattern. This has occurred due to the EU fight for fiscal transparency and the need to hire lots of extra compliance personnel.

Please apply for our free consultation on the matter by writing to [email protected]. We will be happy to be of assistance to you.