IBC stands for International Business Company, originally from the International Business Companies Act of 1984 in the British Virgin Islands. It has since been copied – with slight variations – across a plethora of jurisdictions.

In this post, I will quickly go through all IBC jurisdictions. If you feel that I’m missing a jurisdiction here, it probably isn’t active anymore. A few have shut down in recent years after competition from other IBC jurisdiction was too fierce or international pressure became too much.

Otherwise, it might not even be an IBC jurisdiction.

Some popular offshore jurisdictions and tax havens are not listed here because they don’t offer IBCs but instead have exempt companies, non-resident companies, free zone companies, territorial taxation, or other tax incentives. These companies usually lack the ease of IBCs, but tend to enjoy a better reputation. Example of these include Bermuda, Cayman Islands, TCI, UAE, Hong Kong, and Panama.

All in all, I will go through the following:

• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• British Virgin Islands (BVI)
• Brunei
• Comoros
• Cook Islands
• Dominica
• Gambia
• Grenada
• Marshall Islands
• Mauritius
• Montserrat
• Nauru
• Samoa
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Seychelles
• Vanuatu

Anguilla

• British Overseas Territory.
• Relatively cheap.
• Tends to be more easy-going than its big brother – BVI.
• Politically stable.
• Enjoys a comparatively good reputation.

Read more about Anguilla here.

Antigua and Barbuda

• Independent country.
• Gambling friendly.
• Has complained about US anti-gambling laws to WTO – and won. See antiguawto.com for sources.
• Quite expensive (above average).
• Rough reputation.
• Very lax approach to copyright.
• Politically stable.

Bahamas

• Independent country.
• One of the older offshore jurisdictions, often considered a classic together with BVI.
• Above average costs.
• Tarnished but improving reputation.
• Politically stable.
• Somewhat gambling friendly.

Barbados

• Independent country.
• Cumbersome.
• High costs.
• Not tax free.
• Good reputation.
• Politically stable.

Belize

• Independent country.
• Cheap.
• Extremely popular.
• Bad reputation.
• Politically stable.

British Virgin Islands (BVI)

• Average to above-average costs.
• Extremely popular.
• Good reputation.
• Politically stable.
• British Overseas Territory.
• The grandfather of all IBCs.
• Technically no longer IBC, but listed here anyway.

Brunei

• Above-average to high costs.
• Relatively unknown; not much of a reputation.
• Politically stable; a sultanate.
• Independent country.
• Highly secretive; cannot currently comply with requests for exchange of information (TIEA).

Read more about Brunei here.

Comoros

• Low costs.
• Terrible international reputation.
• Politically unstable.
• Independent country.

Cook Islands

• High costs.
• Good if rugged international reputation.
• Sometimes used together with a Cook Islands trust, which is a very popular and strong asset protection vehicle.
• Politically stable.
• Honours requests by New Zealand courts.
• In free association with New Zealand. (Comparable to British Overseas Territory but for New Zealand.)

Dominica

• Independent country.
• Low costs.
• Decent reputation.
• Politically stable.
• Somewhat gambling friendly.
• Bearer shares.
• Don’t be surprised if your registered agent asks for a police conduct report to form the company. This is part of Dominica’s attempt to have a clean record.

Gambia

• New kid on the block.
• Average costs.
• Politically quite stable.
• Untested, unknown.
• Independent country.

Grenada

• Average to low costs.
• Has cleaned up its reputation recently, but some scars take a long time to heal.
• Politically mostly stable.
• Quite gambling friendly.
• Independent country.

Marshall Islands

• Average to low costs.
• OK reputation, if a bit unknown.
• Politically stable. Probably.
• Popular Flag of Convenience for shipping companies.
• Independent country within a free association with the USA.
• Bearer shares (mobile).

Mauritius

• Average to high costs.
• Very good international reputation.
• Politically stable.
• Can be converted from GBC II (IBC clone) to tax resident GBC I company to access tax treaties.
• Independent country.

Read more about Mauritius here.

Montserrat

• Almost forgotten about.
• Relatively moderate costs – if you can find anyone with Montserrat on the menu.
• Mostly politically stable.
• British Overseas Territory.

Nauru

• Independent country.
• Average to low costs.
• Somewhat politically stable.
• Dreadful international reputation.

Samoa

• Independent country.
• Average costs.
• Politically stable.
• Good reputation, if a bit unknown.

Read more about Samoa here.

Saint Kitts and Nevis

• Independent country.
• Average to low costs.
• Politically stable.
• Decent reputation.
• More popular for its LLC.

Saint Lucia

• Independent country.
• Average to low costs.
• Politically stable.
• Decent reputation.
• Popular with Italians, for some reason; probably religious connotations with Saint Lucy of Syracuse.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

• Independent country.
• Average to low costs.
• Quite politically stable.
• OK reputation.
• Has gained popularity in recent years due to Loyal Bank and Euro Pacific Bank.

Seychelles

• Low costs.
• Independent country.
• Overall politically stable.
• Quite bad reputation.
• Was subject to a witch hunt in recent years following the country’s role within the blood diamond trade and money laundering.

Vanuatu

• Low to average costs.
• Independent country.
• Politically stable.
• Highly secretive; cannot comply with exchange of information requests.

Read more about Vanuatu here.

 

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