The number of new company incorporations in the Cayman Islands increased 5 percent in 2013 when compared to the previous year, with the 9,433 new companies making up 10 percent of the jurisdiction’s registry,
This is according to a report by Appleby, one of the world’s largest providers of offshore legal, fiduciary and administration services.
Although there was a slight dip in the number of new company incorporations in the second half of the year, the total number of active companies registered in the Cayman Islands rose to 95,530 in 2013, which took it above the jurisdiction’s 2008 pre-recession peak.
“Cayman has highly respected legislation and local firms that are able to provide a depth of expertise in legal, fiduciary, accounting, audit and banking services,” said Richard McMillan, managing director of Appleby Trust (Cayman). “This year-on-year growth is no surprise as companies incorporated here are drawn by the jurisdiction’s contractual flexibility and legal certainty.”
According to the Appleby report, the mix of exempt, non-resident, resident and foreign companies reported to be joining the Cayman register remained steady and similar to 2012. The vast majority are exempt companies, where the proposed activities transpire mainly outside of the Cayman Islands.
New company registrations increased in most offshore jurisdictions in the second half of 2013. Overall, there was a slight decrease in the combined total number of offshore incorporations due to a decline in incorporations in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), which is the offshore jurisdiction that attracts the most company registrations.
In total there were 44,615 offshore company incorporations in the second half of 2013, and the total number of active companies rose to 671,000.
“As the global economy follows a path to recovery, offshore company registration data reveals that levels of new company registrations are up in most jurisdictions during the second half of 2013, with increases of between 5 percent and 10 percent,” said Farah Ballands, partner and global head of fiduciary & administration services at Appleby.
Appleby, Richard McMillan, Farah Ballands
