Marshall Islands entity formation and compliance solutions

Marshall Islands Corporate Services
Run From One Desk,
Wherever You Are

Marshall Islands corporations are a fixture in shipping and holding structures worldwide. We set yours up with you, arrange its agent and office in Majuro, and then take the renewals, accounts, secretarial work and records off your desk for as long as you own it.

Our services

Form it, keep it, hold it, record it: our Marshall Islands company services

Four kinds of work for one corporation, from the day it is formed to every anniversary renewal. Each branch leads to its own page.

The company

Your Marshall Islands company

Formed once in the republic, whichever structure you choose, then looked after by us through every anniversary renewal.

Hold it Presence in the republic
Record it Nominee arrangements
Scorecard

The RMI as an offshore jurisdiction, strong points and weak ones

How we rate the Marshall Islands on twenty measures in five categories, scored out of ten, with the republic's current standing at the international bodies that review it.

246810 PrivacyBankingRegulationBusinessInternational 7.68.17.99.06.3
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Marshall Islands

Privacy & Confidentiality

What the beneficial ownership register holds, who is allowed to see it, and what leaves the jurisdiction automatically each year.

Privacy Score

Strong privacy protections maintained
8.0

Director Anonymity

Held by the agent, no public file
8.5

Beneficial Ownership

Agent maintained, not public
7.5

Information Exchange

FATCA and CRS participant, automatic exchange
6.5

Banking & Financial

How readily international banks open and hold accounts for entities formed here, and how freely money moves once they do.

Banking Acceptance

Good acceptance, maritime specialty
7.5

Financial Reputation

Among the largest ship flags worldwide, clean standing
8.0

Currency Freedom

USD as legal tender, no exchange controls
10.0

Banking Partnerships

Limited local banking, international access
7.0

Regulation & Standards

The governing law, the bodies that supervise it, and where the jurisdiction sits on the international tax and transparency regimes.

Regulatory Framework

US-influenced framework, specialized legislation
8.0

OECD Standing

Rated Largely Compliant by the Global Forum (2019)
7.0

EU Recognition

On neither EU list since 2023
9.0

FATCA/CRS Reporting

FATCA and CRS in force
7.5

Business Environment

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.

Setup Speed

1-2 business days, efficient processing
9.5

Tax Efficiency

0% corporate tax, no capital gains tax
10.0

Political Stability

Stable under US Compact, small nation
8.5

Legal System

US-influenced common law system
8.0

International Recognition

How the jurisdiction is regarded outside its own borders, and how far its treaty and trade arrangements actually reach.

Global Reputation

Well-known maritime jurisdiction
7.5

Treaty Network

Very limited treaty network
3.0

Trade Relations

US Compact benefits, limited other access
6.5

Diplomatic Status

Independent nation with US Compact
8.0

OECD Global Forum

2
Largely Compliant Second-round review, 2019
Exchanges commenced 2018 First exchanges completed

Financial Action Task Force

2
Not listed No strategic deficiencies identified
Trust Company of the Marshall Islands Statutory agent for corporations

Account reporting regimes

2
Agreement in force With the United States
Exchanging Automatic exchange network

European Union

1
Removed October 2023 Neither Annex I nor Annex II

Ship flag

4
Among the three largest globally By tonnage
Recognised Flag state
White List Paris and Tokyo Memoranda of Understanding
Qualship 21 participant Quality shipping programme

United States association

2
In force since 1986 With the United States
United States dollar Legal tender

Start your company

A corporation or an LLC: setting up Marshall Islands entities

A single engagement with a single fee. The Associations Law adds two appointments that last the life of the company, and your structure may call for two more.

Incorporate the company

About incorporation

Two legal structures in the Marshall Islands, and every piece of work between your enquiry and the day the company exists.

Verified, prepared and submitted for you. KYC Paperwork Submitted Corporation

Marshall Islands Business Corporations Act, 1990 (as amended)

Non-Resident Domestic Corporation

Every incorporation includes from US$999
  • Unlimited company name checks
  • All government registration fees
  • Incorporation documents prepared and submitted
  • Registered agent and registered office for your first year
  • Your corporate kit and statutory registers, delivered worldwide
Verified, prepared and submitted for you. KYC Paperwork Submitted The LLC

Marshall Islands Limited Liability Company Act, 1996 (as amended)

Limited Liability Company

Every formation includes from US$999
  • Unlimited company name checks
  • All government formation fees
  • Certificate of Formation and LLC agreement prepared
  • Registered agent and registered office for your first year
  • Your corporate kit and statutory records, delivered worldwide

Already have a Marshall Islands company with another agent? Bring it to us for US$350, one time. Its registration number, its formation date and its contracts do not change. About transferring your company

Hold a presence in the republic

A Marshall Islands company keeps a local agent and a registered office in Majuro for as long as it exists, whichever structure it takes. Both come with the first year of the formation fee and renew every year after.

The authority writes to one address The authority Your agent You

Appointment A

Registered agent

A company must at all times have an agent in the Marshall Islands. We arrange one for you and stay between you and the paperwork, so everything the authorities send reaches you through a single address.

About registered agents
An address in Majuro, and the records behind it The address The records

Appointment B

Registered office

An address in Majuro that stands as your company’s address in the republic. Your statutory records are held there and your correspondence is forwarded on, wherever you are.

About the registered office

Decide who appears on the record

Part of forming the corporation, not an afterthought. One arrangement covers the board and one the shares, and each is written up before a share is issued.

Your instruction is the only way in Nominee director You The mandate

On the board

Nominee director

Appointed
At formation, under your instruction
Governed by
A written mandate setting the scope of authority
Recorded in
The Register of Directors and Officers
About nominee directors
Two documents over one holding Register The nominee Declaration Held for you The owner

On the share register

Nominee shareholder

Held under
A declaration of trust for the beneficial owner
Recorded in
The Register of Shareholders
Ownership
Held with your agent, not on a public register
About nominee shareholders

Open the corporate bank account

Banks open accounts for companies that already exist, so this follows the formation rather than forming part of it. Help with one digital provider comes with every setup package, and a wider search is arranged on its own.

Assembled in full, then followed to a decision Your file The bank
Opening
Usually remote A few banks ask for a call. We say which, first.
The papers
Assembled by us Company documents, IDs, what the business does.
The decision
The bank’s On its own timetable, in weeks rather than days.

Commonly opened in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United States, the United Kingdom, or with a digital provider. Accounts are held in dollars as a matter of course, there is no requirement to bank in the republic, and there are no exchange controls either way.

Ongoing compliance

What a Marshall Islands corporation owes on each anniversary

A Marshall Islands company is registered once and maintained for as long as you own it. Every dated obligation runs off a single day, the anniversary of formation, and we hold that corporate administration under one annual package.

The filing

The one document that leaves your company on a date the republic sets. It is drafted from records we already hold, sent to you for a single approval, and filed.

The record

The one service with no filing date attached to it, because it is the thing the declaration above draws on. Kept month by month, so the figures already exist on the day they are needed.

Accounting and bookkeeping Transactions recorded, accounts reconciled and financial statements kept current, with the books, the minutes and the registers held for the five years the law asks for.
  • 0 visits to the islands required
  • 1 named contact who knows your file
  • 1 price, agreed before we start
  • 13 jurisdictions, should the next company be elsewhere

Why Expanship

One renewal a year, and a corporate service provider that never misses it

Managing a Marshall Islands company comes down to one annual renewal and one substance declaration. The team that set it up keeps both on the calendar, along with the books and the local address, on terms fixed before anything began.

What every engagement includes

  • One price, agreed first

    Setup, the local presence, renewal work and the declaration in one figure, agreed first.

  • A named contact

    One person who knows your file and answers for it, not a ticket queue.

  • A written checklist

    What we need from you, and what happens next, set out before the work starts.

  • The same team, every year

    The renewal, substance declaration, ownership and records, by the team that set it up.

  • Nothing to travel for

    Onboarding to signing, all online. No trip to the islands unless the law demands one.

  • Your information, handled

    Strict security protocols and professional confidentiality throughout the process.

FAQ

Marshall Islands companies, from the flag to the bank account

The republic as an offshore home first, then what setting up and keeping a corporation there involves.

About the jurisdiction

The republic flies one of the three largest merchant fleets in the world by tonnage, on a white-listed flag, and its corporate law grew up alongside that. The same law now serves holding and trading structures well beyond shipping, in a jurisdiction that uses the US dollar and asks for a single anniversary renewal each year.

A corporate law drawn from United States statute rather than English company law, so the concepts and terminology an American lawyer uses apply directly. The final appeal is heard by the Supreme Court of the Marshall Islands in Majuro.

It pays no tax in the republic on income earned outside it, and there is no capital gains tax or withholding tax. The corporation pays an annual government fee on the anniversary of formation. Tax may still be due where it is managed or its owners live.

The Marshall Islands is on neither EU list, having been removed in October 2023, and is not under FATF increased monitoring. It exchanges information under the Common Reporting Standard, and the OECD Global Forum rated it Largely Compliant on exchange of information on request in 2019.

No. Directors, shareholders and beneficial owners are held by the agent and are not filed on any public record. The Marshall Islands keeps no searchable public company database at all.

Yes. The whole of the share capital can be held outside the republic, and the directors can be anywhere. The Business Corporations Act sets no residence requirement for either.

Contact Us

Tell us about your Marshall Islands business

Shipping, holding, international business, or a corporation you already renew each year. Tell us what you need and our Marshall Islands team will reply.

Professional business consultation
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