Guernsey

General Information

Area – 78 sq. km

Population – 62,948 people

Capital – Saint Peter Port

Official language – English, French

Official currency – Pound Sterling (GBP)

Key Aspects

Guernsey is one of the islands in the group of the Channel Islands. The island remained under the formal authority of the British crown, whereas constitutionally Great Britain is only responsible for the defence and international relationships. Otherwise, Guernsey is a rather independent part of the world and is neither part of Great Britain nor the EU.

Since the 60ies of the past century the government has been making efforts to improve legislation which resulted in the inflow of tourists and, subsequently, the inflow of permanent inhabitants. They were attracted by low tax rates and development of the financial sector. Especially fast the latter started developing in the mid 80ies of the twentieth century. Banking was also rapidly developing. All of this together made Guernsey famous as an international offshore centre. Information about beneficiaries is kept by a special local agent and may be disclosed only when competent bodies perform a tax inspection or based on a court decision.

Company Type

Legislatively, on Guernsey it is possible to establish quite a large number of different commercial structures among which the most interesting is a Company Limited by Shares (ClbS).

Corporate Legislation

The legal system of the island is based on the usual Norman law significantly supplemented by the English laws. Cooperation of companies is regulated by a special Companies Act 2008.

Main Requirements for Company Directors and Shareholders

A company incorporated on Guernsey must have at least one director; this official may be both a legal entity and a natural person with any citizenship. Also, a company must have at least one shareholder. No restrictions are imposed on the shareholders.

Authorised Capital

In terms of requirements for the authorised capital, companies incorporated on Guernsey have room for manoeuvre since the authorised capital may be represented in any currency, and the number of shares is not limited by anything and there may be just one share. It is permitted to issue shares without par value. The only restriction is the prohibition of bearer shares.

Accounting

Companies must keep accounting records during the period of six years. Financial accounts are prepared on a yearly basis though filing thereof is not required.

Taxation

The tax legislation of Guernsey is very liberal to business; therefore, the majority of directions of the activity of resident and non-resident companies operating both on the territory of the island and outside it are subject to the corporate tax rate 0%. Also, VAT and the capital gains tax are not imposed.

Questions that need to be answered to prepare incorporation documents

• Passport details of the founders and information about the directors
• Photocopy of the ID pages of the founders’ and director’s international passports
• Utility Bill of the directors and founders, current email addresses and phone numbers
• Several preferable firm names