Executive Summary

Welcome to the fourth edition of On the Register, an Appleby report that provides data and insight about company incorporation activity going on in the major offshore jurisdictions around the globe, where we do the majority of our business.

This report looks primarily at data for the last six months of 2013. There are a number of key themes that emerge from the statistics outlined on these pages. In particular:

New companies joining the offshore registers

  • The total number of new offshore companies being registered is down in the second half of the year, a pattern that has been repeated in previous years. This is at a time when the data shows that onshore comparator the UK also experienced a small decrease in new companies being registered. Hong Kong and China however continue to grow, with China's incorporation activity exploding by 35% over the period.
  • During the second six months of 2013 the Crown Dependency jurisdictions of the Isle of Man and Guernsey revealed the largest increases in new companies joining the registers at 10% and 9% respectively when compared to the previous six months. Looking at the full year, the largest year-on-year increase however was seen in the Seychelles (29%) with the next biggest growth coming from Bermuda (16%).
  • The British Virgin Islands (BVI) continues 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.

Total numbers of active companies on registers

  • The total number of active companies on the offshore registers remain stable with a marginal increase of 1% between 2012 and 2013. And a 5% increase between pre-recession 2008 and 2013.
  • 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.
  • Onshore comparators, the UK, USA, Hong Kong and China continue to show signs of recovery. This indicates the global economy is strengthening, particularly in the Asian and European markets. These jurisdictions are demonstrating growth in active companies on their registers between 7% and 12%. Only Russia is experiencing some decline in activity which likely reflects the on-going regional instability there.

We hope you find the analysis on the following pages useful. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with your usual Appleby contact should you have any questions.

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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.