BVI Financial Services Commission User Guide No. 1 - Incorporating a Company Limited by Shares

Applying to the Registrar

Once the above decisions have been made, your registered agent will be in a position to apply to the Registrar to incorporate the company on your behalf. This is a simple and straightforward process. The registered agent will file a completed application form at the Registry together with:

• The memorandum and articles of association (and up to 3 copies), and
• His consent to act as registered agent.

If the Registry is satisfied that everything is in order, it will:

• Register the documents
• Allot a unique number to the company
• Issue a certificate of incorporation to the registered agent
• Return the copies of the memorandum and articles stamped with the Registry seal

Provided that the paperwork is correctly completed and there is no problem with the name chosen, an ordinary company limited by shares (without a foreign character name) should be incorporated within one working day of the application being received by the Registry.

The company is incorporated with effect from the date specified in the certificate of incorporation and has the name specified on the certificate.

A company and its directors and shareholders have legal obligations under the Act. You will need to make sure that you know and understand these to the extent that they apply to you. Some of these obligations are covered in other User Guides. See in particular, the section on the use of company names in User Guide No. 2 [Company Names] and User Guide No. 4 [Directors and their Responsibilities].