Ready-made, or “shelf” companies are companies, which are already registered, or approved for immediate registration. Such companies are available for immediate purchase. These companies have not traded or entered into any dealings or obligations whatsoever. Since incorporation, their documents have been kept motionless “on the shelf” in our office, hence the name. For companies indicated as “Approved”, only their names have been reserved for registration, but they have not commenced their legal existence yet.
The main reasons for considering shelf companies are (A) to save some time if an especially quick turnaround is required; (B) to provide for a somewhat earlier registration date, as might be necessary in some business circumstances; (C) to assist with the sometimes onerous task of designing a new company name.
(!) Please make sure to read the important notes at the end of this chapter.
This is a list of ready-made and approved company names available as of today.
COMPANY NAMES
- Approved
Important notes about shelf companies
1. The companies with a registration date indicated are already registered, exist as legal entities and are available for purchase.
2. The company names marked as “approved” have been approved for registration by the Registrar, but still need to be registered in the Registrar of Companies. The registration of an approved company name usually takes one business day.
3. Ordering a ready-made company (“shelf company”) does not necessarily mean that the documents will be shipped out immediately. If You are a new client, our usual Know Your Client procedures will have to be completed, and payment will have to be made.
4. A shelf company usually has an “open” configuration. As such, it would still need the directors to be elected, shares allocated, the respective internal Registers and Resolutions drawn up, etc. These post-incorporation procedures can only be completed after a client order is received, and take additional time.
5. The documents of a shelf company are not certified by Notary or legalized by Apostille. These certifications are normally required in order to make the company documents useful at all in any foreign country. If you need these certifications, some additional time between one and five business days will be required before the documents can be shipped. This timeframe does not depend on us, but on the respective notarial and Government offices and their workload.
6. All-in-all, choosing a shelf company can save you one or a few business days which are usually necessary to prepare the initial incorporation and to register a new BVI IBC with the Registrar of Companies. However, the final preparation of the company before shipment will still take anywhere between one and ten business days, depending on the details of Your order, and on the receipt of the respective Due Diligence information and the payment from You.
7. (!) IMPORTANT For an existing shelf company, the next annual renewal payment (Government duty, Registered Agent, Registered Address and other annual maintenance fees, if applicable) may become due and payable much sooner than for a brand-new incorporation. This is due to the period of time that has already elapsed since the initial date of incorporation of the shelf company (the time which the company spent “on shelf”). A purchaser of a shelf company will be required to cover the standard annual maintenance fees for the full elapsed period of time since the initial registration date of the company. This becomes especially important at purchase of “vintage” companies – companies older than 1 year at the date of purchase. “Vintage” companies will be substantially more expensive than new incorporations, due to the previously accrued annual maintenance fees which will have to be covered by the buyer. Therefore, we suggest You pay a special attention to the date of incorporation of the chosen company. These precautions do not apply to companies indicated only as “Approved”.
8. We strongly oppose and do not recommend entering into any business transactions in the name of Your offshore company before you have received the original documents!
BVI Company Configurator
Our online company configurator will enable you to submit your desired configuration, provide you with precise cost based on the services you require for your offshore BVI company.
