Register a company in Gibraltar with a corporate account in a Saint Lucian bank – from 7,699 EUR

If you would like to establish a foreign company, Gibraltar in Europe is one of the most attractive jurisdictions to consider. European banks, however, are often reluctant to allow US dollar transactions today. Thus, if you intend to make such transactions, a corporate bank account in Saint Lucia is exactly what you need.

The unique jurisdiction of Gibraltar

From this small British overseas territory, Africa can be seen across the Straights of Gibraltar. The Straights form a passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea so Gibraltar’s geographic position is truly strategic.

The people of Gibraltar (a bit over 33,000 in total as of this day) are happy to be citizens of Great Britain and they reject fiercely the idea of unification with Spain, their northern neighbor country. It is not surprising as the British Government provides for a high degree of Gibraltar’s self-governance. There is a one-chamber Parliament in the territory and an independent Government with the Chief Minister as the head. All internal issues are tackled locally in Gibraltar. At the same time, Great Britain takes care of the defense issues and protects its overseas territory’s interests in the international arena. Thus, Gibraltar enjoys a quite opportune legal status.

In addition to that, the territory is an independent EU member state since 1972. Evidently, a business company incorporated in a European Union country will be highly credible in the eyes of its partners by default.

What is more, some disadvantageous EU regulations do not apply in Gibraltar. In particular, it is the only jurisdiction in Europe where no VAT is levied upon business companies. Besides, Gibraltar is outside the European Customs Union so it does not have to contribute any share of its customs revenues to the common European budget.

Set up a business in Gibraltar

Gibraltar economy is thriving today. 30% of the country GDP comes from tourism. People from all over the world come to see ‘the Rock’ and play with the monkeys. Another 30% of the GDP comes from the financial sector, which makes it one of the three pillars of Gibraltarian economy, shipment services being the third.

Registering a business entity in Gibraltar is quite trouble-free for a foreign citizen. With our assistance, you can set up a company there without having to travel to the territory. We will only ask you to supply the following documents to us, which will allow registering your Gibraltarian company remotely:

• A notarized copy of your foreign passport;
• A notarized proof of address such as a utility bill, for instance;
• A document that certifies the legality of the origins of your prospective company registered capital.

The latter document can be an extract from the payroll, a real estate sales agreement, an act of inheritance, and so on. With certain types of Gibraltarian companies, the amount of the registered capital can be as small as one pound. In most cases, however, foreign business owners register between 2,000 and 5,000 pounds as the company charter capital.

Foreign company registration is a big business in Gibraltar so the Government officials involved in the process are very friendly and efficient. Establishing a non-resident company in the territory usually takes less than a week. (The phrase ‘a non-resident company’ implies that the company owners, directors, shareholders, and all other beneficiaries reside abroad, outside Gibraltar.)

We will also gladly help you maintain your Gibraltarian company regardless of its size – small, medium, or large. The annual maintenance cost for a small-size company, for example, is going to be twice as little as the price of the combined service that we are offering here: ‘a company in Gibraltar and a corporate bank account in Saint Lucia’. And a company is regarded as ‘small’ in Gibraltar if its annual turnover is less than 10.2 million pounds, which is not that small, as a matter of fact.

You should give Gibraltar especially serious consideration if you are planning to be involved with international business. All profits that domestic and non-resident companies derive from business operations conducted abroad are tax-free in Gibraltar. Your company will be taxed only if you do business with local resident individuals or corporations. And if you are planning to make US dollar transactions while conducting international business, you should consider setting up a corporate account with a very strong and reputable bank in Saint Lucia that has no problems with such transactions unlike many banks in Europe.

The Saint Lucian bank

We invite you to consider the opportunity to open a corporate account with one of the best banks in the Caribbean region without leaving the comfort of your home. The bank is located on an independent and self-reliant island of Saint Lucia. It is one of the Windward Islands, a chain of Lesser Antilles in the southeast part of the Caribbean Sea.

The Island has a colonial past but it is an independent state today with a sustainable economy based on three main industries: tourism, financial services, and agriculture. The tropical climate and the fertile soil allow growing bananas, coconuts, mango, cacao beans, citrus fruits, grapes, and sugarcane on the island. 

The bank we are bringing to your consideration is supervised by the Saint Lucian Department of Financial Control and the East-Caribbean Central Bank. It has stable correspondent relations and respectable financial/ investment partners, which allows the bank to provide high-quality investment services to its clients.

The bank is a subsidiary of a publicly listed company called East Caribbean Financial Holding Company Limited (ECFH). The company is listed on the East-Caribbean stock exchange and it is a leading financial group in Saint Lucia. ECFH also holds a banking license.

ECFH is the product of the merger of two banks: National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Saint Lucia Development Bank. The merger took place in 2001 and it has allowed the new company to develop and offer to its clients a larger spectrum of banking, financial, and other associated services and products.

The major bank stockholders are the Government of Saint Lucia, Republic Bank Limited, OECS, a consortium of five banks and financial institutions, and National Insurance Corporation, Saint Lucia. 30% of the bank shares belong to over 4,000 small private and corporate investors from the Caribbean region.   

The bank provides services in multiple languages English being the main one as it is the language of business communication on Saint Lucia. However, you can also be serviced in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German with this bank.

A corporate bank account in Saint Lucia

You do not have to pay a personal visit to Saint Lucia in order to set up a corporate bank account in this country. What you have to do is send us a document package that we will gladly help you collect. You will need to supply both personal and corporate papers that we will then send to the bank.

The list of the required personal documents includes the following ones:

• Scan copies of the completed bank application forms for account opening. We have the forms and we will send them to you when you place a request for the services with us. You will have to print the forms out, complete them, sign them, scan them and send them back to us.
• A notarized copy of your foreign passport or any other official identification documents that carries your photograph and signature.

Note: In case a notary public refuses to put his or her stamp on the passport copy, you should have the passport translated into English by a sworn translator (the main pages with the photo and the signature), then bind the copy of the original passport with the translation, and then submit the package to the notary who will be obliged to notarize the passport copy now.

• Proof of address that can be a recent utility bill or a bank statement (a credit card statement) that carries your residential address.

Note: The utility bills and other proofs of address shall be less than three months old, be translated into English if necessary and notarized.

• A letter of recommendation from a professional such as a banker, a certified accountant, or an attorney.  

Note: The letter of recommendation shall be written in, or translated into, English and it shall be issued not earlier than two months prior to the application submission; you have to have been in working contact with the professional for not less than two years.

A full package of corporate documents shall also be submitted to the bank when applying for opening an account there. The list of the required corporate documents includes but is not limited to the following ones:

• A notarized copy of the Certificate of Incorporation / Certificate of Good Standing (if the company has been in operation for over one year).
• A notarized copy of the Minutes of the General Meeting and Memorandum and Articles of Association or Company By-Laws.
• A notarized copy of the Certificate of Shareholders/ subscribers.
• A notarized copy of Subscribers appointment of the company’s director(s).

All the documents have to be written in, or otherwise translated into, English and notarized.

Please also bear in mind that the bank may request additional documents. In particular, it may enquire about the company details, its business activities, its organizational structure, and so on.

A corporate account in the Saint Lucian bank will let you actively manage your assets and use various financial instruments to increase your wealth. To launch the procedure of company formation in Gibraltar and account opening in Saint Lucia please write to us to [email protected] and request this service.

Credit and prepaid cards from the Saint Lucian bank

Every client of the bank we are advertising here is entitled to obtain a credit and/ or a prepaid card from its sister bank located in Saint Lucia as well.

After you set up a corporate account with the bank, you can apply for a bankcard. The application processing takes up to seven business days.

Prior to applying for the card, however, you have to establish a security deposit on the account that the card will be linked to. After the card is ready, the bank will send it to you by FedEx to the address that you will have indicated.

Main requirements to, and characteristics of, the credit card acquisition:

• The credit card shall be deposit-secured in the amount of 125% of the credit limit.
• Only USD cards are issued.
• When filling out the application for the credit card, you have to indicate the desired credit limit and the card type.
• A VISA or a MasterCard can be issued to an individual client and only a VISA card can be issued to a corporate client.
• Annual card service fee is USD 60.00 for personal cards and USD 150.00 for corporate cards.
• A card statement will be provided on a monthly basis electronically in the PDF format.
• Your bank account will be used to cover the monthly service fee.
• The bank can refill the card for you; this service costs USD 15.00.
• If your card is closed, the remaining balance will be transferred to your account within 150 days. Such a long time is needed to guard against possible overdrafts.
• In case there is a negative balance on your card, the debt amount will be withdrawn from your account.
• An interest of 0.3% is paid on the balance exceeding USD 10,000 provided you have the money on the security deposit.
• After obtaining the card, you will also receive the PIN (Personal Identification Number).

The card can be freely used in ATM’s and POS’s all over the world.

The daily cash withdrawal limit is USD 2,000.00 with a single withdrawal limit of USD 1,000.00.

The weekly cash withdrawal limit is five withdrawals totaling USD 5,000.00.

Card fees and commissions

Multicurrency deposit account

In addition to the corporate account, you can also open a multicurrency deposit account with the Saint Lucian bank. It has secure and reputable correspondent accounts and the best financial/ investment partners, which allows the bank to offer attractive conditions for opening multicurrency accounts.

Currently, the bank provides for an opportunity to open an account in 15 world currencies simultaneously. This spares the account holder the necessity to convert an incoming payment made in another currency into the account currency. Multicurrency payments are performed via the international SWIFT system and they go through within 24 hours.

The bank offers multicurrency accounts in the following currencies:

As a rule, the required initial deposit is USD 25,000.00 or the equivalent in another currency. The deposit term may constitute 30, 60, 90, 190, 270, or 365 days. The interest rate will depend upon the deposit term. No taxes are payable on the interest in Saint Lucia.

A multicurrency account is a wonderful thing to have for an international trade company, an international financial service provider, and other entrepreneurs who do business worldwide.

Online banking with the Saint Lucian bank

The bank offers online banking services, which will give you a 24/7 access to your account internationally. You can check the account details and make transactions from anywhere in the world.

To couple security with convenience the Saint Lucian banks employs a system of secret messages, which lets you avoid using the electronic mail that is not necessarily 100% secure.

To enhance the level of security in accessing their accounts the bank clients receive special security tokens.

Request our service

If you are interested in the combined service we have described above, please request it via e-mail [email protected]. Should you have any questions about Gibraltar or Saint Lucia, please ask them by writing to the same address. We will answer all your queries in a timely manner.