🇰🇾 Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands are the leading domicile for investment funds and tax-neutral holding structures, with a sophisticated services sector.
Who it suits
Who it does not
Living
A prosperous Caribbean financial centre with a high cost of living, used mainly as a corporate and fund domicile.
Business
The Exempted Company is the standard vehicle and the default choice for hedge funds, private equity and SPVs.
Tax
Cayman imposes no corporate, income, capital-gains or withholding taxes, making it fully tax-neutral. Substance and reporting rules apply.
Figures are indicative and change over time. We confirm the current rules, rates and requirements for your specific situation before you commit.
How incorporation works
- Registered officeAppoint a licensed Cayman corporate services provider as registered office. Everything runs through them, and their due diligence governs the schedule.
- Name and structureClear the name and settle directors, shareholders and share classes. An exempted company may not carry on business with the public in Cayman.
- Due diligenceCertified identity, address and source-of-funds documents for everyone behind the structure. Cayman providers are strict, because they are the regulated party.
- IncorporationFile the memorandum and articles with the General Registry. Registration is normally a matter of days, with express options available.
- Beneficial ownershipEstablish the beneficial-ownership register with the corporate services provider. The regime has been in force since 2024 and enforced since 2025, and the register must be adequate, accurate and current.
- Regulatory classificationDecide whether the vehicle is a regulated fund, a registered-director arrangement or an unregulated special-purpose vehicle. That determines what else is filed, and with whom.
- Economic substanceClassify the company for economic-substance purposes and file the annual notification. Pure equity holding companies have a reduced test; other relevant activities do not.
- Bank, administrator, auditorAppoint the service providers the structure needs. For funds this is where most of the work and most of the time sits.
What we need from you
- Certified passport copies for every director, shareholder and beneficial owner
- Certified proof of address for each of them
- Source-of-funds and source-of-wealth evidence
- A structure chart for the whole arrangement
- Two or three preferred company names, in order
- The share classes and the intended capital
- Offering or transaction documents, where there are any
- Professional references, where the provider asks for them
What you end up with
- Certificate of incorporation
- Memorandum and articles of association
- Share certificates and the statutory registers
- Register of directors and officers, as filed
- A beneficial-ownership register held by the corporate services provider
- Registered office in the Cayman Islands
- A corporate pack banks, administrators and counterparties will accept
Every year after that
- An annual return and the annual government fee, through the registered office
- An economic-substance notification every year, and a report where a relevant activity is carried on
- Keeping the beneficial-ownership register adequate, accurate and current with the corporate services provider
- Maintaining the register of directors and officers with the Registrar
- Fund-level filings, audit and regulatory returns where the vehicle is regulated
- Maintaining the registered office in Cayman
Common questions
Is Cayman actually tax-free?
Cayman imposes no corporate, income, capital-gains or withholding taxes, which is what tax-neutral means: the structure adds no layer of its own. Where the investors and the managers are taxed is a separate question, and it is the one that decides whether the structure works.
Who can see the owners?
The beneficial-ownership register is held by your corporate services provider and is accessible to the competent authority. It is not a public register. Since the 2025 amendments the information must be adequate, accurate and current, and providers can issue restrictions notices where it is not.
Does economic substance bite?
It depends on the activity. A pure equity holding company has a reduced test. Fund management, finance and leasing, headquarters, shipping, distribution and intellectual property each carry a full test, and intellectual property is the hardest of them.
Is Cayman expensive?
Yes, by offshore standards. Government fees, registered office, directors and — for regulated vehicles — audit and administration make it a real annual cost. It is priced for institutional structures, and it shows.
Do I need Cayman directors?
Not for an ordinary exempted company. Regulated funds have their own director registration and governance expectations, and institutional investors usually expect independent directors whether or not the rules require them.
How long does it take?
Registration runs in days, and express filing is available. The due diligence before it, and the fund or banking work after it, are what actually set the timetable.
Set up your company in Cayman Islands
Tell us about your business and we will confirm whether Cayman Islands is the right fit — and handle the full incorporation.
- A reply within one working day
- The first consultation is 30 minutes
- Confidential, no obligation