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BVI Company Formation & Bank Account

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NAA

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Apr 30, 2020
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#1
Hello,

I am looking for a good agent/online company formation platform to set up my BVI Company and a Bank Account online/remotely. The objective is to start an E-commerce platform that's 100% online and we form service contracts with suppliers in different countries to use the platform in selling their goods locally. Hence we basically work as a backend technology company.

Based on your experience (PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE TRIED THEM) which is a good service provider for the setup & formation. Below are a few firms I have found online.

1. Fast offshore company registration | Just From US$439 in 30 Mins
2. British Virgin Islands (BVI) Offshore Company Formation | SFM
3. Set up a company and open a bank account in British Virgin Islands - Incorporations.IO
4. BVI Company Formation and Setup

I appreciate your feedback.
 
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#2
Think carefully before setting up a BVI company for ecommerce. If you hope to take payment from customers through PayPal or credit cards, you're in for a long and difficult battle with compliance officers and risk managers.

For incorporation, I wouldn't touch any of the ones you mention. 10 years ago, SFM would've been OK but now they've gone down the drain.

I always aim to work with licensed service providers. In the BVI, you can find such a list here: Registered Agents | British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission

Make sure you look into the economic substance requirements and explore how CFC and tax residence affect your business. The information you find on websites on the first few pages on Google when looking up offshore companies is no longer compatible with reality in most cases.
 
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#3
I setup a BVI e-commerce a long time ago which, despite all that is said about BVI, still works like a charm. You'll find elsewhere in this forum that I even opened a bank account in OCBC Singapore for it, and even an account in the US which I prefer not to name the bank publicly. Combined with Transferwise, it means my solution can transfer USD and EUR around the world at a very low cost.

It's true that I wouldn't touch Paypal with a 10ft pole, but if you are creative, you can circumvent most restrictions for payment processing.

Also, your choice of provider will have a great determination on the odds you'll be able to open a bank account.
 
#4
NAA said:
Hello,

I am looking for a good agent/online company formation platform to set up my BVI Company and a Bank Account online/remotely. The objective is to start an E-commerce platform that's 100% online and we form service contracts with suppliers in different countries to use the platform in selling their goods locally. Hence we basically work as a backend technology company.

Based on your experience (PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE TRIED THEM) which is a good service provider for the setup & formation. Below are a few firms I have found online.

1. Fast offshore company registration | Just From US$439 in 30 Mins
2. British Virgin Islands (BVI) Offshore Company Formation | SFM
3. Set up a company and open a bank account in British Virgin Islands - Incorporations.IO
4. BVI Company Formation and Setup

I appreciate your feedback.
Click to expand...

Hi, I can help you with both - formation and bank account.
 
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#5
Sols said:
Think carefully before setting up a BVI company for ecommerce. If you hope to take payment from customers through PayPal or credit cards, you're in for a long and difficult battle with compliance officers and risk managers.

For incorporation, I wouldn't touch any of the ones you mention. 10 years ago, SFM would've been OK but now they've gone down the drain.

I always aim to work with licensed service providers. In the BVI, you can find such a list here: Registered Agents | British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission

Make sure you look into the economic substance requirements and explore how CFC and tax residence affect your business. The information you find on websites on the first few pages on Google when looking up offshore companies is no longer compatible with reality in most cases.
Click to expand...

Thanks sols for the information. Its quite useful.

What do you suggest, I do intend to form a company for e-commerce business that will accept payments via 2 checkout & Payoneer. The payments accepted on 2checkout will be credit cards etc.

Can you suggest, what will be a better alternative for e-commerce business? My intention is to have zero taxes.
 
#6
NAA said:
Hello,

I am looking for a good agent/online company formation platform to set up my BVI Company and a Bank Account online/remotely. The objective is to start an E-commerce platform that's 100% online and we form service contracts with suppliers in different countries to use the platform in selling their goods locally. Hence we basically work as a backend technology company.

Based on your experience (PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE TRIED THEM) which is a good service provider for the setup & formation. Below are a few firms I have found online.

1. Fast offshore company registration | Just From US$439 in 30 Mins
2. British Virgin Islands (BVI) Offshore Company Formation | SFM
3. Set up a company and open a bank account in British Virgin Islands - Incorporations.IO
4. BVI Company Formation and Setup

I appreciate your feedback.
Click to expand...
Intertrust, OMC Group, SFM, Turner Little, TMF Group, Trident Trust, Vistra

Worked with 2 and tried 5 for different services
No issues with any of them
 
#7
How about incorporating the BVI yourself?

The people commenting on this thread that they can set up the BVI - can you publicly state your fees and the government fees?
 
#9
#11
Gediminas said:
just a formation in BVI, not the bank account itself. ;)
Click to expand...
okay, just for the general interest to all, where can you open a bank account for the BVI company?

AND
for my personal interest, what documents are required to register a BVI company with your service? Most of the large agency service require almost 12 pages to be completed with questions and answers.
 
#13
Admin said:
okay, just for the general interest to all, where can you open a bank account for the BVI company?
Click to expand...

Depending on if the client needs a fully licensed bank, or EMI is an option too, I could open an account in Vanuatu or the EU. And some other jurisdictions, but it's case dependant.

Admin said:
for my personal interest, what documents are required to register a BVI company with your service? Most of the large agency service require almost 12 pages to be completed with questions and answers.
Click to expand...

Yes, they require a lot of information, such as business activities, source of funds, etc. But the most important documents are certified passport, certified utility bill, or bank reference letter, CV of the client. There might be more requests ofc.
 
#17
Admin said:
okay, just for the general interest to all, where can you open a bank account for the BVI company?

AND
for my personal interest, what documents are required to register a BVI company with your service? Most of the large agency service require almost 12 pages to be completed with questions and answers.
Click to expand...
you need only
a certified passport copy
certified proof of address
activity description (clear explanation, no need a business plan of 20 pages. 2 paragraphs or less enough)
source of funds description (same as above, no need to share bank statements or contracts)
if countries of operation include high risk countries, agent might ask a bank reference letter and a cv. this is not mandatory

it is very easy
 
#18
sullyferdinand said:
you need only
a certified passport copy
certified proof of address
activity description (clear explanation, no need a business plan of 20 pages. 2 paragraphs or less enough)
source of funds description (same as above, no need to share bank statements or contracts)
if countries of operation include high risk countries, agent might ask a bank reference letter and a cv. this is not mandatory

it is very easy
Click to expand...
aha, that was not what I got when I tried for some years ago, actually the amount of documents required was too much so I found a different place.

What is the company that only require these documents you listed there?
 
#19
Outlander said:
I setup a BVI e-commerce a long time ago which, despite all that is said about BVI, still works like a charm. You'll find elsewhere in this forum that I even opened a bank account in OCBC Singapore for it, and even an account in the US which I prefer not to name the bank publicly. Combined with Transferwise, it means my solution can transfer USD and EUR around the world at a very low cost.

It's true that I wouldn't touch Paypal with a 10ft pole, but if you are creative, you can circumvent most restrictions for payment processing.

Also, your choice of provider will have a great determination on the odds you'll be able to open a bank account.
Click to expand...
Very interesting. I'm currently trying to set up payment processing for a BVI based ecommerce company. Can I ask who you use for processing payments? I contacted OCBC but they say they are not able to provide merchant accounts to offshore companies. Maybe I can use 2Checkout or something similar?
 
#20
ace543 said:
Very interesting. I'm currently trying to set up payment processing for a BVI based ecommerce company. Can I ask who you use for processing payments? I contacted OCBC but they say they are not able to provide merchant accounts to offshore companies. Maybe I can use 2Checkout or something similar?
Click to expand...

My business is very specific and I use a payment processor which deals only with this industry. They don't care if I'm incorporated in the BVI or North Korea - the rate for processing payments is the same, and quite competitive.
 
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