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THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS EXEMPT COMPANY
One of the foundations upon which the TCI's success as an offshore centre has been built is the Companies Ordinance 1981. This legislation was closely modelled on the equivalent Cayman Islands law and is extremely flexible and provides in the shape of an exempted company for a minimum of disclosure. Meetings need not take place in the Islands, the objects may be unrestricted and details of shareholders and directors need not appear on any public record.

Following the introduction of the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 2001which came into effect on 22 May 2001 shares issued to bearer must now be deposited with the company manager or the resident agent licensed under the Company Management (Licensing) Ordinance 1999. The confidential information as to ownership and beneficial ownership together with a Register of Directors and Secretary would be maintained at the resident agents/registered office address.

An exempt TCI company receives a certificate issued in the name of the Governor which guarantees that the company will be exempt from all forms of taxation, both in respect of its own operations and on the shares in the company, for a period of 20 years from its date of incorporation.

Companies may be incorporated with a translation of the English name appearing on the Certificate of Incorporation. The name may be represented in any foreign language or characters. Additionally, a foreign language translation of the Memorandum and Articles of Association may be officially registered alongside the English version. Thus, for example, the Certificate of Incorporation could bear both an English name and a translation of that name in Chinese characters. A Chinese character version of the Memorandum and Articles of Association could also be registered.

TAXATION

The TCI are a major no tax haven. There are no direct taxes such as income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, profit tax, gift tax or death duties.

SHAREHOLDERS

An exempted company need only have one shareholder and shares can be issued in bearer or registered form. There is no requirement to file the details of shareholders on any public record.

DIRECTORS

A minimum of one director is required and corporate directors are permitted. There is no requirement to file the details of directors on any public record.

ANNUAL REPORTING

There is no requirement to file accounts or a detailed annual return.  Each company must file a short statement indicating that it has traded mainly outside the islands and that the company has complied with various statutory requirements.

TIMESCALE

Incorporation can be achieved within 24 hours. However it does take approximately 1 week for documents to arrive from TCI.  Ready made companies are available for immediate purchase.

RESTRICTIONS
ON NAME AND
ACTIVITY

The following words cannot be used either in English or any other language: Assurance, Bank, Building Society, Commonwealth, Co-operative Society, Fidelity, Friendly Society, Guarantee, Indemnity, Insurance, Re-insurance, Trust, Trustee, Underwriter, Royal, Imperial, Empire, Municipal and Chartered or any derivatives of any of those words without the written consent of the Financial Secretary. The name of an exempt company need NOT indicate that the company is limited.

LOCAL
REQUIREMENTS

As a matter of local company law the company MUST maintain a registered office address within the TCI and MUST also appoint a TCI resident as registered agent.  We would generally provide these services as part of the domiciliary service fee.
The Company Management (Licensing) Ordinance 1999 requires local company managers/registered agents to be duly licensed in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

SECRECY

Both the Companies Ordinance and the Confidential Relationships Ordinance 1979 make it an offence punishable by a maximum fine of US$50,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 3 years for anybody to reveal confidential information, including details of the owners and directors, about a TCI exempt company or to threaten to reveal such information.
Following the enactment of the Overseas Regulatory Authority (Assistance) Ordinance 2001 the Turks and Caicos Islands Licensing Committee may provide assistance to an overseas regulatory authority in certain defined serious circumstances not being those directly or indirectly relating to assessing, imposing or collecting taxes of any kind
 
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