Seychelles
GENERAL INFORMATION
Seychelles is a 115-islands country spanning an archipelago in the Indian Ocean. Other nearby island countries and territories include Madagascar, Mauritius and Maldives. The land area is around 455 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 90,000. The legal system originated from French civil law, but most modern criminal and business legislation is closer to Anglo-Saxon common law practice. The official languages are a French-based Creole, English and French, with Creole being the most widely used. Business is conducted in French and English.
HIGHLIGHTS OF SEYCHELLESCOMPANIES
Seychelles offers a number of offshore business structures which includes the Seychelles International Business Company or the IBC, the Seychelles Special License Company and the Seychelles Limited Partnership. Seychelles IBC is the most popular type of offshore corporation available in Seychelles.
CORPORATE REQUIREMENTS
Name: The name of an IBC must indicate that the company is Limited. Incorporation of a company usually take one to three working days. Chinese company names are allowed. The following words cannot be used either in English or any other language: ‘Assurance’, ‘Bank’, ‘Building Society’, ‘Commonwealth’, ‘Co-operative Society’, ‘Fidelity’, ‘Friendly Society’, ‘Fund’, ‘Guarantee’, ‘Indemnity’, ‘Insurance’, ‘Re-insurance’, ‘Trust’, ‘Trustee’, ‘Underwriter’, ‘Royal’, ‘Imperial’, ‘Empire’, ‘Municipal’ and ‘Chartered’ or any derivatives of any of these words without the written consent of the relevant department of the local government.
Capital: The authorized capital of a Seychelles IBC may be stated in any currency approved by the Registrar and the par value of shares with a par value, if any, shall be expressed in the same currency.
Registered Office / Agent: As a matter of local company law the company must maintain a registered office address within Seychelles and a registered agent as well.
Shareholders: Company need to have at least one shareholder and shares may be issued as registered shares or bearer shares. There is no requirement to file the details of shareholders on any public record.
Directors / Officers: 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.
Register of Members/Directors: The registers or copies of the registers must be kept at the registered office. The registers may be written or magnetic/electronic form, as long as legible evidence can be produced.
ACCOUNTING RECORDS
All Seychelles IBC’s must maintain proper accounting records. Such records must be kept at the registered office or the company must inform the registered agent in writing of the physical address of the records.
