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Offshore Bank License- NEVIS

St. Kitts and Nevis Regulation Of Banking

Offshore banking falls under the Financial Services (Regulations) Order 1997. Nevis has its own Offshore Banking Ordinance 1996.

Two types of banking licenses are granted under the Federation’s 1997 Financial Services (Regulations) Order. ‘Unrestricted’ licenses require minimum financial resources of 1,350,000 East Caribbean dollars ($500,000), while for ‘restricted’ licenses the level is only 135,000 East Caribbean dollars ($50,000).

Fees for a banking license are: on filing of first application (not refundable) – for all applications, USD 1,000; on granting or renewal of authorisation for an unrestricted business, USD 8,000, and for a restricted business, USD 4,000.

The Nevis Offshore Banking Ordinance 1996 (as amended) defines offshore banking as follows:

  • Receiving of foreign funds through the acceptance of foreign money, deposits payable upon receipt demand or after a fixed period or after notice;
  • The sale or placement of foreign bonds certifcates, notes or other debt obligations or other securities, or
  • Any other similar activities involving foreign money or foreign securities, and
  • Either in whole or in part using foreign funds so acquired for loans, advances and investments whether in Nevis or elsewhere.

Licences under the Banking Ordinance are issued to eligible companies or qualified foreign banks. An eligible company must be a wholly owned subsidiary of a local bank regulated by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank that is licensed under the Banking Act to do business in Nevis. A qualified foreign bank is a foreign bank that is licensed under the Banking Act, or is foreign bank with minimum capitalization and assets, as prescribed by the Minister, that is not licensed under the Banking Act but is licensed to do domestic banking in its jurisdiction of incorporation.

An eligible company must be incorporated under the Companies Act as a company limited by shares, and must have objects or business activity restricted to offshore banking from within Nevis. It must have at least one director who is a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis with a residence in Nevis. The minimum Authorised Capital must be at least ECD2 Million, of which not less than ECD1 Million has been Subscribed and Paid Up in cash, such cash being deposited in an account maintained by the Permanent Secretary at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.

Not later than four months after the close of its financial year, a licensee must forward to the Permanent Secretary copies of its balance sheet and profit and loss account and the full and correct names of the directors of the licensee. The balance sheet and the profit and loss account must bear on its face the certificate of an auditor.

Nevis offshore banks pay tax as follows:

  • 2½% on all profits and gains up to ten million dollars;
  • 2% on all profits and gains in amounts exceeding ten million dollars but not exceeding twenty million dollars;
  • 1½% on all profits and gains in amounts exceeding twenty million dollars but not exceeding thirty million dollars; and
  • 1% on all profits and gains in amounts exceeding thirty million dollars.

However, a licensee and the Minister may enter into an agreement determining the amount to be paid as income tax in lieu of other taxes on income by the licensee in respect of the business it does from within Nevis.

The Minister may by order exempt a licensee in respect of its business from all or so much of any duty payable under the Customs Act in respect of any goods imported by the licensee in respect of its business as the Minister deems expedient, if the licensee in respect of its business satisfies the Minister that the goods concerned are not being made or manufactured in Nevis, are essential as equipment or fixtures for doing business from within Nevis and are not merely goods that will be used up or expended in the ordinary course of business.

Where the Minister is satisfied that a licensee must use the services of specially qualified persons in order to do its business effectively from within Nevis and that it is unable to acquire those services in Nevis, and it is unable to retain or hire those services from outside Nevis without special tax benefits being made available, the Minister may authorise an offshore benefit provision for the employment of those specially qualified persons, whereby a prescribed percentage of an employee’s or contractor’s salary or fees from a licensee:

  • is exempt from any duty or tax in Nevis;
  • may be paid in a foreign currency;
  • may be paid in some other prescribed manner in another currency or otherwise.

Fees charged by the Nevisvian government in respect of an Offshore Banking Business are as follows:

  • Government License Fee USD 15,000;
  • Government Due Diligence Fee 600;
  • Incorporation Fee 1,400.

OFFSHORE FINANCE COMPANY (OFC) NEW ZEALAND

Most jurisdictions impose heavy regulation on the banking sector and entry requirements are often designed to discourage the establishment of new banks. One refreshing exception is New Zealand, a highly respected jurisdiction with a modern legal framework and rated the most business friendly nation in the world by the World Bank in 2005. Banking services can be offered in and from New Zealand by different types of entities, including but not limited to Registered Banks, Finance Companies, Credit Unions and Building Societies. We focus on the New Zealand Finance Company which is not subject to supervision by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and yet entitled to offer banking services to its individual and corporate customers worldwide. With your own banking business you are legally able to engage in activities such as:

  • Deposit taking and lending
  • Offering of securities
  • Issuing of financial guarantees
  • Cash management services
  • Payment services
  • Current accounts
  • Checking accounts
  • Savings accounts
  • Term deposits
  • Certificates of deposit
  • Wire transfer services
  • Credit and debit card services
  • Marketing investments
  • Share brokerage
  • Fund Management
    We offer a complete service package including:
    • Finance Company entitled to offer financial services
    • Certified Company documents and Company seal
    • Registered office and resident agent
    • All relevant government filings
    • Registration of securities
    • Approved Issuer Status
    • Eurowire membership and setup fee

A new Finance Company can be legally formed and registered in as little as 72 hours (not including additional government filings). A Company name can usually be secured within 12 hours. The Company is required to have a minimum of one director and one shareholder. Directors and shareholders can be of any nationality and resident anywhere in the world. The Finance Company cannot offer securities to the public of New Zealand without a registered prospectus, a supervisory trustee and the use of investment statements as per the requirements of Part II of the Securities Act 1978. The Finance Company is not subject to such requirements if services are offered to clients outside New Zealand only.

Nexor One

The NexorOne™ Online Banking System is a entirely online account manager for pooled funds. It generates messages to the administrator transmitting the instructions from the users. With a user friendly menu and thoroughly tested, completely self customizable interface the software provides a solid platform allowing your customers to feel confident that they are backed by a stable institution. Making use of every available advantage of the internet and online banking, the system gives the users the ability to execute every kind of transaction and use all the services offered by the financial institution on a cross-browser compatible interface. It makes it the perfect tool to have a low cost interaction with customers, while still able to tend to all their needs. The users are able to transfer money in/out/between accounts and to debit cards (optional).

By safely empowering the users to request transactions online, assisted by the system, the administrator has only to accept or cancel operations while viewing on screen all the information needed to take the decision. Since all the transactions are performed through the system only, the accounting and detailed customizable reports are always in real time and up to date. Additionally, the system keeps a detailed trail of all activities, making it very easy to narrow down precisely when those activities occurred. The system can automatically generate revenue by applying customizable transaction fees predefined by the administrator. The system offers the ability to handle accounts in different currencies, as well as a multi-language capable interface to expand to distinct international markets and the multi-region friendliness for defining all the different formats.

Online banking system for account management and secure messaging with customers

Interfaces and Options:

Main features the Administrator is able to access:

  • System messages – Generated when the users request certain transactions, automatically processed and replied to when executed by the administrator. These transactions require individual attention for completion.
  • User messages – secure messaging within the system. Either manually generated by the users when contacting the administrator or by the administrator himself to create messages to an individual user or a general message to all users.
  • System Log – serves as a log of all the activities in the system by keeping records of all the changes made by either the users or the administrator.
  • Profile editor – create or search-view and/or modify users profiles in the system as well as to modify the administrator’s profile.
  • Account manager – create or search-view and/or modify accounts to then activate, inactivate or block them. Also, to associate optional card accounts to enable users to transfer funds to them.
  • Manual transactions – to manually debit or credit any account in required instances. An additional feature is the ability to select the revenue option which will include the transaction as a generated fee (thus appearing in the administrator Revenues Report).
  • Revenue manager – to manage the revenues generated either automatically by the system or manually by the administrator.
  • Portfolio manager – to administrate and manage user’s passive portfolios.
  • Reports
    • Specific User Reports
      • Specific user – Specific account – All transactions
      • Specific user – Specific account – Ranged executed transactions
      • Specific user – All accounts – Executed transactions
      • Specific user – All accounts – Balances
    • Global System Reports
      • All users – All accounts – Balances
      • Manual transactions
      • Revenues generated (Manual, System or Both)
      • Balance sheet
      • System overview
  • System configuration settings – where the administrator can customize the system as well as the initial setup of the account types, transfer fees, etc.

Main features the Users are able to access:

  • Account balances – which shows all accounts with current/available balances, including optional associated debit card accounts. Additionally the user may view the last 10 transactions of any account for a quick overview.
  • Messages generated by the system – when any transaction request has been executed (i.e. a requested wire transfer, manual transactions applied to an account or changes in the user profile).
  • Messages sent by the administrator – contacting the user specifically or a group of users for announcements.
  • Incoming wire transfers – to transfer funds from an external bank into any account. The system will guide the user to create a print out of a pre-elaborated page with the needed information such as the correspondent bank information and the user’s personal reference account number. This can then be faxed by the user to his bank.
  • Outgoing wire transfers – to wire transfer funds out of any account. The system will provide an on-line form with the needed details for the wire transfer to be later executed by the system administrator. Includes the option to select which transfer fee to apply (i.e. standard or express).
  • In-house transfers – to transfer funds between accounts of the same user or to transfer funds to an account of a different user.
  • Optional Debit Card funding – this creates a request to the system administrator to execute a debit card funding (only debit card accounts pre-associated to any user). Includes the option to select which transfer fee to apply (i.e. standard or express).
  • Profile editor – to view/modify the user’s profile and password in the system.
  • Reports
    • Specific account transactions
    • All accounts executed transactions

Customized Solutions and Enhanced Support

We offer a complete solution to all our clients’ needs, which means that after NexorOne™ is bought as a stand alone package, we’ll back you up with all the tools you might need.

  • If you have the IT staff but just need help with the initial setup, installation and integration with your website, we offer an Installation and Integration Support.
  • If you need our IT staff to help you with the software as an ongoing support team, we offer an Active License and Support.
  • If you don’t have the IT team nor the facilities and servers to host the system, we offer a complete Hosting Solution Package which comes with a support contract and the necessary security measures to run your system.

Eurowire

Eurowire® provides a secure wire transfer clearing and messaging system for participating financial institutions. Services are not offered to non-financial institutions or to individuals.

The system can be utilized for sending and receiving international SWIFT® payments (MT103) through a secure online interface and to exchange encrypted messages with other financial institutions in real time.

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