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Commercial banks in St Kitts and Nevis hold licences from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank under the Banking Act. Its register of 25 June 2026 shows three with premises on Nevis:
CIBC Caribbean’s only branch in the Federation is at The Circus in Basseterre, on St Kitts. The Nevis Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC) lists the same three as the island’s licensed domestic banks, alongside the St Kitts and Nevis Development Bank.
The ECCB’s register of revoked licences shows that Royal Bank of Canada stopped banking in St Kitts and Nevis after its business passed to a consortium of five national banks on 1 April 2021, and that RBTT Bank (SKN) was transferred to The Bank of Nevis the same day. Caribbean Union Bank and Eastern Caribbean Amalgamated Bank appear on the ECCB register for Antigua and Barbuda only, so neither can open an account for a Nevis company on the island.
Nevis runs its own international banking regime. Licences are granted by the Minister of Finance under the Nevis International Banking Ordinance 2014, and the Nevis branch of the FSRC supervises the banks, whose business is taking foreign deposits and lending or investing those funds. The FSRC lists eight licensees: BONI (Bank of New Innovation), Centrue Private Bank, Ficron Bank, Hamilton Reserve Bank, Hamilton Trust Company (Nevis), International Merchant Bank, Sovereign Bank International and Sun Bank International. We have not reviewed their client policies, so put the question to each bank directly.
St Kitts and Nevis signed the July 2024 agreement that creates the Eastern Caribbean Deposit Insurance Corporation. Once in force, it insures each depositor’s money at a bank licensed under the Banking Act up to 50,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars, whether held in EC dollars or another currency, and company accounts are not excluded. Banks licensed under the Nevis International Banking Ordinance sit outside it. The agreement needs ratification by all eight ECCU governments before it starts, and we have seen no notice that cover has begun.
Every Nevis corporation and LLC must keep a licensed trust and corporate service provider and a registered office on Nevis at all times. Shareholders and directors can be foreign nationals resident in any country, and one of each is enough. The registered agent keeps the beneficial ownership records, naming each person who owns or controls 25 per cent or more; nothing is public, and authorities obtain it on request. For a Nevis LLC, hand the bank the operating agreement with a clear note of members, managers and signatories.
Accounts on Nevis are in the Eastern Caribbean dollar, pegged since July 1976 at 2.70 to the US dollar. St Kitts and Nevis is not in SWIFT’s IBAN Registry and not in SEPA, and Airwallex does not include it among its eligible registration countries.
Our offer page groups most Caribbean offshore jurisdictions, Nevis among them, as places where a company that already banks is not readily available to buy. Where a Nevis company does hold an account, a share sale leaves it in the company’s name; the bank then vets the incoming owners, managers and signatories and keeps the account, asks for more or closes it.
We can provide a company from our ready-made Nevis shelf list or organise company formation in Nevis, prepare the bank papers with you and, if a bank where we have a working contact suits your activity, make the introduction. Whether an account opens is the bank’s call. There is more on the Nevis overview and in our guide to buying a company with a bank account.
Three commercial banks: The Bank of Nevis, with its head office in Charlestown, the St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank and Republic Bank (EC), each with a Charlestown branch. CIBC Caribbean’s branch is in Basseterre on St Kitts. Separately, the Nevis FSRC licenses eight international banks, among them Centrue Private Bank, Hamilton Reserve Bank and Sun Bank International.
Yes, if a bank accepts it: none of the Nevis banks publishes criteria for LLCs or corporations owned from abroad, so the answer rests on each bank’s own policy. Prepare the operating agreement, the details of members, managers and signatories, and the beneficial ownership information held by the registered agent, and ask the bank before you apply.
No. The ECCB’s register of revoked licences records that Royal Bank of Canada stopped banking in St Kitts and Nevis once its business passed to a consortium of five national banks on 1 April 2021, and that RBTT Bank (SKN) was transferred to The Bank of Nevis on the same date. Neither appears on the June 2026 register.
Not yet, as far as we can confirm. The Eastern Caribbean Deposit Insurance Corporation agreement of July 2024 would cover up to 50,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars per depositor at each Banking Act bank, in any currency and including companies, but it starts only once all eight ECCU governments have ratified. Nevis international banks fall outside it.
Not often. Our offer page treats pre-banked shelf companies as not readily available in most Caribbean offshore jurisdictions, Nevis included. A Nevis company that already banks keeps its account through the sale, but the bank looks again at the incoming owners, managers and signatories and may keep the relationship, request more or close it.