Cayman Islands Exempted Company Incorporation

No. Neither the director, the shareholder nor the beneficial owner needs to travel. Incorporation runs on papers signed abroad: the subscriber signs the memorandum and articles and the declaration that the business will be carried on outside the Islands, and both go in through the registered office. Identity checks work from copies, and the corporate kit is couriered to you wherever you are.

Yes, for authorised share capital of US$50,000 or less, which is the lowest government fee band. Basic at US$2,749 covers the government fee, the first year's annual return, the registered office for year one, the memorandum and articles, the exempted declaration, every statutory register, share papers, your digital Certificate of Incorporation and Airwallex account help. Premium at US$3,999 adds the seal, the original incorporation paper, incumbency and good standing confirmations and authentication for use abroad. A larger authorised capital is quoted in writing first.

Yes. Both packages include help opening a multi-currency Airwallex business account, subject to Airwallex's own checks. Beyond that, we advise on which banks take your kind of business, and prepare the papers a bank asks for so the file is complete on the first pass. Where you bank is your choice, and the decision on any application rests with the bank.

Thirteen duties, and four of them fall on a date every year. The economic substance notification goes in by 31 January, the annual return follows in the same month, the government fee is paid by the end of March, and an economic substance return is due twelve months after year end where a relevant activity was carried on. Twelve of the thirteen sit inside your annual engagement with us, from US$2,749 a year. Your part is keeping the books and replying when we ask.

Both. Taking over an existing one means moving its registered office to us; the name, the number and the history stay exactly as they are. The transfer costs US$350, and the annual package then runs from US$2,749 a year. If you would rather close it, we prepare the resolutions and the winding-up papers, coordinate with the authorities on your behalf and see it off the file cleanly.

No. Cayman law requires every exempted company to have a registered office in the Islands held by an approved corporate services provider, and the incorporation papers go in through that provider, so there is no direct route. What we add is advice on whether this is the right form, the drafting of the memorandum, articles and declaration, management of the whole process on your behalf, and a team that stays with you afterwards.

One director and one shareholder, and the same person may hold both roles. There is no maximum for either. Neither has to live in the Cayman Islands or hold any particular nationality. The Register of Directors and Officers is filed with the authorities, so the names of the directors now serving can be bought on a paid search. The Register of Members stays at the registered office, and anyone at 25% or more goes on a beneficial ownership register that nobody sees without a formal application.

Yes to both. A company from any country may serve as director, and one may hold the shares, alone or beside individual shareholders. Where a company sits above yours, Cayman law looks through it until a person holding 25% or more is reached, and that person is entered on the beneficial ownership register. Directors of regulated funds are the one case with an extra step, since each of them goes through a separate registration with the authorities first.

Wide ones. Cayman sets no minimum capital and no minimum paid-up amount. Shares may be in any currency, in more than one currency at once, in several classes, and with or without a par value. Most companies take an authorised capital of US$50,000 because the government fee is banded by authorised capital and that is the lowest band. Going higher is allowed, moves you up a band, and is quoted to you in writing before anything is filed. Bearer shares are not allowed.

No to both. Cayman law does not ask for a company secretary or any other officer. The directors may appoint a president, treasurer or secretary by resolution when a counterparty expects a title. What the company must have at all times is a registered office in the Islands held by a corporate services provider, and that comes with every package. Your own premises and staff are not needed unless the business includes a relevant activity that carries a substance test.

People often call it a Cayman exempt company, but the statutory word is exempted, and it means the company has declared that its business will be carried on mainly outside the Cayman Islands. The subscriber signs that declaration at formation, and it is repeated in every January's annual return. In exchange it is spared much of what a local one carries: no annual meeting in the Islands, no required ending on the name, a private Register of Members, and a written undertaking that no future tax reaches it. In return it may not trade with Cayman residents, except in furtherance of its business abroad.