Nerine Trust - Guernsey, Channel Islands
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New Guernsey Registry
2008 is a year of dramatic change for Guernsey Registry. Company formation and administration has been unchanged on the island for 125 years. With a new law (the Companies (Guernsey) Law 2008) and a brand new Registry, the service offered to local businesses, the finance sector and international clients will be cutting edge, using the latest web-based technology.
Since 1883, company formation has been carried out by local advocates through the Royal Court. In recent years the Guernsey Financial Services Commission has also been involved in the process. Companies have been registered by a small company registry team based in the judicial Greffe. The process has been entirely paper-based, and as a result both expensive and time-consuming. It could take up to two weeks for the whole formation process to be completed. Thereafter any changes to the information had to be submitted in paper format.
Guernsey has a history of providing innovative, business friendly, commercial laws. Continuing that tradition of innovation, the Island has completely revised its Companies law to enable the Island to provide a 21st century company registry and a flexible and modern system of company administration.
As a result, from 1st July 2008, companies will be incorporated in less than 24 hours, with 2 hour incorporations possible. From October, 15 minute incorporations will be available for certain types of company, which sets a world class benchmark. It will, in effect, be quicker and less expensive to incorporate a Guernsey company than in any competitor jurisdiction.
On-line searches and on-line filing submissions will be the norm. Company profiles (the equivalent of certificates of incumbency) will be available cheaply on-line, as will scans of physical documents and other Registry certificates. Directors, who will be issued with electronic signatures, will be notified automatically of all events at the Registry which affect their company. The cumbersome annual returns process will be replaced by an annual validation whereby companies simply validate the information held on them at the Registry once a year.
The benefits of these changes are potentially immense. For the first time, company incorporations will be applied for by Corporate Service Providers (“CSPs”). CSPs are licensed by Guernsey Financial Services Commission to carry out company incorporation services with the Registry. Nerine Trust Company Limited and all its associated licensed entities have been registered as a CSP meaning we can offer all of the benefits of this fantastic service as part of our service to all of our clients.
Footnote: Guernsey Registry is registered under Section 19 of the Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2001 - reference no. 011637
