With the recent high demand of establishing Forex Trading companies for the purpose of trading currencies on behalf of a small, medium or even public unnumbered sum of investor(s) group(s), we feel it is time to outline a few things for the many people and businesses interested in the obtaining of a valid Forex Trading License rather called CIF license in Cyprus, and, Mutual Fund License in the Seychelles.

Some of the most frequently asked questions are:
What is the required share capital for obtaining a Forex license in Cyprus or the Seychelles and do I need to pay in the share capital?
Well, The required share capital in Cyprus is depending on the exact business activity and procedures of the Forex company and is ranging from EUR 200,000 to EUR 1,000,000 and it has to be paid in but can be used later on to buy assets, property, office supply etc. for the company.
For more details about the share capital please read the below link:
Offshore Company Forum - Forex trading license, Cyprus, Can the paid Up Capital cover expenses?

In the Seychelles you must obtain a Mutual Fund license which requires the capital of USD 1,000,000 which doesn't need to be paid in but has to be proven by an recognized tax advisor (like PWC, Deliotte etc.) or Law Firm.

What are the costs to register a company / mutual fund and obtain the license, I need the total costs with all fees included?
This is a very complicated question, because the fee depends very much on how much time all parties involved have to spend on each business case before they are ready to obtain the CIF license or to obtain the status of an Mutual Fund, further, how much time we have to spend on explaining and remind the client to submit the required documents on the outlined list that will be send to you.

However, most clients accomplish the entire process quickly and with less time spend, so the total costs are in the range of EUR 28,000 - 35,000 + CySec License fee and out of pocket fees ranging from EUR 5,000 - 7,500 We can't come it closer than that!

Will you guarantee the approval and obtaining of the CIF license or status as an Mutual Fund in the Seychelles?
No, we can't and won't guarantee such because at the end of the day it all depends on the client. If the client don't cooperate or hide information from us which we can't know about in the beginning and they get declined we have still used the time spend and won't refund any amount paid to us.

Will you help to establish an real office in Cyprus, sourcing staff and setup the entire company for us in Cyprus?
We will charge for this task but are able to help from the beginning to the end.
In the Seychelles it is not a requirement to have an established office there to get the status of an Mutual Fund.

Are there any other cheaper solution to establish a license Mutual Fund or Forex company in Cyprus?
Unfortunately there is not.

Can you help to look into my situation and my case and then let me know what you think and tell me the exact procedure and service I need to get this done?
Yes we can do that, however, it is a very time consuming process and we have at least 3 request's a day for this service and only 1 in a month convert to a paying client, so we will not provide this service without an consultancy fee of EUR 500 that is paid for the time spend and which is not refundable.

Is there a cheaper or even free way to get more help to learn how I can get started?
Actually there is a cheaper way, you can join our Mentor Group for which you can find more information here: CCLOGIC Mentor Group

Where can I find more information about the CIF license / Forex License and the Seychelles Mutual Fund?
For the CIF license / Forex License in Cyprus, please visit the following link:
Forex CySec License

For the Seychelles Mutual fund and to obtain the status of an Mutual fund in the Seychelles, please visit the following link: Seychelles Foundation

We will update the information on this page as we feel it to be necessary and as we get more frequently asked questions that can be useful for everyone.

Thank you for reading.

CCLOGIC Ltd.

This was applicable in 2003 when our Tax law changed at that time. What is applicable today is the following:

We have 2 types of Cyprus companies, as far as their tax status is concerned. These are:

(a) A Cyprus resident company which is taxed at 10% on its profits.

(b) A Cyprus non-resident company which is not taxed.

The place where management and control of the company is exercised determines the residence status of the company. If the majority of the company Directors are Cypriots, then it can be assumed that decisions are taken in Cyprus and the company is Cyprus resident. This is why we use Cypriot nominee directors.

A Cyprus resident pays 10% tax, can get Cyprus Tax Resident Certificate and can distribute to its shareholders all remaining profits without any withholding taxes. Also the company can take advantage of more than 45 double tax treaties that Cyprus signed with various countries. It can get a VAT Registration number.

A Cyprus non-resident company, pays no taxes, but it cannot take advantage of the double tax treaties network and cannot get a Cyprus Tax Resident Certificate. It cannot get a VAT Registration number.

It is up to the particular circumstances of each individual investor to decide whether a Cyprus resident or non-resident company is suitable for his/her case.

I hope it is all clear now... so much nonsense out there....:tongue:

The below is for all that owe a Cyprus RESIDENT company, means a company that is under management in Cyprus and therefore considered to be Cyprus resident!

Many have appointed a nominee director (Cypriot) and therefore the company is considered to be a Cyprus resident company!

According to article 24 of the Assessment and Collection of Taxes Law No.4 of 1978, as amended, all Cyprus tax resident companies must submit an estimate of 2011 temporary chargeable income and of the resulting tax by 1 August 2011. As a result, we kindly request that you provide us with your estimate by no latter than the 20th of July 2011.

Your estimate should provide us with indicative figures for the following 2011 sources of income and expenses:

1. Dividend income;
2. Net interest income/expense;
3. Gross trading profit/loss;
4. Other sources of income/expense;

The tax (if any) is payable in three equal installments on 1st of August 2011, 30th of September 2011, and on 31st of December 2011.

If no temporary tax is due, you must to inform us.

If any installment of temporary assessment is not paid within the prescribed date it is collected with interest, computed in accordance with the applicable interest rate (currently 5.35%), per annum.

If the return is submitted after the prescribed date, delayed payments are subject to:

• Fines
• Additional charges, and
• Interest computed in accordance with the applicable interest rate per annum from the first month of the delay, in accordance with the Assessment and Collection Taxes Law N.4 of 1978, as amended.

Section 26 of the Assessment and Collection of Taxes Law N.4 of 1978, as amended, stipulates the effects of low estimation of chargeable income and of overpayment are as follows:

• The imposition of a penalty of 10% of the difference between the tax as finally determined and the temporary tax assessed where the temporary chargeable income assessed is less than 75% of the chargeable income as finally determined.
• The refund of any overpayment of temporary tax together with interest, computed in accordance with the applicable public interest rate, per annum based on the completed months from the 1st January of the year following the assessment year for which the provisional tax is concerned.

Payments acceptable by the Inland Revenue Department may be made either in bank transfer, cash, credit card or by cheque (must be drawn on a Cypriot bank). Cheques must be made payable to the Director of Inland Revenue and crossed.

Finally, please note that you can adjust your estimate before 31 December 2011, thus avoiding the 10% one-off penalty.

Please contact your Agent in Cyprus to arrange for payment or further information!

Do you actually know what a Trust is about? :omg:

A offshore trust or just trust is an important, useful, and legitimate vehicle for the transfer and management of assets. Trusts provide an effective mechanism for managing assets given to minors, individuals who are incapacitated, and others who are otherwise inexperienced in financial management. Trusts can also be used to promote charitable purposes and for estate planning. In addition to personal and financial planning, trusts are increasingly used to structure corporate transactions, such as securitisation programs, and employee benefits programs, such as pension schemes, international employee stock option plans, and compensation structures.

The concept of "trust" originated from the English common law and today, trusts are used primarily in common law jurisdictions. The trust is a vehicle that provides for the seperation of legal ownership from beneficial ownership. to establish a trust, the trust creator (the "settlor") transfers the legal ownership of a property to a person or corporate entity (the trustee). The trustee holds and manages the property, in accordance with the provisions of a trust deed, for the benefit of the benficiaries, who are identified in, or ascertainable from, the trust deed.

To create a valid trust, the settlor is required to give up control of the assets he has transferred to the trustee!. In turn, the trustee is obligated to observe the terms of the trust deed and has a fiduciary duty to act honestly and in good faith in the best interest of the beneficiaries or, in the event there are subject to limitations on duration, the terms of the trust are fixed, and trustees cannot be removed without a legal challenge. Lastly, the traditional trust could only benefit individuals or charities and could not be used to delay, hinder, or defraud creditors.

However, that said, trusts can also be misused for illicit purposes as with other types of corporate vehicles. Part of the attractiveness of misusing trusts lies in the fact that trusts enjoy a greater degree of privacy and autonomy than other corporate vehicles. Given the private nature of trusts and the fact that trust is essentially a contractual agreement between two private persons, virtually all jurisdictions recognising trusts have purposely chosen not to regulate trusts like other corporate vehicles, such as corporations. This also means that, unlike corporations, there are no registration requirements or central registries and there are no authorities charged with overseeing trusts. In many jurisdictions, however, the trust deeds of charitable trusts are enforced by the attorney general or an equivalent authority. In most jurisdictions, no disclosure of the identity of the beneficiary or the settlor is made to authorities. This apply for the offshore jurisdictions Seychelles, Cyprus and Belize.

I was just wondering if you actually know what a foundaton is?

A foundatrion is the nearest civil law equivalent to the common law trust. A foundation consists of property that has been transferred into it to serve a particular purpose and is a seperate legal entity with no owners or shareholders. Foundations are ordinarily managed by a board of directors. Some civil law jurisdictions, such as Belgium and Poland, restrict foundations to public purpose (public foundations) while other jurisdictions, such as Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, Panama, and Switzerland, allow foundations to be established to fulfil private purposes(privaye foundations). In many civil law jurisdictions, a foundation may engage in commercial activities.

Ordinarily, foundations are highly transparent and highly regulated vehicles that are required to register with the authorities, file annual financial statements and submit themselves to supervision by governmental authorities. In addition, there are safeguards in place to ensure that a foundaton is sufficiently independent from its founder.

The likehood of a foundation to be misused for illicit purposes increases when there is inadequate regulations or supervision over foundations or when founders are allowed to exert significant control over the foundation, which is the case for Seychelles foundations.

In the Netherlands, which does not require prior consent of the government or a certificate of incorporation to establish a foundation, the authorities have reported that foundations are increasingly used for criminal purposes. Never go where the crowd is find a place uknown to man ;)

In some civil law OFCøs, foundations are not supervised, few public disclosures are required, founders are allowed to excert control over the foundation, and a high degree of anonymity is offered. In Panama and the Seychelles, for example, government approval is not required for the establishment of a foundation or the amendment of its memorandum and there is no governement agency that supervises foundations. Furthemore, foundation documents containing the identity of beneficiaries (which may include the founder himself) are not required to be publicly filed and the foundation does not have to submit annual reports or accounts. The founder may also use a nominee to form the foundation, thereby ensuring that his identity is not revealed to the outside world.

The Liechtenstein foundation, in particular, has been alleged to have been frequently misused for illicit purposes, including to hide money of corrupt government leaders. Liechtenstein also offers the anstalt (establishment), a corporate vehicle that is a hybrid between a private limited company and a foundation. The anstalt, which offers founders strong anonymity protection, grants founders effective control over the foundation, and mandates few disclosure requirements, is also perceived to be misused frequently for illicit purpose.

I do hope the above brings up a picture in your mind how powerful such a foundation can be :)

Now the new year came and much has changed since the beginning of 2010 - What are the tax havens around in 2011 or is it to early to tell?

Are there any news about the well known tax havens like - Panama, Belize, St. Kits, Nevis and Bahamas?

The above should be of the general interest for anyone who are looking for asset protection or anonymous corporations with maximum privacy.