Grenada Companies and Grenada Trusts

General Introductory and Offshore Tax Information

Tax havens like Grenada have stood out for strong privacy laws and reassured tax savings for offshore companies and entities.  As an offshore haven, Grenada continues to stand the test of time in providing international investors with quality company formation and professional services.

Grenada has been going through the process of revising and implementing international regulatory standards which have been established for Grenada offshore companies and business entities, while ensuring that the best interests of offshore clients are protected.

Grenada offshore business entities enjoy full tax exemption on all activities.  Both offshore companies and their shareholders are sheltered from withholding taxes on interest and dividends earned, while capital gains are tax free. Additional taxes such as death tax, inheritance, succession, transfer and gift tax are not applicable to Grenada offshore companies.  These tax exemptions are guaranteed to all Grenada offshore companies for a twenty (20) year period.

Grenada Offshore Business Entities:

• Grenada International Business Company
• Grenada International Trusts
• Grenada Offshore Banks

Grenada International Business Company

Law

• International Companies Act, Cap.152 (amended in 2002)

Grenada IBC Main Features:

• Juridical Personality
• An international company has independent legal personality
• International companies are formed under the International Companies Act, Cap.152, which underwent amendments in 2002

Corporate Form

• May take the business form the members decide upon
• May take the form of a partnership depending on the relationship that exists between the partners, a sole proprietorship or a limited liability company with reference to the limitation or not of the member’s liability to the company
• Limited liability companies are more commonly used for carrying out international business

Grenada Company Formation

• A company is officially incorporated when issued a certificate of Incorporation and assigned a registration number
• The Memorandum and Articles of Association are two principal documents which must be filed at the Companies Registry before incorporation can take place
• Are required as one of the principal documents for company formation
• The Memorandum states the company’s name, authorized share capital and states its purpose
• The by-laws are contained in the Articles of Association
• All formation documents are required to be kept at the representative agent’s office

Grenada Company Registered Agent and Office

• A licensed registered agent must be appointed to incorporate an international company
• International companies must have a registered office and secretary within Grenada
• The registered agent must be residing in Grenada
• Registered agents are responsible for maintaining the necessary files and documents for each of its clients as prescribed by  law
• The registered agent is used as the subscriber of the first share for incorporation purposes
• The company secretary may be either a company or physical person

Grenada Company Directors

• International companies can be formed with only one (1) director
• Directors of a company are not required to reside in Grenada

Grenada Company Shareholders

• International companies are required to have a minimum of one (1) shareholder
• The names and details of each  shareholder must be recorded on a register of  shareholders
• The details provided on the beneficial owner (s) of a company are not published public records

Grenada Company Share Capital

• Grenada companies have a standard authorized share capital of USD 50,000.
• There is no set minimum share capital for companies
• The issued shares may be of one share of par value or share of no par value
• A variety of shares may be issued, including redeemable or preference shares, registered or with or without rights to vote.
• The provision allowing the issuance of bearer shares to international companies was repealed by International Financial Services (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2002, under which all bearer shares held by international companies were to be replaced by shares in registered form

Grenada Company Names

• The name of any international company is required to end with a word or abbreviation meaning limited liability.
• Some of these endings include Limited or Ltd., Corporation or Corp., Incorporated or Inc., Sociedad Anonyme or S.A., or Sociedad Anonima or S.A.
• A company may not use words such as Trust, Bank, Insurance and Fund Management in its names unless the company is a licensed holder of a trust, bank, insurance or fund management license.
• Name endings such as Building Society, Royal, National, Municipal, or any word that denotes national or state is generally disallowed.

Meetings

• Members of the company are not obligated to keep annual meetings
• The meetings of directors and shareholders do not have to take place in Grenada
• Meetings may be conducted via electronic means as long as all members involved ar able to fully participate
• Fees  for license renewals are required to be paid on an annual basis

Audits

• International companies are not subject to filing annual records and financial statements but are however required to prepare and maintain records

Grenada International Trusts

Law

• The International Trusts Act 1996

Main Features:

• The laws governing the creation and functioning of Grenada Trusts are derived from English Common Law and are also adapted accordingly to suit modern demands and for more efficiency in trust structure
• A trust must have a minimum of one (1) trustee and a maximum of four (4)
• Grenada trusts are not required to be registered
• Trusts can be created by people of any nationality
• Grenada offshore trusts have a maximum duration of 120 years
• For tax exemption purposes, the protector, settlor and beneficiary of a Grenada trust must all be non-resident
• Protective trusts for spendthrifts can be created

Grenada Offshore Banks

Law       

• Offshore Banking Act 2003

Types of Licenses:

• Class I (unrestricted)
• Class II (restricted)

Main Features:

• For the licensing of Banks routine checks are required to be carried out.  
• A major component of offshore banking in Grenada is the obligation of persons involved both in offshore banking activity and the process of bank registration to ensure confidentiality of client information. Similar to other jurisdictions offering offshore banking, divulging information considered confidential is punishable by law. 
• Client information can only be divulged in the cases where the client expressly authorizes to disclose the information, a request is presented by the court for legal reasons and such information is required by an employee his duties as may be required by the Act.