Corporate Services That Stay With You to Set Up and Grow in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
St. Vincent and the Grenadines offers flexible company types at a sensible cost. We help you choose and set up the right one, then keep it maintained with annual renewals, accounts, secretarial support, and records handled by a single team.
Expanship is a privately owned company. We are not a government agency, department, registry or regulator, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines or the Financial Services Authority (SVG). We advise you, prepare and coordinate your paperwork, and act on your behalf; whether a company or document is approved, and when, is decided by those authorities alone.
The Jurisdiction
Why a company might consider St Vincent and the Grenadines
VC
St Vincent and the GrenadinesCommonwealth realm, independent since 1979
Legal system
English common law
Company law
Business Companies Act, 2007, as amended
Final appeal
Privy Council, London
Currency
East Caribbean dollar, fixed at 2.70
Exchange controls
None
Local presence required
Registered agent and office
Companies authority
Financial Services Authority
Tax authority
Inland Revenue Department
The law
A 2007 Act, consolidated in 2019, and London at the end of it
The Business Companies Act of 2007, consolidated in 2019, operates within English common law. Disputes go before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, the regional court St Vincent shares with its neighbours, and from there the final appeal lies to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.
The money
A currency fixed at 2.70, and no permits
The East Caribbean dollar is fixed at 2.70 to the United States dollar, so the rate your accounts translate at does not move. Funds enter and leave the company in any currency without a permit from the state.
The records
Owners with your agent, the authority notified
The Register of Beneficial Owners is held by your registered agent and shared with authorities only on request. Directors and members are notified to the Financial Services Authority rather than published, so there is no public file a stranger can inspect.
The presence
An address in St Vincent, and nothing more on the ground
St Vincent and the Grenadines asks that a registered agent and a registered office be kept in the state, and asks for no other presence. Neither directors nor shareholders have to be resident, and the company is not required to rent premises or take on staff here, so the business can be run from wherever its owners already are.
The year
A fixed fee date, then three that follow your year end
The annual government fee on 31 December, whatever year end you keep. The annual tax return three months after your year end, prepared from your figures. Financial statements five months after the balance date. An economic substance return four months after the basis period ends. There is no statutory audit.
Our services
Our services for a St Vincent and the Grenadines company
Everything we do for a St Vincent and the Grenadines company, grouped by the kind of work. Follow any branch to its page.
The company
Your St Vincent and the Grenadines company
Formed once through a registered agent, whichever structure you choose, then maintained by us through each year end that follows.
Twenty measures in five categories, scored out of ten by our team, and the present standing of St Vincent and the Grenadines with the international bodies that assess it.
Privacy & Confidentiality
Privacy Score7.5
Director Anonymity8.0
Beneficial Ownership7.0
Information Exchange7.0
Average7.4
Banking & Financial
Banking Acceptance7.5
Financial Reputation7.5
Currency Freedom9.0
Banking Partnerships7.0
Average7.8
Regulatory & Compliance
Regulatory Framework8.0
OECD Compliance8.5
EU Recognition9.0
FATCA/CRS Compliance8.5
Average8.5
Business Environment
Incorporation Speed9.0
Tax Efficiency10.0
Political Stability8.5
Legal System8.5
Average9.0
International Recognition
Global Reputation6.5
Treaty Network3.5
Trade Relations6.5
Diplomatic Status8.0
Average6.1
Compare with
JurisdictionOverall /10
Anguilla7.6
Bahamas8.4
Belize7.3
British Virgin Islands8.1
Cayman Islands8.6
Cyprus8.2
Marshall Islands7.8
Mauritius8.0
Panama7.7
Saint Kitts and Nevis8.1
Samoa7.5
Seychelles7.6
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines scores 7.8 overall
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Privacy & Confidentiality
What the beneficial ownership register holds, who is allowed to see it, and what leaves the jurisdiction automatically each year.
Score out of ten
Privacy Score
Strong privacy protections maintained
7.5
Director Anonymity
Not placed on any public file
8.0
Beneficial Ownership
Agent maintained, authority access on request
7.0
Information Exchange
Full CRS/FATCA compliance, automatic exchange
7.0
Banking & Financial
How readily international banks open and hold accounts for entities formed here, and how freely money moves once they do.
Score out of ten
Banking Acceptance
Good acceptance for forex/brokerage focus
7.5
Financial Reputation
Forex and brokerage hub, clean compliance
7.5
Currency Freedom
XCD pegged to USD, no exchange controls for IBCs
9.0
Banking Partnerships
Limited local banking, offshore banking typical
7.0
Regulatory & Compliance
The governing law, the bodies that supervise it, and where the jurisdiction sits on the international tax and transparency regimes.
Score out of ten
Regulatory Framework
English common law, FSA oversight
8.0
OECD Compliance
Largely Compliant rating
8.5
EU Recognition
Neither Annex I nor Annex II
9.0
FATCA/CRS Compliance
Compliant, exited CFATF follow-up
8.5
Business Environment
What it takes to form and run an entity here: how fast, what it is taxed, and how stable the law behind it has proved.
Score out of ten
Incorporation Speed
24-48 hours standard processing
9.0
Tax Efficiency
0% corporate tax, no capital gains tax
10.0
Political Stability
Stable independent democracy
8.5
Legal System
English common law, Privy Council appeals
8.5
International Recognition
How the jurisdiction is regarded outside its own borders, and how far its treaty and trade arrangements actually reach.
Score out of ten
Global Reputation
Forex and brokerage specialty jurisdiction
6.5
Treaty Network
Very limited treaty network
3.5
Trade Relations
CARICOM, OECS membership
6.5
Diplomatic Status
Independent Commonwealth nation
8.0
OECD Global Forum and Inclusive Framework
2
Exchange of information rating
Largely CompliantGlobal Forum peer review
Base erosion and profit shifting
Minimum standards implementedInclusive Framework
Financial Action Task Force and its Caribbean body
4
Increased monitoring
Not listedNo strategic deficiencies identified
Technical compliance
30 of 40 RecommendationsCompliant or largely compliant, 2024
Regional follow-up
ExitedCaribbean Financial Action Task Force process
Regional membership
MemberCaribbean Financial Action Task Force
Account reporting regimes
2
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
Agreement in forceWith the United States
Common Reporting Standard
ExchangingAutomatic exchange network
Tax cooperation instruments
4
Tax information exchange agreements
In forceBilateral
Mutual Administrative Assistance Convention
SignatoryMultilateral
Regional tax administration
MemberCaribbean Association of Tax Administrators
Regional cooperation
CARICOM frameworksMember states
European Union
1
List of non-cooperative jurisdictions
Not listedNeither Annex I nor Annex II
Domestic supervision
3
Financial services supervision
Financial Services AuthoritySupervision and anti-money laundering oversight
Company law
International Business Companies ActGoverning statute
Central bank
Eastern Caribbean Central BankCurrency union member
Start your company
Forming a St Vincent and the Grenadines company, and what comes with it
One fee covers the incorporation. St Vincent law then requires two appointments for as long as the company exists, whichever structure it takes, and your plan may call for two more.
Already have a St Vincent company with another agent? Bring it to us for US$350, one time. Its number, its date and its contracts do not change. About transferring your company→
The package price includes the government fees, which are set by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines authorities and passed on at cost. The rest is our fee for advising you, preparing and coordinating your paperwork, and handling the incorporation on your behalf; whether the company is approved, and when, is decided by those authorities alone.
Hold a presence in the islands
St Vincent and the Grenadines requires a registered agent and a registered office for the life of the company, whichever structure it takes. Your first year of each is covered by the incorporation fee, and each renews yearly.
Appointment A
Registered agent
A company must at all times have a registered agent in St Vincent and the Grenadines. We arrange that appointment through a corporate services provider and hold your record behind it, so everything the Financial Services Authority sends arrives at one address.
An address in Kingstown held by the Financial Services Authority as your company’s address. Your statutory records are kept there and your correspondence is forwarded on.
Settled as the company is formed. The board arrangement and the shareholding arrangement are documented separately, and both before any share is allotted.
The company has to exist before an account can be opened, which is why this step sits after the incorporation. Guided setup with one digital platform is in every package; a wider search is arranged on its own.
Opening
Usually remoteA few banks ask for a meeting. We say which, first.
The papers
Assembled by usCompany documents, IDs, what the business does.
The decision
The bank’sOn its own timetable, in weeks rather than days.
Commonly opened inSingapore, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the United States, or with a digital provider. There is no requirement to bank in the islands, and no exchange controls either way.
Maintaining a St Vincent and the Grenadines company after formation
A St Vincent company is formed once and maintained for as long as you own it. Four filings follow each year end, and we hold them under one annual package, each with a page of its own.
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The filings
Three documents that leave your company on dates the islands set. Each one is drafted from records we already hold, sent to you for a single approval, and filed.
The one service without a date attached, because the tax return, the financial statements and the substance return all draw on it. Kept month by month, so the figures exist before your year end does.
13jurisdictions, should the next company be elsewhere
Why Expanship
From the first form to every year after, one team.
In St. Vincent and the Grenadines the year brings a tax return, financial statements and a substance return. The same team that set your company up handles all three, plus the books and the local address, at a price fixed first.
One price
Same team
What every engagement includes
One price, agreed first
Setup, the local presence and the year’s three filings in one figure, agreed first.
A named contact
One person who knows your file and answers for it, not a ticket queue.
A written checklist
What we need from you, and what happens next, set out before the work starts.
The same team, every year
Tax return, financial statements, substance return and records, by one team.
Nothing to travel for
Onboarding to signing, all online. No trip to the islands unless the law demands one.
Your information, handled
Strict security protocols and professional confidentiality throughout the process.
The facts about the jurisdiction, then what it takes to form and keep a company there.
About the jurisdiction
St Vincent and the Grenadines is used by trading companies, including brokerage and online trading businesses, and by holding companies. It offers English common law with Privy Council appeal, a currency fixed at 2.70 to the US dollar, no exchange controls and a private ownership record.
English common law, under a companies statute passed in 2007 and consolidated in 2019. Disputes go before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, and the final appeal lies to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.
Tax applies only to income sourced in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Foreign-sourced income is outside the charge, though the company files an annual tax return with the Inland Revenue Department whether or not any tax falls due. There is no statutory audit.
St Vincent and the Grenadines is on neither EU list, Annex I or Annex II, and is not under FATF increased monitoring, having exited the regional follow-up process. The OECD Global Forum rates it Largely Compliant.
Only the authorities. The beneficial ownership record is held by the registered agent and shared on request, and directors and members are notified to the Financial Services Authority rather than published. There is no public file a stranger can inspect.
Yes. A St Vincent company can be wholly owned by non-residents, whether individuals or companies, and the directors can be anywhere. Nothing in the statute asks for a local shareholder or a resident director.
Working with us
The annual government fee on 31 December, then three filings that follow your year end: the tax return three months after it, financial statements five months after the balance date, and an economic substance return four months after the basis period ends. We prepare and file all four inside the annual package.
Yes. The registered agent and registered office, which we hold, are all that must be in the state. Directors and shareholders can be anywhere, and the company is not required to rent premises or take on staff.
Yes. Accounts are commonly opened in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom or the United States, or with a digital provider. There is no requirement to bank in the islands and no exchange controls. We prepare the file and the bank decides.
Forming a St Vincent company starts from US$1,049 in our packages, with the government fee, the first year of registered agent and office, and the documents inside that figure. The annual package that handles the four filings starts from US$949 a year. The pricing page separates our fee from the government's.
No. Expanship is a privately owned company. We are not a government agency, department, registry or regulator, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines or the Financial Services Authority (SVG). We advise you, prepare and coordinate your paperwork, and act on your behalf. Whether a company or document is approved, and when, is decided by those authorities alone.
Our own work: advice on the right structure and the right service, due diligence on every member, preparing and coordinating your paperwork, and handling your incorporation, annual compliance and company changes on your behalf. Where a package includes government fees, they are set by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines authorities, not by us, and are passed on at cost; where it does not, they are quoted separately before you commit.
Contact Us
Have a question about SVG?
Whether you are assessing St. Vincent and the Grenadines or already have a company there, tell us what you need and an advisor will come back to you.
Expanship is a private company, not a government agency. Submitting this form requests a consultation with our advisors; it does not place an order, start an incorporation, or create a professional relationship, and nothing we reply with is legal, tax, or financial advice.