Seychelles Trusts

Licenced and Regulated in Seychelles

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FAQs

What is a Seychelles International trust?

A Seychelles International Trust is registered under the Seychelles International Trusts Act 1994 as amended by a non-resident settlor. The settlor cannot at any time be a resident in Seychelles but residency is actually equated with domicile. The settlor can reside in Seychelles for a period of time provided that he does not become domiciled in Seychelles. A Seychelles Trust requires a resident trustee which must be a corporate trustee licenced by the Seychelles International Business Authority. Additionally if any of the beneficiaries are Seychelles nationals their names must be disclosed to the Seychelles International Business Authority. Another restriction is that the Trust cannot own immoveable property in Seychelles. In relation to Seychelles assets it can only own Seychelles IBC shares and maintain cash in a Seychelles bank account.

What is a Trust?

A trust is a private legal arrangement that results from a formal transfer of assets (which might include property, shares or cash) to someone else (in practice usually not just one person but a small group of people or a trust company) for them to look after and to manage so as to benefit a third person or group of people. The person (which can be a natural person or an legal entity) who transfers ownership in the assets is called the Settlor but he can also be called the Grantor or Creator. The who people who look after the assets and manage them are called the trustees. The people who will benefit from the arrangement are called the beneficiaries. The trustees are the “legal owners” of the assets and the beneficiaries are the “beneficial owners” of the assets (or rather they may have an interest in the trust assets). The concept comes from English Common Law which recognizes the separation of legal ownership and beneficial ownership. A trust is not a separate legal entity like a company. A Trust cannot own assets in its own name, the trustees legally own the assets. Some people associate it more with contracts than with legal persons but it is also not a contract.

Do you accept to serve anyone from any part of the world?

We do not accept clients who are resident or domiciled in countries found on the FATF Call For Action List or who are in the FATF Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring list. We also do not accept IBCs that will somehow be linked to those countries e.g. will own assets in those countries or do business with persons in those countries. The current list can be accessed from https://www.fatf-gafi.org

Can we change the name of an IBC?

You can. We will need a resolution signed by the directors. To get started, send us the new name to approve and we will prepare all the required documents.

We don’t need our IBC anymore? What are our options?

You could simply stop paying the annual fees. Then we will not pay the annual licence fee to government and eventually, usually within some months, the IBC will be struck off the register. One year after strike, off it will be deemed to have been dissolved. We refer to this as “letting the IBC lapse into dissolution”. You could also voluntarily wind up (dissolve) the IBC. This is not a straightforward process, but we can guide your through it. This the most robust close down option but also the costliest one. Another option is to notify the registry that the IBC has ceased to trade or operate and will not resume any activity, which may prompt the Registrar to strike off the IBC. Yet another option is for us to resign as registered agent, and the IBC would be struck off within 3 months for not having a registered agent.

What will happen if annual renewal fees are not paid?

If our annual renewal fees are not paid we will not be able to pay the annual government fees. If the annual government fees are not paid the IBC will not remain in good standing and will eventually be struck off the register. One year after strike off it will be deemed to have been dissolved. Once struck off the assets held by the IBC may be deemed to be vested in the state i.e. assets of Seychelles. A more immediate consequence is that you would not able to get a certificate of good standing to give to your bankers and other business partners. Struck off IBCs can be restored, and on restoration an IBC is deemed to never have been struck off, so apart from restoration fees and penalties there are no lasting implications if you inadvertently let an IBC be struck off. You can recover from the error but the FSA will inspect the file beforehand, to ensure compliance with the law.

When are your annual fees due? Will you send us a reminder?

For a Seychelles IBC the annual fees are due on the anniversary of its incorporation. If an IBC was incorporated on the 4th January 2023 the annual fees would be due each year on the 4th of January. We would need to pay the annual government fees by the 4th of January each year to avoid any late payment penalties. If not paid on time, the IBC would incur penalties of 10% on the 5th January, to a 50% penalty 90 days later. To help you to renew on time and to avoid penalties we send a first reminder by way of a renewal proforma invoice between 60 and 90 days before the due date. We then send renewal reminders on a monthly basis for the IBC thereafter so that you do not have to keep track – you can just act on our reminders.

What are your annual renewal fees?

Please contact us by email, WhatsApp or SMS, or call us for our price list. Our annual fees are competitive and include government charges of USD 150.50 per annum, and our registered agent and registered office fees.

What are your return and refund policies?

Once an order has been fulfilled, we generally we do not accept returns and we do not give refunds, except for our 180 day satisfaction guarantee. In case of errors in documents we produced or procured, or loss of documents in shipment, we would offer to provide a replacement at our cost. We would of course return advanced payments if an order is cancelled before we have started any work.

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