St Lucia

INTRODUCTION

St. Lucia is one of the Windward Isles located in the South Eastern Caribbean some 1,300 miles from Florida and enjoys a near perfect year round climate making it a prime tourist destination. Colonised by the French in 1650 it was ceded to Britain in 1814, remaining a colony until achieving full independence in 1979.

Today St. Lucia is a member of the British Commonwealth, with the Queen as the head of state The country enjoys a very stable two party electoral system based on the Westminster parliamentary model, with a lower house (Parliament) and upper house (the Senate) with the head of the party holding the most seats in the lower house becoming the Prime Minister. The legal system is a hybrid of English Common Law and the French Napoleonic Code. The final court of appeal is the British Privy Council.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES

St Lucia offers the registration of IBCs based on the highly successful British Virgin Islands model. There is little to choose between these jurisdictions except that annual costs in St. Lucia are higher than in the BVI. This is due to higher local fees being charged by local agents rather than by any difference in Government fees. St. Lucia is bigger and more affluent than the BVI, and thus is a higher cost location. In addition it is a growing trading nation with large Freeport facilities and an expanding industrial infrastructure. It isn’t really looking for “cheap & cheerful” business. St. Lucia IBCs can be useful in trading within North and Central America where it enjoys a good reputation as a well-ordered jurisdiction.

The main features of the IBC are that there is no requirement to file details of directors, shareholders, mortgages or charges. There is a requirement to maintain a registered office and an authorised and licensed registered agent in St. Lucia. Ashburton provides this service as standard and we also provide a mailing address service, again as standard.

TAXATION/FISCAL REGIME

Although there are fairly high rates of tax for resident persons and companies but IBCs pay no tax so long as they do not do business within St. Lucia. There is no requirement to file financial statements, but a company must keep records to accurately reflect its financial affairs. IBCs pay a flat annual filing fee of US$300 upon incorporation and on every 15th January thereafter. There are fines for late payment.

INCORPORATION TIMESCALE/NAMES

Suffixes such as Limited, Ltd, Incorporated, Inc, SA, GmbH or most others are permitted. Allowing for time differences, names can be checked and reserved instantly and incorporation takes place on the same day. Certain words are prohibited or subject to licensing requirements such as “Royal”, “Trust”, “Bank” and “Insurance”. Even using courier services it can take up to 2 weeks to receive documentation from St. Lucia. Because of this it is our practice to try and keep a number of “Stock” or “Shelf” companies available for instant transfer once we have received completed application forms and payment.

FEES FOR ST. LUCIA COMPANIES

We charge £985 to incorporate a St Lucia Company. This includes the first year’s registered office and registered agent fees and all government fees. Thereafter there is an annual fee (due on 1^st January each year) of US$770 again including registered office, registered agent and government fees.

We can help and advise you in respect of the opening and management of bank accounts and the provision, if required, of company officers or managers.

HOW TO ORDER

Simply call us on 01952 270270 or send an email to:

ymf@arcorporatesecretaries.co.uk

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the details contained herein are correct and up-to-date, this information does not constitute legal or other professional advice. We do not accept any responsibility, legal or otherwise, for any error or omission. Prices are subject to change.