Cayman 
Cayman is where funds, holding companies, and serious structures are set up, and the upkeep is as important as the launch. Our specialists guide your setup and manage the annual filings, accounts, governance, and records that keep it in order.
Expanship is a privately owned company. We are not a government agency, department, registry or regulator, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for the Government of the Cayman Islands, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, or the General Registry. We advise you, prepare and coordinate your paperwork, and act on your behalf; whether a company or document is approved, and when, is decided by those authorities alone.
The Jurisdiction
Your company is governed by English common law under a Companies Act revised continuously, and the final appeal is heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. It is the body of law that fund managers, lenders and their counsel already draft against, which is why Cayman documents rarely need explaining.
The Cayman Islands dollar is pegged to the United States dollar, and there are no exchange controls. The company holds and moves funds in any currency, in and out, without a permit from the territory.
The register of members is closed to public inspection and beneficial owners are held for competent authorities only. Director names can be obtained only through a paid company search; the full list is not public and nothing is browsable.
The local presence is a registered office maintained by a corporate services provider. There is no resident director test and no resident shareholder test, and the company is not obliged to take space or employ anyone in the islands.
The economic substance notification and the annual return with the government fee both fall due on 31 January, the return carrying a grace period to 31 March. The economic substance return, where the company has a reportable activity, follows within twelve months of the financial year end. There is no audit and no tax return for an ordinary exempted company.
Our services
Formation, compliance, secretarial work and local presence for a Cayman Islands company, each on its own page. Follow a branch for the detail.
The company
Formed once through a corporate services provider in the islands, whichever of the two structures you choose, then maintained by us through each January that follows.
Overview
The entity
Existing company
After incorporation
Pricing
Overview
Annual filings
The record
Pricing
On the ground
The two seats
Our assessment of the Cayman Islands on twenty measures across five categories, each scored out of ten, alongside what the international bodies that review the territory currently record.
Privacy & Confidentiality
Average 7.1
Banking & Financial
Average 9.5
Regulatory & Compliance
Average 9.3
Business Environment
Average 9.6
International Recognition
Average 7.3
Cayman Islands scores 8.6 overall
Cayman Islands
What the beneficial ownership register holds, who is allowed to see it, and what leaves the jurisdiction automatically each year.
How readily international banks open and hold accounts for entities formed here, and how freely money moves once they do.
The governing law, the bodies that supervise it, and where the jurisdiction sits on the international tax and transparency regimes.
What it takes to form and run an entity here: how fast, what it is taxed, and how stable the law behind it has proved.
How the jurisdiction is regarded outside its own borders, and how far its treaty and trade arrangements actually reach.
Start your company
Whichever you choose, the formation is one piece of work with one fee. The company then holds a registered office in the islands for as long as it exists, and three further arrangements are yours to take or leave.
Two legal structures in the Cayman Islands, and every piece of work between your enquiry and the day the company exists.
Companies Act (2025 Revision) of the Cayman Islands
Limited Liability Companies Act (2025 Revision) of the Cayman Islands
Already have a Cayman company with another provider? Bring it to us for US$350, one time. Its registration number, its date of formation and its contracts do not change. About transferring your company
The package price includes the government fees, which are set by the Cayman Islands authorities and passed on at cost. The rest is our fee for advising you, preparing and coordinating your paperwork, and handling the incorporation on your behalf; whether the company is approved, and when, is decided by those authorities alone.
Two things the company must have for as long as it exists: an address in the islands, and a corporate services provider standing behind it. Both are covered for your first year inside the formation fee, and both renew annually after that.
Appointment A
A Cayman company holds its registered office through a corporate services provider in the islands. The provider receives what the authority sends, keeps the statutory records and stays on the record. We put that appointment in place and keep it current.
About registered agentsAppointment B
A street address in George Town that is recorded as your company’s address. A post box or an address outside the islands does not satisfy the Companies Act. Your statutory records are held there and your correspondence is forwarded on.
About the registered officeA governance decision taken at formation, not an extra bought afterwards. Two separate arrangements, each documented before any share or interest is issued.
On the board
On the share register
A bank needs the company to exist before it will open an account, which is why this sits outside the formation. Every package already carries an assisted opening with a digital provider; a bank account is arranged on its own.
Commonly opened in Singapore, Hong Kong, Europe, the United States, or with a digital provider. Cayman has a banking sector of its own, no requirement to use it, and no exchange controls either way.
Ongoing compliance
A Cayman company is formed once and maintained for as long as you own it. Most of its year falls in January, and we hold that work under one annual package with a page for each part.
Documents that leave your company on dates the islands set. Each one is drafted from records we already hold, sent to you for a single approval, and filed.
Nothing here is filed, but everything above depends on it. Kept month by month, so the books of account are in order before January asks for anything.
Accounting and bookkeeping Transactions recorded, accounts reconciled and financial statements kept current, so the books of account the Companies Act requires are in order before anything asks for them.Why Expanship
Cayman expects a company to be kept properly: the annual return, the substance filing, the books and the local office. The same team that set yours up looks after all of it, at one price agreed before we started.
What every engagement includes
The setup, the local office and the year’s filings in one figure, agreed first.
One person who knows your file and answers for it, not a ticket queue.
What we need from you, and what happens next, set out before the work starts.
Annual return, substance filing, ownership and records, by the people who set it up.
Onboarding to signing, all online. No trip to the islands unless the law demands one.
Strict security protocols and professional confidentiality throughout the process.
FAQ
The jurisdiction in six questions, and working with us in four.
English common law, under a Companies Act revised continuously, most recently in 2025. The final appeal lies to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.
No. The Cayman Islands has no corporate income tax, no capital gains tax and no withholding tax. A company pays an annual government fee. A tax exemption undertaking, usually for twenty years, can be applied for, and whether it is granted is the government's decision.
The Cayman Islands is on neither EU list and was removed from FATF increased monitoring in October 2023. The OECD Global Forum rates it Largely Compliant, and the next FATF mutual evaluation is scheduled for 2026.
Very little. The list of members is closed to public inspection and beneficial ownership is held for the authorities only. Director names can be obtained through a paid company search, but nothing is browsable and there is no public list.
Yes. A Cayman company can be wholly owned by non-residents, with no local shareholder requirement and no resident director test. The registered office, held through a corporate services provider in the islands, is the only local presence.
Yes. The company needs a registered office in the islands, which we hold for you through a corporate services provider, and nothing else local. Directors and shareholders can be anywhere, and the company need not take space or employ anyone in Cayman.
Yes, in Cayman or abroad. Accounts are commonly opened in Singapore, Hong Kong, Europe or the United States, or with a digital provider. There is no requirement to use the local banking sector and no exchange controls. We prepare the file and the bank decides.
Cayman is the most expensive jurisdiction in our range, and the fees reflect that. Formation starts from US$2,749, including the government fee, the first year's registered office and the company documents, and the annual package starts from US$2,749 a year. Our fee and the government's are shown separately on the pricing page.
No. Expanship is a privately owned company. We are not a government agency, department, registry or regulator, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for the Government of the Cayman Islands, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, or the General Registry. We advise you, prepare and coordinate your paperwork, and act on your behalf. Whether a company or document is approved, and when, is decided by those authorities alone.
Our own work: advice on the right structure and the right service, due diligence on every member, preparing and coordinating your paperwork, and handling your incorporation, annual compliance and company changes on your behalf. Where a package includes government fees, they are set by the Cayman Islands authorities, not by us, and are passed on at cost; where it does not, they are quoted separately before you commit.
Contact Us
Funds, holding companies, substance, and the annual upkeep of a Cayman entity. Describe what you are planning and a specialist will respond.
Expanship is a private company, not a government agency. Submitting this form requests a consultation with our advisors; it does not place an order, start an incorporation, or create a professional relationship, and nothing we reply with is legal, tax, or financial advice.
