Company formation in the Cayman Islands

What a provider does in company formation in the Cayman Islands

The provider’s role is wider than filing a form. Under the Companies Act, an exempted or non-resident company’s registered office must be the address of the person licensed by CIMA who provides company management services to it. Under the Beneficial Ownership Transparency Act, 2023, the corporate services provider that gives the registered office also keeps the company’s beneficial ownership register and deposits that information with the authorities.

So a typical engagement covers:

• Before incorporation: identity and source-of-funds checks, name approval, drafting the memorandum and articles, and filing with the General Registry.
• Every year: registered office, the January return and annual fee for an exempted company, and updates to the beneficial ownership register.
• On request: directors or a company secretary, bookkeeping, help with bank accounts and economic substance reporting.

Of the 14 firms listed on Accountanty that form companies in the Cayman Islands, all 14 also offer corporate secretarial work and 14 offer accounting, so you can keep one firm for the whole life of the company.

Corporate services providers, law firms and accounting firms

Firm type	Formation firms listed
Corporate services providers	10
Law firms	3
Accounting firms	1

A corporate services provider is built around registered office, directorships and administration, and suits a straightforward exempted company or LLC. A law firm makes sense when the structure needs legal drafting, such as a fund vehicle, several share classes or a shareholders’ agreement. An accounting firm is the natural choice when bookkeeping and reporting are the main ongoing need. Eight of the 14 formation firms belong to large networks, two are medium-sized and four are small.

Check the licence before you pay

Ask each firm, in writing, which CIMA licence the entity acting as your registered office holds, and whether that is the firm itself or an affiliated company. Then look the name up on CIMA’s search page, which covers entities currently licensed or registered by the regulator, with sectors such as “Company Manager” and “Corporate Service Provider”.

Two quick checks help:

• The name matches. The licensed entity’s name should match the one on your engagement letter and invoices.
• The scope fits. If your company will run a regulated activity, such as a fund, confirm the firm also handles that licence application or works with someone who does.

What the provider will ask you for

The timetable depends mostly on how complete your documents are. Expect requests for:

• Identity: passport copies and proof of address for every shareholder, director and beneficial owner, usually certified.
• Ownership: a chart showing who owns and controls the company, down to the individuals. The General Registry treats anyone holding more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, or able to appoint or remove most of the board, as a beneficial owner.
• Purpose: what the company will do, where it will trade and where its money comes from.
• Corporate shareholders: formation documents and registers for any company that will hold shares.

Send everything at once and in English where you can. A firm that asks for documents in stages is not wrong, but it slows the timetable.

What a written quote should include

None of the firms listed on Accountanty in the Cayman Islands publishes its prices, so a written quote is the only way to compare. Ask for each line separately:

Line	What to check
Government registration fee	Should match the Registry’s fee schedule for your registered capital
Formation work	Name approval, drafting, filing, first registers
Registered office, first year	Whether it is billed in full or pro rata
Annual fee and January return	The government fee plus the firm’s handling charge
Beneficial ownership	Annual and change-of-owner filing charges
Optional services	Directors, secretary, accounting, economic substance, bank introductions

Also ask what happens if you move the company to another provider later, and what the firm charges to release records.

Questions to ask before you sign

• Which licensed entity will be our registered office, and who is our day-to-day contact?
• Will you file the January return and annual fee automatically, and how do you remind us?
• How do you collect beneficial ownership changes, and by when must we tell you?
• Do you assess whether our activities fall under economic substance rules?
• Can you support a bank application, and with which documents?

Clear written answers to these are a good sign of how the firm will handle the yearly work.

Matching a provider to your company

Language. Seven formation firms name English as a working language; three also work in Chinese, three in Spanish, two in Portuguese and one in Polish.

Sector. The listed formation firms most often name funds and family offices (nine firms each), then real estate and private equity (seven each). Fund managers and family offices are the client groups they name most.

Clients from abroad. Nine of the 14 formation firms name foreign clients as a focus; see the accountants for foreign clients list.

Extra services. Nine formation firms offer a virtual office and six offer bank account assistance. All are based in George Town.

If you would rather describe your plans once, send a free quote request through Accountanty. We read each request and pass it to the George Town formation firms whose services and languages match it.

Verdict

Pick the provider on its CIMA licence, a quote with every yearly line spelled out, and a named contact who answers in writing. The filing is the short part of company formation in the Cayman Islands; the provider you choose stays your registered office, your beneficial ownership record keeper and usually your accountant for years.