Belize

Features of a Belize IBC

Belize is an attractive location for the incorporation of an IBC. See below for the features of a Belize IBC:

• Competitive prices for incorporation and annual fees for a Belize IBC;
• The incorporation process for Belize Offshore companies will not take longer that 3 working days;
• A Belize offshore company is exempted from all taxes;
• IBC standard share capital is USD $50,000;
• Standard share capital in excess of USD $50,000 may be declared in exchange for a higher annual fee;
• The names of the shareholders and directors for offshore Belize are not a part of the public record;
• The bearer share is allowed for offshore Belize companies;
• Minimum of one director and shareholder required for Belize incorporation;
• To incorporate in Belize, the director(s) and the shareholder(s) can be physical person or a company;
• The director and the shareholder can be the same person;
• There is no requirement to appoint a local or any secretary for Belize companies;
• The first director of the company is appointed at the organizational meeting of the Belize corporation;
• For Belize corporations, there is no requirements to file any accounts or to provide annual audits reports;
• The register of shares has to be kept up to date;
• A registered agent and a registered office are required;
• Annual fees are due to be paid by the 31st of July, starting from the second year of incorporation and each subsequent year thereafter;
• The Belize IBC cannot derive any income from activities in Belize;
• The word "Limited", "Corporation", "Incorporation", "Societe Anonyme", "Sociedad Auonima", or abbreviations thereof "Ltd.", "Corp.", "Inc.", "S.A.", "AG" has to be used as a corporate suffix of the company.
  

Belize companies with bearer shares 

The Belize International Business Companies Act also provides for a possibility to configure an IBC with shares issued to a bearer (a bearer share company). While, in itself, bearer shares have usually represented the ultimate way of ensuring the anonymity of the owners of an offshore company, in this day and age, this method is somewhat limited by the law.

The bearer share certificates of a Belize IBC may not be delivered into the hands of the respective shareholders. Instead, the bearer shares must remain and be held in custody by the Registered Agent in Belize, together with written information as to the identities of the actual owners of the bearer shares.

This limitation removes the primary benefit of having a bearer share IBC - the free and fast transferability of shares. However, in terms of acting as an additional layer of confidentiality, the bearer shares of a Belize IBC are still an attractive option.

Bearer share IBCs have another serious disadvantage - most of the commercial banks worldwide (including most offshore banks) refuse to open accounts for bearer-share companies. For various reasons, it is a known fact that bearer-share IBCs are widely viewed with suspicion in a variety of transactions and circumstances. In this respect, having an IBC with registered shares held by a nominee shareholder is a less controversial option.

As you can see, it is possible to register a company with bearer shares in this jurisdiction, but this still does not provide anonymity so that is why nominee shareholders are recommended instead.