Elimination of Cumbersome Filing

The centerpiece of the companies legislation is the IBC Act 2000 based on the model legislation first enacted in the BVJ, which carefully preserves functional provisions but eliminates cumbersome features including the paper requirement of filing detailed memorandum and articles of association. Instead, it opts for the filing of brief articles of incorporation which can now be done online. The articles require the company and incorporator’s names, registered office and agent, and essential details as to the nature, but not the ownership, of the company's shares. There is no requirement to file the by-laws or disclose the names of the directors.

The Companies Act 2000, modeled on the Canada and Delaware acts, provides for a choice of several different types of companies. These can also be formed online by filing brief simplified articles of incorporation with no requirement to file by-laws. (Note that all the ordinances offer the option to file by-laws, if desired.) The most popular type of company is the Anguilla Business Company (ABC), a private company and an excellent comparable cost alternative for those clients who may not, for whatever reason, want to incorporate under the IBC Act. An ABC can do business in Anguilla as well as internationally.

The company limited by guarantee and that limited by shares and guarantee ("the hybrid") are other options. A guarantee company has no shareholders but only non-shareholder members with a guarantee of limited liability for whatever fixed sum that may be agreed. The hybrid company, on the other hand, has both shareholding and non¬shareholding (guarantee) members. Tax counsel in the U.S. has opined that investment by a guarantee member into a properly structured hybrid may be tax deferrable. Other options under the Companies Act 2000 are the non-profit company and the public company. The latter has all the attributes and requirements of a company offering shares to the public.

The Limited Liability Company Act 2000 is an improved version of the Delaware Act. The legislation has been amended to permit one member and non-profit LLCs. A LLC can be formed at low-cost by filing online a simplified one-page certificate of formation with no requirement to file the operating agreement or disclose members or managers.

Anguilla also has a modern Limited Partnership Act also enacted in 2000 based on the classic U.K. and U.S. model. Only brief articles need to be filed. There is no requirement to file the detailed partnership agreement. An unlimited number of limited partners are permitted and their identities need not be disclosed.

In October 2004 Anguilla also passed the Mutual Funds Act 2004 and the Insurance Act 2004 aimed at regulation of the Mutual Funds and Insurance industries and the attraction of more business in these fields to the jurisdiction. These laws, whilst bringing in requirements for the licensing of managers, administrators and the entities themselves, also served to make Anguilla a front runner in this type of business by incorporating the best of the provisions of jurisdictions such as BVI and Bermuda and adapting these to suit Anguilla.

At the same time a completely new form of corporate entity was introduced when the Protected Cell Company legislation was enacted also in October 2004. This type of entity is similar to those in place in other jurisdictions such as Bahamas, Channel Islands and Bermuda and again adapts the best of the provisions from those jurisdictions to suit Anguilla. It enables separate cells to be utilized within a single corporate entity with each cell having its own unique identity completely separate from the others. This format could be ideally suited to protection of asset structures and captive insurance and mutual fund business.