Why Samoa

Samoa lies in the Central South Pacific, a 3 hour flight north-east of New Zealand and a 5 hour flight south-west of Hawaii. Local time is 11 hours behind London and consequently 6 hours behind New York and 19 hours behind Hong Kong. Its geographic location allows Samoa to have strategic advantage in dealing with both the Asian and USA markets. It is also growing in popularity with Europe as a progressive and discreet jurisdiction. The legal system is based on British common law and closely reflects that of New Zealand and other common law jurisdictions. Samoa has been an independent sovereign state since 1962. Its written constitution provides for a three-tier legal system consisting of a Court of Appeal, High Court and Subordinate courts. Samoa has a modern telecommunications system with direct dial facilities via satellite. Broadband Internet technology has recently been introduced. Samoa has direct international flights with New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Tonga, Hawaii (via American Samoa) and Los Angeles. The business and official language is English, with Samoan as the second official language.

Why GCSL Samoa

GCSL Samoa is a registered Trustee Company in Samoa offering a full range of corporate administration services including company formation, provision of directors and nominee shareholders, company management and secretarial services, bank account opening and trustee services. It also assists with the establishment of licensed entities such as offshore banks and offshore insurance companies. Samoa is very quickly gaining a reputation as the company formation jurisdiction of choice to rival the BVI, particularly in relation to China.

Several features of its legislation make Samoa an increasingly popular offshore jurisdiction. These include:

		Entities established within the offshore jurisdiction are EXEMPT from any form of taxation in Samoa including stamp duty, capital gains tax, capital duty and withholding tax. There is NO exchange control.
		Strong confidentiality provisions apply in the offshore regime, requiring government officials as well as trustee company and bank employees to observe strict secrecy. The statutory records of the Registrar of International Companies are not open for general search.
		International Companies incorporated in Samoa permit a great deal of flexibility in its corporate structure with provisions to ensure ease of administration. There is NO need to disclose either beneficial ownership or details of the officers and directors of the Company to the Registrar. There is NO need to file annual returns or accounts of the company.
		Companies can be incorporated in ANY language.
		Samoa has LLC legislation modeled on the Wyoming legislation. This allows a Samoa LLC to be interpreted by the USA IRS as a transparent entity for income tax purposes.
		Samoa allows the registration of international companies on a long-term basis, i.e. for periods of 5, 10, or 20 years. Upon expiry, registration can be renewed on an annual basis or for further long-term periods. Long-term international companies benefit from substantially discounted government registration fees and avoid the necessity to worry about annual renewals.
		Samoa offshore insurance legislation provides an attractive but supervised environment for the establishment and operation of international insurance activities including captive insurance and re-insurance companies.
		Both local government and the regulatory authorities are keen on improving Samoa’s legislation and GCSL professionals work closely with these officials and members of the private sector to enhance the jurisdiction’s profile while providing a client-focused service.
		As a member of The GCSL Group of Companies, GCSL Samoa is ideally positioned to provide clients with a truly global network of services in a cost-effective, efficient and professional manner.

Click for the Guide to Samoa Companies and Trusts

For further information please contact our Samoa office at samoa@gcsl.info

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