Nevis International Business Corporation (IBC)

Nevis IBC's provide these advantages:

• Flexibility of ownership and management structure.
  
• There are no residency requirements for Directors, Shareholders or Officers.
• Corporate or Trust entities may act as Director, Secretary or Shareholder.
  
• Re-domiciliation of other foreign companies into and out of Nevis.
  
• There are no limitations on corporate ownership.
• Plaintiffs in adverse suit being brought in Nevis would be required to post a $25,000 bond.
• Nevis permits sole director IBC's
• No corporate tax, income tax, withholding tax, stamp tax, asset tax, exchange controls or other fees or taxes are levied in Nevis on assets or income originating outside of Nevis.

Important Features of the Nevis Business Ordinance 1984

1. No taxes are levied in Nevis upon income, dividends or distributions of a Nevis company which are not earned on the island. Corporate financial returns need not be filed in Nevis.

2. Shareholders,directors and officers may be of any nationality and reside anywhere.

3. No annual or other reports by shareholders or directors are required to be filed in the public records of Nevis, changes of shareholders, directors or officers need not be reported to the Registrar of Companies in Nevis.

4. Shares may be registered or bearer form.

5. Shares with par value may be denominated in any currency.

6. A Managing Director may be appointed to guide the corporations's activities.

7. The corporate Secretary may be a corporation or an individual.

8. Companies may serve as directors. Alternate or substitute directors may be appointed.

9. Shareholders and directors may act by unanimous consent, without a meeting. Shareholders and directors may issue proxies in writing.

10. The company's records and its principal office may be located anywhere.

11. Nevis companies may amend their Article of Incorporation, merge or consolidate with foreign corporations or other Nevis corporations, or file Articles of Dissolution in accordance with liberal provisions contained in the Ordinance.

12. Any corporation formed in another jurisdiction may redomicile in Nevis pursuant to certain easily followed provisions set forth in the Ordinance.

Deeper Understanding of Nevis IBC's

International Business Companies, or IBC's, are a special type of company which enjoy many advantages over a "normal" company. Nevis offers some of the finest IBC laws in the world. Described below are some of the advantages of using a Nevis IBC.

Tax Free

All IBC's are free from all forms of Nevisian taxation. There are no Nevisian taxes on dividends, income or capital distribution or wages whatsoever. Moreover, unlike many onshore jurisdictions, Nevis does not tax an IBC for accumulated (but undistributed) earnings. The wealth of your IBC can grow continually and will be free from Nevisian tax. At Sovereign, we combine this powerful advantage with a powerful option to have a Panamanian Foundation own the shared of the IBC.

Remote Access

There is no need for you to be on Nevis to conduct the affairs of your Nevisian IBC. Banking, contract signing, and investing can all be handled remotely and remain in compliance with Nevisian law. Of course, even Nevis does have minimal requirements for its IBC's to follow. These minimal requirements include having at least a single shareholder, having three directors (unless the IBC has less than three shareholders), having a registered agent and a registered office, and payment of an annual fee - all of which can be administered for you by Sovereign. Although not strictly required under Nevisian law, your IBC may conduct periodic meetings even if you elect not to attend.

Privacy

All of the affairs of a Nevisian IBC are private and cannot be disclosed except under truly extraordinary circumstances. The only document that needs to be filed with the government is the annual corporate license and this contains minimal information. There is no requirement than an annual report or annual financial return be disclosed to the government. Nevis does not require any government inspection of your IBC's financial or business records.

Nominees

Nevisian law permits the use of nominee shareholders, officers and directors. This means that Sovereign Management & Legal can act as a nominee (substitute) director and officer on behalf of IBC's. Thus the true directors, officers and shareholders can remain undisclosed.

Bearer Shares

Unlike most onshore jurisdictions, Nevis permits an IBC to issue either registered shares or bearer shares or both. While the owner of a registered share is recorded on the books of the company, there is no recording requirement for a bearer share. Whoever has possession of the share is automatically deemed to be the owner absent a strong showing of fraud. A good example of a bearer instrument is cash! If you have it, then it is deemed to belong to you. Possession is at least nine-tenths of the law where bearer instruments are concerned. Thus Nevisian corporate ownership can remain completely anonymous via the use of bearer shares. Bearer shares can be issued to a nominee who assigns them to the owners and ownership is completely private.

Be aware however, that Bearer Share Companies in general open themselves up to more scrutiny and a strong indication of possible wrongdoing can be assumed if the company in question gets into legal difficulties. This is why we recommend the Nevis IBC to be set up with registered shares that are owned by the Foundation. It’s sends a very strong message to any would be litigant or creditor. Please click here for further information about the bullet proof strategy of utilizing an IBC combined with a Foundation.

To view pricing, the components of our special offshore packages and to order, click here.