Cayman Islands Offshore Guide
Formerly known as Tortugas, The Cayman Islands is located in the Caribbean and is composed of three islands: Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman, the largest, is approximately 480 miles southeast of Miami. Little Cayman and Cayman Brac are smaller and can be reached only by air. The capital city is Georgetown which is on Grand Cayman and where almost all financial activities take place.
It is argued that no other place in the Caribbean region has weather better than what The Cayman Islands has. Its official and spoken language is English. There is too much American influence on its people but at the same time they imbibe many British characteristics. It has one of the excellent communication facilities with the highest per capita rate of cellular telephones.
The Cayman dollar is the official currency and has a value of CI$1.00 to US$1.20. It could be well said that in the Cayman Islands, people are richer than the people in the United States. The country has no exchange controls which gives the Caymanians more freedom over their currency movements.
Its financial services sector and tourism keep the robust economy of the islands. The Caymanians established The Company Law based on the English Companies Act of 1948.
International Business Companies who want to incorporate in The Cayman Islands have to follow some simple procedure. Exempt companies should submit a memorandum and Articles of Association. Together with this, they should pay the corresponding registration fee to the Registrar of Companies. This should be accompanied with a sworn statement that the proposed business will undertake its activities outside of the Islands. Likewise, disclosure of the names and addresses of the proposed and first directors is required.
Companies once incorporated have to abide by some trading restrictions. They can neither trade nor own real estate within The Cayman Islands. They can do various businesses except banking, insurance or mutual funds, but they can do so after securing appropriate license.
All exempt companies in The Cayman Islands have all the powers of a natural person. They may not need to file accounts once they are unregulated. To start their business activity, one of the requirements is for each company to present at least a minimum number of one director. The director should be a resident of The Cayman Islands who may be natural persons of bodies corporate. As it is, there is no requirement for a company secretary, although almost all companies appoint one. The secretary could also either be a natural or a body corporate. The law requires only one shareholder.
Additional benefits that all exempt companies could avail of are their tax-free status over a period of twenty years. These companies are not required to submit accounts for auditing. There are only very few reporting requirements. Confidentiality is also one big assurance that these companies can have. It is a criminal act to disclose confidential company information or to purposefully get confidential information as provided for in the Confidential Relationship Law.