- →
-
Contact Form
-
Saint Kitts and Nevis is one federation, but Nevis makes its own laws for international companies through the Nevis Island Assembly. Company formation in Nevis therefore means one of two entities. The first is a corporation under the Nevis Business Corporation Ordinance, Cap. 7.01 (the NBCO, the 2017 Ordinance that replaced the 1984 one), which the Nevis regulator describes as the equivalent of an international business corporation, so the market calls it a Nevis IBC. The second is a limited liability company under the Nevis Limited Liability Company Ordinance, Cap. 7.04 (the NLLCO). Both are registered by the Corporate Registry of the Nevis branch of the Financial Services Regulatory Commission in Charlestown.
| Point | Nevis corporation (IBC) | Nevis LLC |
|---|---|---|
| Statute | NBCO, Cap. 7.01 | NLLCO, Cap. 7.04 |
| Registered by | Registrar of Corporations | Registrar of Companies |
| Constitution | Articles of incorporation plus bylaws, which every corporation must have (s.32) | Articles of organisation; an operating agreement is optional and need not be written unless the articles say so (s.27) |
| Owners | One or more shareholders; registered shares only since 2023 | One or more members, no upper limit |
| Management | Board of at least one director (s.70), officers as the bylaws require | The members, unless the articles or agreement appoint managers (s.48) |
| Capital | No statutory minimum; authorised shares may be stated in any recognised currency | No initial capital; no interest need be issued to start |
| Name ending | Corporation, Incorporated, Limited or a similar suffix (s.20) | LLC, L.L.C., LC, L.C., limited liability company or limited company (s.18) |
Choose the corporation for shares that can be issued in classes, pledged or sold on familiar paperwork, under a board that banks read without explanation. Choose the LLC for holding assets: the NLLCO makes a charging order the only remedy of a member’s personal creditor (section 60), requires proof of a fraudulent transfer beyond reasonable doubt (section 61) and a bond fixed by the High Court before collection (section 62). One can later convert into the other (NBCO section 108, NLLCO section 69).
You cannot file with the Nevis registry yourself. A corporation must at all times have a registered agent in Nevis, licensed by the Nevis Island Administration, whose place of business is the corporation’s registered office (NBCO section 14); the NLLCO says the same of LLCs (section 12). Under the Nevis Trust and Corporate Service Providers Ordinance, 2021 only a licensed provider may form companies or act as registered agent, and a licence goes to an attorney-at-law or a local company found fit and proper.
The Registrar of Corporations keeps the register of corporations and the Nevis Registrar of Companies keeps the register of LLCs. Anyone may inspect and copy what has been filed (NBCO section 28) or order a Corporation Search Report (section 29). What is filed is chiefly the articles: name, purpose, registered agent and office, authorised shares, the incorporator and, if the articles name them, the first directors. The registers of shareholders, directors and beneficial owners stay with the company and its agent.
| Step | What happens | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Engage a licensed agent | The agent identifies and verifies every beneficial owner, director and controlling shareholder before it takes you on | AML/CFT Regulations, FSRC |
| 2. Reserve the name | The agent reserves it on the CRISS portal; a reservation holds 120 days and can be renewed once | NBCO s.23 |
| 3. Draft the articles | Articles of incorporation, or articles of organisation for an LLC, naming the agent and giving its address as registered office | NBCO s.24; NLLCO s.22 |
| 4. File | The agent files on the Registrar’s electronic portal; electronic signatures are accepted | NBCO s.4(8), (12) |
| 5. Incorporation | The corporation exists from the filing date the Registrar endorses; a Certificate of Incorporation and an Endorsement Certificate follow | NBCO s.27 |
| 6. Organise | Bylaws adopted, directors elected if the articles did not name them, shares issued | NBCO ss.31, 32, 48 |
| 7. Registers | Registers of shareholders, directors and beneficial owners opened; copies may sit with the agent | NBCO s.101 |
The regulator says a name can be reserved instantaneously on CRISS but publishes no processing time for the articles, and the agent will not file until its identity and source of funds checks are complete.
A corporation’s name must end with Corporation, Incorporated, Limited or another recognised suffix and must not match, or come confusingly close to, a name already registered or reserved (NBCO section 20). It may be written in a non-Latin alphabet with an authenticated English translation (section 21). The Registrars publish restricted words, among them Nevis, Nevisian, Finance, Fund, Trust, Trading, Insurance and Gold, and prohibited ones such as Bank, Exchange, Securities, Forex and St. Kitts. The list is not exhaustive.
One shareholder and one director are enough for a Nevis corporation, and the regulator states that shareholders, directors and officers can live anywhere and be of any nationality. Directors need not be shareholders (NBCO section 69), a corporation may sit as director, and the secretary may be an individual or a company. A Nevis LLC can have a single member and be run by that member or by managers of any nationality (NLLCO sections 48 and 52). Every director and manager owes the same duty: good faith and the care an ordinarily prudent person would show in that position (NBCO section 81, NLLCO section 53). Where you want a director or nominee shareholder provided for you, Nevis law reserves that service to providers holding a Class I or Class IV licence under the 2021 Ordinance, the provided director carries that full duty, and the person who really owns or controls the corporation is still entered in its register of beneficial owners and identified to the licensed agent, so we arrange it only through such a licensee.
The regulator lists what licensed agents must hold for each beneficial owner of a company:
Expect the same for directors and managers: the agent must hold it on every control person.
A Nevis offshore company is no longer tax exempt by default. Section 136 of the NBCO and section 96 of the NLLCO still exempt an entity that does no business in Saint Kitts and Nevis, but only one formed on or before 31 December 2018, and the same sections end every such exemption on 30 June 2021 at the latest, earlier if the entity took on new assets or a new activity. The Inland Revenue Department records that the regimes were closed in December 2018 with grandfathering until June 2021 and that the OECD lists them as abolished.
A company formed now is inside the Federation’s tax system from the start. Nevis corporations and LLCs file the CIT-101 corporate income tax return on the Inland Revenue Department’s portal each year, even with no transactions, by 15 April for a calendar financial year. The corporate income tax rate has been 25% since 1 January 2024. Whether a particular Nevis company owes tax under the Income Tax Act, Cap. 20.22, and on which income, depends on its facts, so take tax advice in the Federation and in your own country before forming it.
| Obligation | Detail | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Registered agent and office | Kept at all times; 60 days without an agent leads to removal from the register | NBCO ss.14, 119(2) |
| Annual renewal | Made through the agent each year; a year’s lapse leads to removal, with restoration possible within three years | NBCO ss.7, 119 |
| Registers and minutes | Shareholders, directors, beneficial owners, minutes; the agent told of register changes within 15 days where it holds copies | NBCO s.101 |
| Corporate particulars | Name, legal status, registered office and agent, bylaws kept current; changes filed where the Ordinance requires | NBCO s.101, as amended in 2025 |
| Books and records | Enough to show the financial position and prepare financial statements; kept at least five years | NBCO s.103; NLLCO s.67 |
| Tax return | CIT-101 to the Inland Revenue Department every year | IRD |
The LLC rules mirror these in NLLCO sections 7, 12, 67, 67A and 73.
A company incorporated elsewhere can continue as a Nevis corporation without being wound up, unless the law of its current home expressly forbids it (NBCO section 122). The agent files an Application to Transfer Domicile to Nevis with a certificate of good standing issued no more than 60 days earlier (sections 123 to 125); LLCs use Part XIV of the NLLCO. Leaving Nevis works the same way in reverse, through a Certificate of Departure.
Buying an existing entity makes sense mainly when the incorporation date matters, for example to a counterparty that asks how long the company has existed. It does not shorten the agent’s checks, which run the same way for a buyer, and it brings no tax exemption, since those ended in 2021 for older companies too. Our page on ready made companies in Nevis explains the share transfer and what to check, and the guide to off the shelf companies covers the idea in general.
Registering the company does not open an account. None of the banks with a branch on Nevis publishes criteria for a Nevis corporation or LLC owned from abroad, and Saint Kitts and Nevis is not in the IBAN registry, so plan the bank question alongside the formation. The banks, deposit insurance and documents are covered on our page on bank accounts for Nevis companies.
We can form a new Nevis corporation or LLC or supply a ready made one. We prepare the formation documents with you, arrange the licensed registered agent and registered office the law requires, coordinate the filings with the Registrar, help you prepare the bank application and, where we have a working contact at a suitable bank, make an introduction, leaving the decision to the bank. Background on the island is on our Nevis page.
Through a registered agent licensed in Nevis; there is no route for filing yourself. The agent checks your identity and source of funds, reserves the name on the CRISS portal, files articles of incorporation for a corporation or articles of organisation for an LLC with the Corporate Registry in Charlestown, and the entity exists from the filing date the Registrar endorses. Bylaws, directors and the share register follow at the organisational stage.
Only trust and corporate service providers licensed under the Nevis Trust and Corporate Service Providers Ordinance, 2021, which are attorneys-at-law or local companies that the Licensing Committee has found fit and proper. The Nevis branch of the Financial Services Regulatory Commission publishes the current list under Regulated Entities. Anyone offering Nevis formation should be able to name the licensed provider that will act as registered agent.
No. Shareholders, directors, officers, members and managers may be of any nationality and live anywhere, and one person can fill every role. The only fixed local elements are the licensed registered agent and the registered office at its address. Filing with the Registrar is electronic and accepts electronic signatures, and the agent works from notarised copies of your documents.
Not automatically. The exemption in section 136 of the NBCO and section 96 of the NLLCO was closed to entities formed after 31 December 2018 and ended for the rest by 30 June 2021 at the latest. Every Nevis corporation and LLC now files the annual CIT-101 return with the Inland Revenue Department, and the Federation’s corporate income tax rate is 25%. Whether tax is due depends on the company’s facts.
Partly. Anyone may inspect documents filed with the Registrar of Corporations and order a Corporation Search Report, so the name, purpose, registered agent and office, authorised shares, incorporator and any directors named in the articles can be seen. The registers of shareholders and beneficial owners are kept by the company and its licensed agent, not filed with the Registrar, and the authorities can obtain them.
Form a corporation if you want shares, a board and documents that banks and buyers read without explanation. Form an LLC for holding assets, where the NLLCO limits a member’s personal creditor to a charging order on distributions, which expires after three years, and requires a bond fixed by the court before collection proceedings. Both need the same licensed agent, registers and annual return, and either can convert into the other.
Planning a Nevis corporation or LLC? Tell us the activity, who will own and run it and whether the incorporation date matters, through our contact page or on Telegram or WhatsApp at +48 663 247 166, and we will set out what the formation would need.