The Nevis Business Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023
On the 24th day of August 2023 the Nevis Island Assembly passed the Nevis Business Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023. This legislation demonstrates the continued commitment of Nevis to remain compliant with international standards and to ensure a robust and transparent financial services sector.
Of note, the Amendment achieves the following:
- Allows electronic signatures for corporate filings to facilitate the ease and speed of doing business on Nevis as the island moves to a digital platform for filings (section 4);
- Outlaws bearer shares and ensures that going forward all companies registered in Nevis can have registered shares only (sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15 and 17);
- Companies that hitherto had bearer shares have been given 6 months from the date of the Amendment coming into force to convert such shares to registered shares. If this is not done, then such shares will be deemed to have been automatically converted upon the expiration of 6 months (section 17);
- All authorised custodians who hold bearer shares for a company must surrender such bearer shares to the company within 3 months from the Amendment coming into force and give notice of such surrender to the Registered Agent, the owner of the bearer shares and any other person having an interest in the bearer shares (section 17);
- Notice to shareholders should be as set out in the company’s bylaws but if that proves impossible then notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in Nevis or in a place where the company has a place of business (section 5);
- Service on a company shall be on the Registered Agent and where the company fails to maintain a Registered Agent then service shall be at the last known registered office of the company. This removes the previous requirement of serving process on the Registrar (section 6).
The Amendment also introduces new penalties for non-compliance and sets out a comprehensive list of documents which Registered Agents are now required to maintain on behalf of companies for which they act. Of special note is that none of the registers and documents mandated by the Amendment to be maintained by Registered Agents in Nevis are public. Nevis continues to demonstrate that it respects investors’ legitimate rights to privacy whilst being entirely compliant with its international obligations to fight financial crime, terrorist financing and the illicit flow of monies through mutual legal assistance and cooperation with law enforcement agencies globally.
As the Nevis government embarks on an ambitious plan to grow the financial services sector by 50% in the near term, legislative amendments like these are welcomed and enhance both the ease of doing business in Nevis and the reputation of the jurisdiction as a well-regulated global financial services center.
The Nevis Business Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 can be read in its entirety through the below link:
For more information contact Associate Ms. Brianna R. A. Brantley at brianna.brantley@danielbrantley.com
