Shelf companies, also known as ready-made companies, are offshore companies that have already been registered by the Registered Agent and are awaiting “on the shelf” until they are transferred to an interested client. The main purpose of ready-made company is to save time that would usually be spent on going through the full registration process of a new registration.
Another reason for purchasing a shelf company is the occasional necessity for an offshore company that has already been in legal existence for some time – for formalizing an existing de-facto deal, or for purely having a company that already has some age. A variation of this option is the so-called “vintage” or “aged” company. A vintage company may have been held one or more years “on the shelf” before sale. A purchase of a vintage company is justified when there is a genuine necessity to show that the company has actually been in legal existence for an extended period of time.
While a regular shelf company would usually cost the same as new incorporation, a vintage company will always be substantially more expensive – because the government fees, registered office and registered agent fees for all the previous years since registration would have to be covered on top of the regular incorporation and document preparation fees.
Shelf companies are guaranteed by the Registered Agent to have no “history” whatsoever – they have been completely dormant since incorporation, with documents never leaving the Registered Agents´ office. To this extent, written guarantees can always be provided by the Registered Agent, if required.
