SVG Establish your St Vincent BC with a specialist-led service that advises first and then accompanies you through the entire incorporation. Structure, paperwork and follow-up are handled on your behalf, so the company is set up properly and ready to use.
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 handle the incorporation on your behalf; whether a company is approved, and when, is decided by those authorities alone.
Requirements
Ten requirements make up a St Vincent BC. Three are included with us, one is optional, and six are decisions we go through with you before anything is drafted.
One director is enough and there is no maximum. Directors may live anywhere and a company may serve as one. The first board is appointed by the registered agent within twenty-eight days of incorporation, and the names are then filed with the authorities in St Vincent.
The people who ultimately own or control the company are identified to the registered agent before the incorporation is filed, looked through every holding company until a person is reached. St Vincent sets the test by ownership or control rather than by a percentage, so nobody is below the line.
A St Vincent Business Company is not asked for a company secretary or for any other officer. The directors may appoint a president, a treasurer or a managing director by resolution when a counterparty expects a title, and a director may hold the office as well.
St Vincent sets no minimum capital and no minimum paid up amount, and an authorised capital figure is optional rather than required. Shares may be issued in more than one currency, with or without par value, in one class or several.
Every Business Company must have a registered agent in the country at all times, and the agent is the company’s channel to the authorities. It keeps the registers the law requires and holds the company’s records. It comes with every package.
The company needs an address in the country, named in its articles. It may be the office of the registered agent, so it comes with the agent and you lease nothing. Meetings may be held anywhere in the world, and the agent is told where the records are kept.
A limited company ends in Limited, Ltd, Corporation, Corp, Incorporated, Inc, S.A., Sdn Bhd, SARL, B.V., GmbH, N.V. or S.p.A., and an unlimited one ends in Unlimited or Unltd. We check availability and hold the name before anything is filed.
St Vincent splits the constitution in two. The articles are filed and say which of the seven forms the company takes, where it sits, what shares it may issue and that it cannot issue shares to bearer. The by-laws stay inside the company and govern how it runs.
Since 2019 a Business Company sits inside the St Vincent tax system rather than outside it, so it takes a Tax Identification Number from the Inland Revenue Department when it is formed. The number is what the yearly return is filed under, whether or not any tax is due.
KYC
Everything needed from your side is organised with the help of our team, who check each item as it comes in so the whole process runs smoothly and without repeat requests.
See the full checklistEntity Subtypes
Most owners settle on the first form and rarely need to look further. The remaining six exist for specific purposes, from segregated cells to a company that ends on a chosen date. Select a form to see what it is for, or put the question to our experts and we will answer it plainly.
Liability limited
The form nearly every St Vincent Business Company takes. Members hold shares, the company answers for its own debts, and a member is never asked for more than what is still owed on the shares.
Liability limited
Two kinds of member in the same company. Guarantee members sign an undertaking in the articles naming the sum they will contribute if the company is wound up, and shareholders put in capital.
Liability limited
There is no share capital at all. Each member undertakes in the articles to contribute a named sum if the company is wound up, and that undertaking is the whole of what can be asked for.
Liability unlimited
Shares are issued, but nothing caps what the members can be called on for. Some home tax systems look straight through a company built this way, which is usually the reason it is chosen.
Liability unlimited
No share capital and no shield. There is membership and nothing else, and the members answer for whatever the company owes.
Elected in the articles, on top of a form above
One company divided into cells. Each cell keeps its own assets and its own liabilities, and a creditor of one cell cannot reach into another cell or into the general assets of the company.
Elected in the articles, on top of a form above
The same company with an end date written into it. The articles fix a life of no more than thirty years, and the name has to carry the ending that says so.
Not sure which kind fits? Tell us what the company will do and we will name the form before the articles are drafted.
Activities and Usage
Holding, trade, services, property, even business with residents: a St Vincent BC stretches further than most. Select the activity closest to yours, and our expertise covers what comes next.
Open the day the company exists. Nothing to apply for first.
Extra steps come first, here or in the market you serve. Our experts will tell you which before you commit.
Off limits for this kind of company, whatever it goes on to do.
Both markets
Almost every international company in the region is shut out of the country that formed it, so an owner who wants a local contract as well as a foreign one has to form a second company to take it, with a second agent, a second fee and a second set of books. St Vincent lifted that bar in 2019.
What the company earns in the markets it trades in abroad is not taxed in St Vincent, whatever the size of it.
Income sourced in St Vincent is charged here, and it goes on the annual return the company files either way.
A company formed for export work can take a local contract without being re-formed, and the return carries both.
Trading
A trader is running purchases and sales through the same operating company, so a supplier can read the margin off a customer invoice and every counterparty inherits one country's contract terms. Moving the paperwork to a separate company breaks that link.
The supplier contracts with the St Vincent company, and title passes to it where the goods are sitting.
The customer is invoiced by the St Vincent company and pays into its own account, with nothing standing in the way of moving it.
They ship from supplier to customer directly, and only the contracts and the payments run through here.
Joint venture
Two houses have agreed the commercial terms and stalled on where the venture lives. Each has read the other's company law and does not want to be the minority inside it, and neither wants a dispute decided by a court the other side knows better. A third country settles both questions at once.
Both partners subscribe to one St Vincent company, so neither has to accept the other's company law as the venue.
Board seats, reserved matters and deadlock are written into the by-laws instead of a side letter alone.
Disputes run under English common law, with the final appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Cells
A manager running three ventures inside one company has one pot of assets that every creditor can reach, and forming three companies means three agents, three fee dates and three sets of filings in a place that already asks for four a year. Cells put the walls inside one company.
Assets are subscribed into a named cell, and cell shares are issued in respect of that cell, not the company.
What one cell owes is met from that cell's assets. The other cells and the general assets are out of reach.
Selling one cell's shares leaves every other cell untouched, and no asset has to be moved out of the company.
Vessel ownership
A yacht is not one asset. It is a flag, a management agreement, a crew payroll and a hull policy, all written against whoever owns it. Sell the vessel itself and every one of those has to be unpicked and rebuilt for the buyer.
One company holds the yacht and nothing else, and the vessel is entered on the St Vincent flag in that name.
Berthing, insurance and the management agreement are all signed by the company, never by the people behind it.
Ownership changes at the share register, so the crew stay on their contracts and the cover is never re-underwritten.
Look-through vehicle
A member whose own tax system treats a foreign company as opaque is charged twice on the same profit: once when the company earns it and again when it is paid out. St Vincent is one of the few places in the region still offering an unlimited form, and some systems read the profit as the members' own from the start.
Shares are issued, but nothing caps what a member can be called on for, and the name has to say so.
Where a home system looks through, the income is charged to the members directly rather than at two levels.
It is written in at incorporation, and anyone wanting the shield instead takes one of the limited forms.
All-in-one pricing for a St Vincent BC: two packages, each with the government fee and the first year built in, every item written out, and no hidden charges anywhere.
Every package above includes the government fees. Those fees are set by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines authorities, not by Expanship, and are passed on at cost; the rest of the price is our fee for advising you, preparing and coordinating your paperwork, and handling the incorporation on your behalf. Expanship is a private company, not a government agency. Whether a company is approved, and when, is decided by the authorities alone.
Enterprise
For structures the two packages above were not drawn for. Segregated cells, a fixed company life, layered holding arrangements or a group formed in several countries at once, designed and implemented by a dedicated project manager.
After Year 1
Your first year is covered by the package above. From year two, one fee a year carries the government fee, your registered agent and office, that year's tax return, accounts and Economic Substance filing, custody of your records, and reminders before each date.
Pros and cons
What a St Vincent BC does well, and what it asks of you every year, set out side by side with nothing hidden. Our experts will tell you plainly which side counts more for your plan.
In its favour
St Vincent charges what is earned in St Vincent. Profits made in the markets the company actually trades in are untouched here.
Either may be a person or a company, resident in any country. No local director, no company secretary, no staffed office.
A public company search returns a name, a number, a status and an agent. Directors, members and owners are not on it.
No minimum to subscribe, more than one currency at a time, several classes, and shares issued with or without par value.
Limited by shares, two guarantee forms, two unlimited forms, plus cells and a fixed life, each of them chosen in the articles.
To weigh against
The company takes a tax number when it is formed and files with the Inland Revenue Department, even in a year with nothing owed.
Financial statements, or a declaration of solvency signed by the board, reach the authorities within five months of year end.
St Vincent has no double tax agreements to lean on, so tax withheld at source on foreign income cannot be reduced by one.
The government fee falls at the start of every January, and the agent, the office and each yearly filing fall due beside it.
Controlled foreign company rules where you live can charge the company's profits to you before a dividend is ever paid.
The same company under other flags
Compliance
Fourteen duties, four of them on hard dates, follow a St Vincent BC. Our team carries thirteen of them within your annual engagement, and the fourteenth comes to you with plenty of notice.
Registered agent
A registered agent in the country, from the day the company is formed to the day it ends.
Registered office
An address in St Vincent, named in the articles and provided by the agent rather than leased by you.
Statutory registers
Articles, by-laws, members, directors and charges, with a copy of everything filed in the last ten years.
Minutes and resolutions
Every meeting minuted and every written resolution copied, then held for ten years.
Accounting records
Records and the invoices, receipts and contracts behind them, with the agent told where they sit.
Annual government fee
One fee a year, due at the start of January whatever month the company was formed in.
Annual tax return
A return for the year, filed whether or not the company earned anything taxable in St Vincent.
Accounts or a solvency declaration
Full statements if the company is large by revenue or by assets, and a signed solvency declaration if it is not.
Economic substance return
Due where the company carries on one of the nine activities the rules name, and not otherwise.
Register of Directors
Appointments, departures and any change to a director’s name or address, resolved and then filed.
Register of Members
Transfers, allotments and cancellations written up, with the instrument behind each movement.
Beneficial ownership
Kept current with the agent, including a change reached through a company higher up the chain.
Amendments to the articles
A change to the articles or the by-laws is resolved by the company, then lodged as articles of amendment.
Name, agent and office changes
All three are made by amending the articles, so they take effect when the amendment is registered.
How it runs
Four yearly dates, and none of them are yours to remember
Your year end sets three of them and the calendar sets the fourth. We hold all four from the day the company is formed, prepare each filing in turn, and come to you in good time for the figures only you can give us.
Thirteen of them sit with us, from the day the company is formed to the day you close it. Four of those fall due every year, on dates your own financial year sets. The only thing we need from you is an answer when we ask for one.
2 to 5
Business days
From the day your checks clear to the day the company exists.
1 + 1
Shareholder and director
Any nationality, resident anywhere, and they may be the same person.
US$1,049
Packages from
Quoted in full upfront. The government fee is part of the price, not on top.
You do not have a company yet
The vehicle described on this page, formed from wherever you are. We run the checks, hold the name, draft the articles and by-laws, take out the tax number and hand you the register pack.
You already have a St Vincent company
Change the registered agent on a company you already own. It keeps its name, its number and its history, and nothing about the entity itself changes.
Neither of those yet?
Your own tax position, how the yearly filings would land on your year end, or whether another St Vincent form suits you better. Answered in writing within one business day, at no charge.
Talk to a specialistFAQ
The questions we hear most about forming a St Vincent BC with us, and about what the company is and does once it exists. Anything else, put to our specialists and you will have a written answer.
No. Nothing about forming a St Vincent BC has to be signed in Kingstown, and no director, shareholder or owner has to live there. Your passport, address proof and source of funds are reviewed at a distance, the articles and by-laws are drafted and lodged for you, and the registered agent and office come with the package. The corporate kit then reaches you anywhere in the world by express courier.
Everything a St Vincent BC needs to exist and to run for its first year. Basic at US$1,049 covers the government fee, the name checks, the articles of incorporation and by-laws, the registered agent and registered office for year one, the registers of directors, members and beneficial owners, the tax number and your digital Certificate of Incorporation. Premium at US$1,999 adds the company seal, the paper original and the attested set banks tend to ask for. The government fee is flat, so your share capital does not move the price.
Yes. Every package includes support in opening a multi-currency business account with Airwallex, subject to the provider's own checks. For a traditional bank, we advise on which ones are used to a St Vincent BC, prepare the corporate papers the bank asks for, and help you answer the questions a bank puts to a company owned from abroad. The decision on the account rests with the bank, and we say so before you start.
An answer when we ask, and not much more. Fourteen duties follow a St Vincent BC, and thirteen of them sit with us under the annual engagement at US$949 a year from year two. That covers the government fee on 1 January, the tax return three months after your year end, the accounts or solvency declaration two months after that, any economic substance return, and every change to directors, members or articles. Your part is to keep the accounting records and send us the figures behind the return.
Both. Moving a St Vincent BC to us means changing its registered agent, a one-time US$350, after which the annual engagement runs at US$949 a year. The company keeps its name, its number and its history, and nothing about the entity changes. When a company has done what it was formed for, we advise on winding it up in good order, with the filings brought up to date first, and manage the steps on your behalf under a separate quote.
No. St Vincent law allows only a registered agent in the country to lodge the incorporation of a Business Company, so the route always runs through one. What we add is the part that saves time and mistakes: advice on whether a BC and which of its seven forms fit your plan, drafting of the articles and by-laws, management of the whole process on your behalf, and a team that holds the four yearly dates afterwards. We are an independent corporate services provider, not a government body.
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 handle the incorporation on your behalf. Whether a company is approved, and when, is decided by those authorities alone.
Our own work: advice on the right structure, due diligence on every member, preparing and coordinating the incorporation paperwork, handling the incorporation on your behalf, and the first year of registered agent and registered office. The government fees are set by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines authorities, not by us, and are passed on at cost inside the package price.
One director and one shareholder, who may be the same person, living anywhere and of any nationality. There is no maximum for either. The first board is appointed by the registered agent within twenty-eight days of incorporation and the names go to the authorities in St Vincent, but a public company search returns only the name, number, status and agent. The register of members is kept at the agent's office and never reaches a public file.
Yes. A company may sit on the board of a St Vincent BC and a company may hold its shares, which is how a parent or a trust structure sits above it. Behind any corporate holder the people who ultimately own or control the company are still identified to the registered agent before incorporation, traced through every layer until a person is reached. St Vincent sets that test by ownership or control rather than by a percentage, so nobody falls below a line.
More than most places offer. St Vincent sets no minimum capital and no minimum paid up amount, and stating an authorised capital at all is optional. Shares may be issued in more than one currency at the same time, with or without par value, in one class or several. Bearer shares are not allowed, and the articles say so. The government fee is flat whatever the capital, and the company itself comes in seven forms, including segregated cells and a fixed life of up to thirty years.
Neither. A St Vincent Business Company is not asked for a company secretary or any other officer, and the board may appoint a president, a treasurer or a managing director by resolution only when a counterparty expects the title. The company must name a registered office in its articles, and that may be the registered agent's office, so you lease nothing and staff nothing on the islands. Both are included in every package, and meetings may be held anywhere.
Inside it, not outside. Since 2019 a Business Company takes a tax number when it is formed and files a return with the Inland Revenue Department three months after its year end, whether or not anything is owed. St Vincent charges what is earned in St Vincent, so profits made in the markets the company trades in are untouched here. Accounts or a solvency declaration follow within five months of the balance date, and a substance return applies only where one of nine named activities is carried on.
Contact Us
Share what you have in mind and our St Vincent experts will say whether a BC is the right fit, what it will cost and what comes next. Asking is free.
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.
