St. Vincent and the Grenadines

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a Commonwealth nation located between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago. Resistance by native Caribs prevented colonization on St. Vincent until 1719. Disputed between France and the United Kingdom for most of the 18th century, the island was ceded to the latter in 1783. Between 1960 and 1962, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was a separate administrative unit of the Federation of the West Indies. Autonomy was granted in 1969 and independence in 1979.

St. Vincent is a popular jurisdiction for the formation of trusts and international business companies due to its favorable taxation and confidentiality laws as well as the efficiency of the incorporation process. St. Vincent entities can be incorporated in as little as one day. Companies formed in St. Vincent require only one shareholder and director, who may be the same person. There is no requirement for local directors or local corporate meetings. Bearer shares are permitted. Corporations are not taxed on any income earned abroad.

Strict confidentiality is mandated for transactions in St. Vincent by the Confidential Relationships Preservation Act of 1996. The Act is arguably the most restrictive confidentiality law in the world today. It is only one of three jurisdictions with general financial privacy laws. It is the only such jurisdiction that is an independent sovereign nation.

St. Vincent is also a good jurisdiction for Class I international banking licenses. Proper due diligence is undertaken by the government of all bank license applicants, which takes approximately 3 months from the submission of all necessary documentation. All St. Vincent banks are monitored by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB). Class I applications require a non-refundable fee of US $1,000.00. Upon approval, Class I banks must maintain a capital fund of not less than US $1,000,000.00 or its equivalent in another currency.