INTRODUCTION
Samoa, which changed its name from Western
Samoa in July 1997, is a group of 9 islands situated
in the South Pacific, east of the International
Date Line. At various stages, it has been administered
by Britain, Germany and New Zealand. Samoa, where
English is the language of government and commerce,
became independent in 1962 and retains a parliamentary
form of government. Since independence, it has
developed into a politically stable nation.
LAW AND TAXATION
Samoa’s offshore corporate legislation
was originally introduced in the late 1980s and
was based on Cook Islands legislation but now
includes numerous enhancements, making it more
user-friendly to suit the requirements of the
Asian market. Of particular note are the following:
(i) Chinese character names (and other foreign
languages) are permitted, in addition to English
names on theCertificates of Incorporation, in
a properly supervised manner;
(ii) Documents may be filed in any languae. We
have developed a Chinese language M&A to make
Samoan companies even more appealing to Chinese
language jurisdictions;
(ⅲ) Companies may pay their licence fees for
5, 10 or 20 years in advance and substantial discounts
are offered to companies that have elected to
take up this offer;
(ⅳ) In order to attract business from more expensive
jurisdictions in difficult economic times, Samoa
has, in August 1998, introduced a new legislation
that enables the easy migration of companies in
a convenient and effective manner. The government
fee for re-domiciling is USD100. Samoa has also
reduced the annual licence fees for these companies
(no matter what the authorised capital is ) and
announced a special offer for re-domiciled companies
at only USD100.
Provision has been made to allow the filing of
documents and maintenance of accounts by electronic
means.
LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE
The local infrastructure in Samoa is presently
very sound and improving continually. A number
of leading accounting firms have offices in Samoa
and there are numerous legal practices. At present
there are three retail banks in Samoa. Another
important feature is the presence of a Chinese
Embassy which is particularly helpful when legalising
or apostilling documents required for transactions
and business in mainland China.
CORPORATE REQUIREMENTS
Chinese names are permitted and can be included
on a company’s Certificate of Incorporation.
All companies must have a minimum of one director,
one shareholder and a secretary. Corporate directors
are permitted and bearer shares are also allowed.
All companies must have a Registered Office and
a Resident Agent in Samoa which must be a licenced
trust company. There are requirements for Samoan
companies to prepare Registers of Directors, Secretaries
and Members and for these to be kept at the Registered
Office. The shareholders may waive the requirements
for audited accounts.
OUR SERVICES
We have a large stock of companies with
English names, English and Chinese names, and
the M&A in English and Chinese characters,
which are immediately available for purchase.
We can incorporate a company with your choice
of name and can also confirm the availability
of names in advance. All companies are provided
with a complete company kit, including share certificates,
5 copies of the M&A plus and electronic copy
on CD-ROM, statutory registers, common seal, company
chop and a certificate of guarantee of quality.
In addition, we can assist clients in obtaining
certificates of good standing , resident agent
certificates and other certificates of corporate
existence. We do not provide corporate management
services but would be pleased to introduce you
to other professional firms which do.
|
