Open a
BVI company
in two days.

We file BVI Business Companies, draft asset-protection trusts, and open multi-currency banking for founders moving capital — and themselves — to the Virgin Islands. Incorporated in two days. Banked in two weeks.

Why form an offshore company in the BVI?

No corporate, capital gains, or inheritance tax

Foreign-source income earned by a BVI company sits outside the territorial tax net. No corporation tax, no capital-gains tax, no withholding on dividends paid to non-residents. A flat annual licence fee (USD 550–1,350 depending on share capital) replaces the entire schedule.

Common-law jurisdiction since 1672

The legal system descends directly from English common law as it applies across the British Overseas Territories, and runs through the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Commercial Division, Road Town) to final appeal at the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. Commercial precedent travels well: contracts drafted under New York or English law are recognised and enforced.

Confidentiality with compliance

The Beneficial Ownership Secure Search System (2017) collects ultimate-owner data centrally but does not publish it. Information is shared with foreign tax authorities under CRS and FATCA as required by treaty, never to commercial searchers or competitors. Substance compliance lives alongside investor privacy.

A real financial centre, not a P.O. box

Six licensed banks and over a hundred registered agents operate from Road Town — the world’s largest corporate-registration centre by volume of active companies. Correspondent relationships run through New York, London, and the principal Canadian banks; wires settle in one to two business days, not five.

One hour ahead of New York

Atlantic Standard Time, no daylight saving: one hour ahead of New York in winter, level in summer. A 35-minute hop from San Juan, a 45-minute ferry from St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and onward same-day links to Miami and New York put a board meeting in your registered-agent office within a same-day round-trip.

A path to residency — and a British passport

The BVI issues annual residence permits to non-Belongers of means. After twenty years of ordinary residence a holder may apply for Belonger status, British Overseas Territories citizenship, and onward registration as a full British citizen. Residency rests on genuine ties to the Territory, not a minimum-income retiree scheme.

Eight kinds of
founder.

SaaS & digital founders

Topcos for SaaS IP, ARR treasury vehicles, and the entity that invoices across borders. Roughly forty percent of new files in any quarter sit in this bucket.

Crypto & DLT operators

VASP-registered token issuers, custody operators, OTC desks, and licensed exchanges. BVI is one of the few jurisdictions whose banks will sign onboarding letters for this category — and we work with the two that actually do.

Single & multi-family offices

Multi-generational planning, succession protection, and private-banking concentration vehicles built around the BVI VISTA trust and the VISTA trust.

IP licensing structures

Royalty-receipt entities for trademarks, patents, software, and franchise programmes — paired where required with a substance footprint of staff and decision-makers physically present in Road Town.

Real-estate SPVs

Single-asset SPVs for BVI and broader Caribbean real estate. Title is held by the entity through a Non-Belonger Land Holding Licence; the Belonger residency route opens to the beneficial owner after long-term ordinary residence.

E-commerce & marketplaces

Cross-border merchant-of-record entities. Multi-currency settlement, U.S. ACH access via correspondent banking, and merchant processing through Stripe and approved third-party acquirers.

Investment & trading

Self-directed investment vehicles for high-net-worth principals, master/feeder feeders, and proprietary-trading desks. FSC fund licensing layered on top where the strategy involves external investors.

Yacht & aircraft ownership

Beneficial-ownership entities for BVI-flagged yachts, aircraft-leasing companies, and charter-management vehicles. Virgin Islands Shipping Registry is among the more permissive in the Caribbean basin.

What happens
in forty-eight hours.

Thirty-minute consult with a senior advisor. We confirm jurisdictional fit, agree on structure (BC / LP / Trust), and quote a fixed engagement fee. No card on file yet.

You sign a one-page engagement letter via DocuSign. We run instant availability checks on your three name candidates against the Registry of Corporate Affairs name database.

Encrypted upload link sent to your inbox. Passport, proof of address, source-of-funds attestation, and reference letters go in. We work in parallel with you.

Memorandum and Articles of Association drafted to fit your structure — share classes, voting rights, director powers, dispute resolution. Sent for your review.

Once you sign the M&A, we file electronically with the BVI Registry of Corporate Affairs. Government fee paid on your behalf.

Certificate of Incorporation typically issued within 14 hours of filing. Your BC now legally exists.

Apostilled corporate kit (in PDF + courier-shipped originals), share certificates, statutory registers. Warm introductions to two matched banking partners sent.

Twelve banking
partners on island.

Concentrated banking for clients placing USD 250,000 or more on deposit. Multi-currency portfolios across USD, EUR, GBP and CHF; lombard credit secured against assets under management; in-person opening interview almost always required.

Transactional accounts for active businesses with USD 25,000 minimum opening balance. Card issuing, outbound and inbound wires, FX desk access, and merchant processing through approved acquirers. Remote KYC accepted for straightforward profiles.

Two banking partners on island will onboard VASP-registered digital-asset operators. Enhanced source-of-funds documentation is mandatory — exchange records, on-chain analysis, and home-country tax filings — and account opening sits behind an in-person compliance review.

Pre-revenue and lean operators who need a working USD account without a six-figure deposit. EMI partners offer fully remote onboarding, U.S. ACH access through correspondents, and multi-currency wallets. We sit on the application alongside you.

Six things that
require a flight.

For most clients, the entire process — including bank-account opening — is handled by video KYC and courier. These six conditions are the common exceptions that bring our clients to Road Town in person.

BC, LP, or
Trust?

What we
need from you.

• □
  Color passport scan

  Valid for 12+ months · all signed pages
• □
  Government photo ID (secondary)

  Driving licence or national ID
• □
  Recent photograph

  Selfie or passport-style · within 30 days

• □
  Proof of residential address

  Utility bill, bank statement, or council tax · within 3 months
• □
  Second proof of address

  Different document type from the first

• □
  Source-of-funds attestation

  Our template · signed
• □
  Supporting documentation

  Payslips, sale-of-business agreement, dividend statements, or inheritance papers
• □
  Bank statements

  Three months · showing the funds being deposited into the new account

• □
  Bank reference letter

  From a regulated bank where you have held an account for 2+ years
• □
  Professional reference

  From a licensed lawyer or accountant

What a BC actually requires.

Minimum share capital

No minimum capital · standard 50,000 shares of no par value · any currency

Shareholders

1 minimum, no maximum · individuals or corporate · nominee available

Bearer shares

Not permitted · all shares must be registered

Beneficial-owner register

Filed via registered agent into the BOSS system · not publicly accessible

Share classes

Voting, non-voting, redeemable, convertible · structured to fit

Directors

1 minimum · non-resident permitted · individual or corporate

Company secretary

Not statutorily required for BCs · recommended for substance

Registered office

Required in the BVI · we provide as registered agent

Annual general meeting

Not required · written resolutions sufficient

Board meetings

May be held anywhere in the world · video conferencing permitted

Financial records

Must be maintained for 5 years · may be kept outside BVI

Audited accounts

Not required for unregulated BCs · required for funds, banks, insurers

Annual return

Annual financial return · filed with registered agent within 9 months of year-end

Annual government fee

USD 550 (≤ 50,000 shares) · USD 1,350 (> 50,000 shares)

Tax filings

None · zero corporate, capital gains, or withholding tax

CRS / FATCA reporting

We file on your behalf · annual cycle

Since 2019, every BVI company carrying on a "relevant activity" must file an Economic Substance Report (ESR) annually with the BVI International Tax Authority. Holding companies and tax-resident entities file a shorter simplified return.

We prepare and file the ESR on your behalf as part of the Operating and Trust packages, and as a stand-alone service for BCs we did not originally incorporate. We will tell you in writing whether your activities trigger substance requirements, and structure accordingly — most holding structures fall below the threshold.

Governing statute

Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act 2018

Filing deadline

6 months after fiscal-year end

Filing portal

BOSS system · BVI Financial Services Commission

Late penalty

USD 20,000 first penalty · up to USD 200,000

Strike-off risk

After 2 consecutive missed filings

Our handling fee

Included in Operating package · USD 850 stand-alone

"Relevant activities" that trigger substance requirements

The regulatory stack.

The BVI of legal practice today bears little resemblance to the 1990s offshore stereotype. The country accepted transparency obligations to foreign regulators — OECD automatic exchange, FATF mutual evaluations, the EU Code of Conduct Group review process — as the trade for continued cross-border access. The trade has held.

Privacy from public search engines and commercial registries: yes, by statute. Privacy from your home tax authority: no, and not negotiable. If you need the second category, we tell you so on the call and do not invoice for the conversation.

Six honest
verdicts.

I'm a U.S. citizen or green-card holder

U.S. persons must file FBAR (FinCEN 114), Form 5471, and report on Form 8938 each year. We structure with your U.S. CPA in the loop and ensure all reporting is filed. We do not offer structures designed to avoid U.S. tax — they don't exist legally, and we won't pretend they do.

I'm EU-resident and worried about DAC6

Council Directive 2018/822 (DAC6) catches most cross-border BC arrangements involving EU-resident taxpayers under hallmark categories A.3 (standardised documentation) and D.1 (CRS circumvention). Reporting is mandatory by intermediaries within thirty days. We coordinate with your EU adviser to ensure timely filing.

My funds are derived from cryptocurrency

Two BVI-licensed banks accept VASP-derived capital — provided the chain of custody can be reconstructed. Exchange withdrawal records, blockchain forensics by a reputable provider, and matching home-country tax returns are non-negotiable. Both banks require an in-person account-opening interview for this category.

I want to be invisible online

Beneficial ownership is registered locally and shared with your home tax authority under CRS automatic exchange. If invisibility from your home revenue is the goal, no compliant offshore structure delivers it — not in the BVI, not anywhere. We refer such conversations elsewhere with a clean conscience.

I hold multiple passports or dual citizenship

Citizenship is not residency. We map the actual residency footprint — days spent, family ties, centre of vital interests — before drafting anything. Clients with multiple passports often benefit from pairing the BVI entity with a residency move that aligns the legal and the practical.

I'm UK-resident and remitting income

The April 2025 reforms replaced the remittance-basis regime with the four-year Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) window for new arrivals. Existing remittance-basis structures generally require redesign before the transitional rules expire. We work with your UK adviser through both the FIG election and any transitional planning.

Three packages,
transparently priced.

Standard

• ✓BC incorporation
• ✓Memorandum & Articles drafting
• ✓Registered agent (year one)
• ✓Registered office address
• ✓Apostilled corporate kit
• ✓One bank-introduction letter

Operating

• ✓Everything in Standard
• ✓Priority 48-hour filing
• ✓Two bank introductions (matched)
• ✓Account-opening concierge
• ✓Nominee director (year one)
• ✓Compliance review & ESR filing
• ✓Dedicated relationship partner

Trust

• ✓VISTA Trust or Private Trust Company
• ✓Underlying BC structure
• ✓Trustee & protector services
• ✓Letter of wishes drafting
• ✓Private banking onboarding
• ✓Estate-planning memorandum
• ✓Annual trustee meeting

How to choose a
formation agent.

Only firms holding a current International Financial Services Commission (FSC) licence under the Financial and Corporate Service Providers Act 2020 are authorised to incorporate BVI companies. The FSC publishes its licensee register online — a ninety-second verification before any engagement letter is signed. Absence of a licence number on the agent website is the single most reliable filter against fraudulent operators.

A meaningful proportion of providers marketed as BVI formation agents are intermediaries operating from Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, or the United Kingdom — reselling a local agent under their own brand. They sit too far from the regulator to handle substance issues, too far from the banks to make warm introductions, and pass their margin downstream as part of the headline fee.

Incorporation is a defined-scope engagement. It should be priced as a flat fee, disclosed before signature, including the government fees. Hourly billing for BC formation is a sign the firm doesn't do this often enough to know how long it takes.

Opening the bank account is materially harder than filing the entity. The standard offering from most agents is a printed list of bank websites; the working version is a relationship-banker call, a cover letter drafted to the bank's in-house criteria, and a pre-vetted KYC package walked in by hand.

Compare against
eight neighbours.