Offhore Companies

Advantages of Offshore & Low-Tax Companies provided by Ellul & Co.

• We provide advice on the offshore jurisdiction most suited to your purposes.
• We advise on appropriate structures and work with international professionals to provide our clients with the best solutions.
• We provide nominees shareholders and, in appropriate circumstances, directors for your companies.
• We will open bank accounts for your companies, in Gibraltar and elsewhere, and will advise on the banks best suited to your requirements.
• Your companies will be managed by a Gibraltar law firm established since 1973.
• We are licensed by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (www.fsc.gi) under licence number FSC00580B. We have various licensed entities including ECE Nominees Limited and LC Nominees Limited. Eric C. Ellul and Marc X. Ellul are also licensed.

Some Uses & Advantages of Offshore & Low-Tax Companies

• Holding bank accounts, funds, stocks and shares and other investments in company accounts since the capital invested and the interest earned will not be subject to tax.
• Operating businesses and, in particular, internet based operations.
• Owning a yacht or ship in the name of a company so that any profits earned from trading or chartering are not subject to tax (Yacht & Ship Registration).
• Owning real estate directly or holding shares in a property-owning company. In certain circumstances it is possible to mitigate property and other taxes.
• For the holding of family assets either as a stand-alone company or in conjunction with Trusts. Advantages include confidentiality as to ownership, making investments without incurring tax and the ability to give us instructions as to the family members who should inherit company assets.
• Corporate restructuring allowing the tax-efficient distribution of assets.

Jurisdictions

Our firm mainly incorporates Gibraltar companies for our clients but we do also offer a wide range of offshore and low-tax companies from other jurisdictions in order to suit our clients’ needs. All jurisdictions have different factors which may make them more or less attractive for a particular type of activity. We are able to provide advice on this and help our clients make an informed choice. For example, factors such as the existence, or not, of a public register and whether or not a jurisdiction has a double tax treaty with a particular country are often important in making a decision.
We work with agents and professionals in most parts of the world but the most popular jurisdictions for which we provide offshore and law-tax companies are: the British Virgin Islands, Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, Delaware, the Seychelles, Belize, Cyprus and Malta.
We also provide United Kingdom and companies from other countries which are often used as a part of a corporate restructuring or tax-planning exercise.

Approval of Company Names & Incorporation Procedures

To incorporate a Company first of all a name must be chosen. Our firm always has several “shelf” companies available to choose from in the jurisdictions we work with. Alternatively, the client can suggest a name and this can normally be checked and approved in under 24 hours; sometimes even within minutes. Although we prefer to meet our clients in person, it is not always necessary to physically come to Gibraltar to incorporate a company.

We do need to request the usual know your customer documentation and information from clients and we will do our best to guide you through this process.

Fast & High Quality Service

The service our firm provides is fast and efficient with incorporation and the preparation of supporting documents taking no more than a week. Where a Company is required urgently it is possible to have everything ready at short notice.

Shareholders & Directors

Depending upon the jurisdiction, private companies can generally have no more than 50 shareholders and there are no restrictions as to their nationalities or their place of residence. Most jurisdictions we work with allow a sole director with no restrictions as to residence or nationality. Further advice on any particular jurisdiction can be provided upon request.

Nominee Shareholders

The shares of the Companies are ordinarily held by our firm’s licensed nominee companies which will appear on the records of the company registry concerned as the registered shareholder. We will then issue the beneficiaries of the companies (the owners) with a Declaration of Trust (a private document which is not filed at any company registry) which says that the benefit of the shares belongs to the beneficiary and this document is indisputable proof of this.

This system protects the identity of the beneficiaries of a company from being ascertainable from simply looking at the public records filed with a company registry.

Directors

We also provide directors in specific circumstances and more information can be provided upon request.

Inheritance Provisions

Letters of wishes can be drawn up by the beneficiary giving us, as nominee shareholders, instructions as to who should inherit the beneficial interest in the shares of the company upon their death. This can avoid the need for a beneficiary to make a will in respect of the assets held by the company.

Bank Accounts

We have long-standing relationships with many banks in Gibraltar and elsewhere and will advise you on which bank is best-suited to your requirements. We will handle all aspects of the bank account opening process and open the account for you.

No Taxes Payable in Gibraltar

Gibraltar companies with no income accruing in, derived from or received in Gibraltar, will pay no tax in Gibraltar. No-tax or low-tax provisions in respect of companies exist under the laws of the various other jurisdictions we work with.