We help you incorporate a Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada in Panama

No. Nothing in the formation of a Panama S. de R.L. has to be signed by a member in Panama City. Identity papers, address proof and source of funds are reviewed remotely, the deed is executed and registered on your instructions, and the resident agent in Panama comes with the package. Afterwards the members may meet wherever the notice says or decide in writing without a meeting, and the corporate kit is couriered to any address in the world.

The whole first year. Basic at US$1,499 carries the charges paid to the authorities, the first year's annual franchise tax, the drafting of the founding deed and its execution before a notary, the resident agent and registered office for year one, the beneficial owner record, the register of members, the minute book, the participation records for each member and your digital Certificate of Incorporation. Premium at US$2,399 adds the seal, the paper originals and the authenticated set banks ask for.

Yes. Every package includes support in setting up a multi-currency business account with Airwallex, subject to the provider's own checks. For a traditional bank in Panama or elsewhere, our team advises on which ones suit what the company will do, prepares the corporate papers the bank wants, such as the attestation of current members and administrators in the Premium package, and coordinates each step. Whether an account is opened is always the bank's own decision.

Not much. Eleven duties follow a Panama S. de R.L., and ten of them sit with our team under the annual engagement, from US$1,099 a year from year two. That covers the annual franchise tax due on 15 July or 15 January, the delivery of the accounting records to the resident agent by 30 April, the agent and office themselves, and every registered change to members, administrators or the deed. Your part is to keep the invoices and contracts behind the accounts and to reply when we ask for figures.

Both. Moving an existing S. de R.L. to us costs US$350 once, after which the annual engagement runs from US$1,099 a year. Because the resident agent is a term of the founding deed, the deed is amended to name the new agent and the amendment is registered, and the company keeps its name, its number and its history. When a company has run its course, we advise on dissolving it in good order, prepare the resolutions and manage the steps on your behalf under a separate quote.

Not on their own. Panama law requires the founding deed of every S. de R.L. to name a resident agent, and that post is reserved to a Panamanian lawyer or law firm, so every formation passes through one. What we add is the part that saves time and mistakes: advice on whether an S. de R.L. or an S.A. fits your plan, a deed drafted around your members and their cuotas, management of the whole process on your behalf, and a team that stays with the company afterwards. We are an independent corporate services provider, not a government body.

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 Republic of Panama or the Public Registry of Panama. We advise you, prepare and coordinate your paperwork, and handle the incorporation on your behalf. Whether a company is approved, and when, is decided by those authorities alone.

Our own work: advice on the right structure, due diligence on every member, preparing and coordinating the incorporation paperwork, handling the incorporation on your behalf, and the first year of registered agent and registered office. The government fees are set by the Panama authorities, not by us, and are passed on at cost inside the package price.

Two members and one administrator, none of whom has to live in Panama or hold its nationality. There is no maximum number of members. The administrator may be one of the members, an outsider or a company, and where several are named they decide by majority. The deed also names at least one officer or attorney-in-fact with whatever powers the members give them. Both members and administrators are identified in the deed and so appear on the public company file in Panama.

Yes to both. A company may hold cuotas in a Panama S. de R.L., and a company may be named as its administrator, which is how a group parent or a Panamanian private foundation sits above the vehicle. Behind any corporate member the authorities still look through to the people who ultimately own or control 25 percent or more, and those beneficial owners are entered by the resident agent in a private system closed to the public. Each corporate body brings its own set of papers to the formation checks.

The deed states an authorised capital in any currency and divides it into cuotas of a set value. Panama law sets no minimum and the capital may be paid in full or only in part at formation. A member may contribute money, property or services, with property and services contributed in full at a value the members fix. Votes and profit then run in proportion to each member's cuotas. Every cuota has a named holder, and each member may ask for a signed record of their participation.

Neither. Unlike a Panama corporation there is no fixed slate of President, Secretary and Treasurer, only one or more officers or attorneys-in-fact named in the deed with the powers the members choose to give them. The deed must state a domicile in Panama, and for a company run from abroad that is the resident agent's office, so nothing is leased and no one is hired. Both the agent and the office are inside every package for year one and inside the annual engagement afterwards.

Each case is settled by Panama law and the deed together. A member may sell their cuotas by a private paper, but the buyer becomes a member only if the other members accept, the deed may give them first refusal, and the transfer is registered. A member who wants to leave gives three months' notice, and the others have sixty business days to buy the cuotas. On a death the company continues with the heirs if the deed says so, and otherwise the stake is valued and paid out.