New company registrations increased in most offshore jurisdictions in the second half of 2013, and onshore comparator Hong Kong held up well against its offshore counterparts, with 4% growth in new incorporations over the first half of 2013.
In total, there were 44,615 new offshore company incorporations in the second half of 2013, and the total number of active companies rose to 671,000, according to our latest On the Register report, which provides insight and data on company incorporations in offshore financial centres.
"As the global economy follows a path to recovery, offshore company registration data reveals that levels of new company registrations are up in most jurisdictions during the second half of 2013, with an increase of between 5% and 10%," said Farah Ballands, Partner and Global Head of Fiduciary & Administration Services at Appleby.
The report outlines how overall, the combined total of new offshore incorporations in the second half of 2013 represents a slow-down compared to the preceding six months. Much of this pull-back can be attributed to a decline in incorporations in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), which is the offshore jurisdiction that attracts the most company registrations.
Hong Kong and China Stand Out Among Onshore Comparators
When looking at onshore comparators, Hong Kong and Chinese company registers were particularly strong, the report found.
"Onshore comparators in the UK, USA, Hong Kong and China continue to show signs of recovery, which indicates the global economy is strengthening, particularly in the Asian and European markets," said Frances Woo, Appleby's Hong Kong-based Group Chairman. "These jurisdictions are demonstrating growth in active companies on their registers of between 7% and 12%."
Hong Kong and China each reported a double digit percentage increase in the total numbers of active companies in 2013, when compared to the previous year. China, the report found, added more than 2.5 million new companies to its register in 2013, half a million more than the previous year.
Other findings include:
- BVI continue to dominate offshore new company registration activity by volume, and maintained a two-fold lead ahead of its nearest comparator, the Seychelles.
- Newly registered companies in Mauritius and the BVI each make up 12% of their local registry total, ahead of all the other offshore jurisdictions.
- Mauritius is the offshore jurisdiction witnessing the fastest growth in the number of companies on its local register, with a 13% increase on 2012 to 18,560. The next biggest growth (3%) came from Bermuda.
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