FAQs

Yes Seychelles law recognises digital signatures, and specifically recognises the service provided by Docusign.

Normally signatory rights are defined in the company’s constitutional documents, the memorandum and articles. Normally the directors sign but it is possible for shareholders to be given some signatory rights particularly for large value transactions, changes in the constitution of the company and in other very important company matters. Anyone can also be appointed as a signatory to bank accounts – bank signatories do not have to be directors or shareholders. A power of attorney can also give a person who is not a director powers to sign for the company.

We prefer to call them a “professional” account signatory. The approved persons who provide professional directorship and who provide nominee shareholder services would usually be happy to be a bank account signatory but while they would be accommodating, they may query a transaction and ask for more information before executing it. If they are uncomfortable, they may well refuse to act and they may resign. A professional account signatory will not knowingly participate in fraudulent transactions and other illegal activities and there are severe punishments under our anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism regulations.

Anyone you choose can be a bank account signatory. It can be a professional director, a nominee shareholder, a trusted friend or family member, yourself of course or one of our team. A bank account signatory is someone who “signs” on an account i.e. approves a transaction and is basically someone who can transfer money from an account or sign cheques. It must be someone who is responsible and who can be trusted. A signatory may act alone (a sole signatory – someone who you trust absolutely) or a signatory may only act together with other persons (joint signatory – for when more control is required). You will usually be able to have different groups of signatories. A common arrangement is to have one group of sole signatories and another group of joint signatories so that your business can continue as normal even when key people are away. You may even have two groups of joint signatories with one joint signatory required from each group so that they control each other. Directors are generally expected to be bank account signatories, and professional directors are usually expected to at least be a joint signatory but this is not a requirement. When directors are active bank signatories it will help show their effective management and control.

Section 11(3) of the International Business Companies Act says “No company shall be incorporated under this Act under a name that – (a) is identical with that of statutory corporation or that under which a company in existence is already incorporated under this Act or registered under the Companies Act or so nearly resembles the name of another company as to be calculated to deceive, except where the company in existence gives its consent; (b) contains the words “Assurance”, “Bank”, “Building Society”, “Chamber of Commerce”, “Chartered”, “Cooperative”, “Imperial”. “Insurance”, “Municipal”, “Trust”, “Foundation”, or in the opinion of the Registrar, suggests or is calculated to suggest the patronage of or any connection with Seychelles or the Government of Seychelles or with any other country or the Government of that country (c) is indecent, offensive or, in the opinion of the Registrar is otherwise objectionable or misleading. The FSA maintains a non-exhaustive list of words which we can provide to you upon request.

An IBC can be incorporated with a non-English or with a non-French name provided that a certified translation of the name is submitted together with the name request.

Name applications can usually be processed within 1 hour. The registry does experience some very busy periods when it can take 2 or 3 hours, but this is not the norm. Do note that it is up to the Registry to approve or reject names. They can also ask for more information about made up words, acronyms and foreign language sounding words (those not in English or French), which can slow down the name application process because we would have to ask you for more information. If it is critically important that a company is available within a limited time frame, a ready-made company may be the smarter option.

No. Our forms are quite short and simple and are usually not more than 2 or 3 pages long. We can assist with form filing and guide you through the process.

At the very least we must receive all documents and information required for client registration via email in a high-quality format, preferably in colour, to be able to release your new company documents to you. Our regulations strictly require that we complete client registration procedures before we fulfil your orders. During client registration we must come to “know our client” (KYC) to ensure that any proposed business or activity will be in accordance to the laws of Seychelles and to help ensure that once the IBC is operational it will remain compliant. Depending on the circumstances, simplified due diligence measures may be applied to long-standing clients, affiliates or other contacts with a good track record, which can help reduce order processing time. In most cases, to complete your orders very quickly we will begin to process your order soon after you choose us. When time is very limited a ready-made shelf company may help you meet your deadline. The documents can be despatched immediately after receiving all documents and information for client registration.

We can usually register a new IBC within 24 to 48 hours, particularly if we have all information and documents to complete the due diligence process quickly. It helps if the required company will have standard features only (no special customizations to the documents) and with an ordinary name in English or French language. We do process everything on an urgency basis, but we may on special request follow up on an order more closely with the Registry and other third parties. Slow-downs at the Registry are possible but are rare. Also if you require authentication of documents (notarization, apostille etc) it will take a little longer to have the documents ready. On receiving the certificate of incorporation and the registered Memorandum and Articles, we can scan and email high quality PDF documents back to you. Courier to most places thereafter takes 3 or 4 days.