Why incorporate a startup in the British Virgin Islands?
作为新公司的股东，你第一个会考虑的问题就是“为什么设立新公司？”
As the founder of a startup company, one of the first questions you need to consider is "where should I incorporate my company?".
BVI以其灵活现代的公司制度、中性的税收政策、权威的法律制度、稳定的政治以及有效合规的架构而受到投资者的关注。BVI提供了中性、安全的平台以储备并获得资金，并因此受到高端国际投资者及银行的认可。特别值得一提的是，BVI公司法的基础是被英国化的特拉华法律，且BVI经认可属于普通法管辖范围。这意味着对于欧洲和美国的投资者而言，使用BVI公司的可接受度是同等的。截至目前，已有超过100万家公司在BVI设立，我们可以预见，未来将有更多的新公司在BVI设立。
Investors are drawn to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) for its flexible and modern corporate regime, tax neutrality, respected legal system, political stability and effective regulatory framework. The BVI provides a neutral and safe platform to pool and access capital, which is recognised by leading international investors and banks. Uniquely, BVI company law is based on Delaware law that has been anglicised to recognise that the BVI is a common law jurisdiction. This means investors from both sides of the Atlantic are equally comfortable using BVI companies. To date, more than one million companies have been formed in the BVI and we see a trend in BVI startup companies incorporating in the BVI.
BVI companies
A BVI company can be incorporated quickly, with a flexible organisational structure and minimal financial reporting requirements. BVI companies are ideal for startup companies as they can be operated from anywhere in the world and there are no restrictions on where a BVI company can carry out its business.
A BVI company's constitutional documents comprise its memorandum and articles of association (the M&A). The M&A set out the terms and conditions of the company's operation and govern its relationship with its directors, its shareholders and third parties. The M&A can create different classes of shares, which can have different voting, dividend and distribution rights. This means that founders and investors can hold different classes of shares and, therefore, different rights in the company.
Management
The business and affairs of a BVI company are managed by its directors, who have a duty to act honestly, in good faith and in a manner in which they believe to be in the best interest of the company. Where expressly permitted in a company's M&A, BVI law allows for a director to act in the best interest of a particular shareholder or group of shareholders. This is an extremely useful provision in the context of joint ventures as each party to the joint venture may appoint a director to effectively represent its own interests above those of the general body of shareholders or the company as a whole.
Directors and shareholders
A director or shareholder can be an individual or a corporate entity. There is no requirement for a director or shareholder to reside in the BVI, or for the meetings to be held in the BVI. In addition, there is no requirement for a BVI company to hold a certain number of shareholder or director meetings. The directors or shareholders do not need to be in the same physical location to hold a meeting, which can be held by
telephone or video conference.
Although a BVI company must maintain a register of directors and a register of members, these registers are not available for public inspection, ensuring confidentiality for founders and investors.
Distributions
Under BVI law, the concepts of authorised capital, share capital and general capital maintenance have been replaced with a requirement to simply state the maximum number of shares a company is authorised to issue (or state that there is no limit). The basis of this change was to provide BVI companies with greater flexibility when they declare distributions, carry out reverse share splits, change the par value of shares or effect redemptions. This means the directors of a BVI company may authorise any form of distribution to its shareholders at such time and of such amount, as they think fit (provided they are satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that the company will be able to pay its debts as they fall due and that its assets will exceed its liabilities after the distribution is made).
Corporate Governance
On-going corporate governance requirements of BVI companies are well suited to startups with only minimal filing requirements. This means founders can spend more time focusing on product development and launch and less on corporate filings, whilst also keeping on-going fees to a minimum.
A BVI company must keep records which are sufficient to show and explain the company's transactions and to enable the financial position of the company to be determined with reasonable accuracy. This means that the BVI company must maintain financial accounts. However, there are no specific accounting standards that need to be adhered to. The accounts do not need to be filed and they remain private.
Tax benefits
Perhaps the most widely known (and often misconstrued) benefit of incorporation in the BVI is the tax neutral treatment of BVI companies. There is no corporation tax payable by BVI companies, making the BVI an ideal location to incorporate a start-up company. However, the BVI is a world leader in international anti-money laundering regulations and has signed a number of tax information exchange agreements. This has earned it a place on the OECD’s "white list" of countries which employ internationally recognised and approved tax and transparency standards.
Access to capital
BVI companies are listed on the World’s leading international stock exchanges. They are recognised as efficient, tax neutral vehicles, for use accessing international capital in financial centres from London and New York to Singapore and Hong Kong. As venture capital investors will be looking for exit options when they invest in a startup, having a vehicle which is suitable for floatation will be an important consideration from a corporate structuring perspective. This also provides an effective route for the founders to continue a successful startup following an exit by the investors. In addition, for startups with a permanent establishment in the UK, a BVI incorporated company can still qualify for the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). As the SEIS and EIS schemes can provide certain investors with significant tax breaks and has led to the establishment of funds which only invest in SEIS and EIS eligible companies, the benefits of the scheme are not to be overlooked.
Data protection
There is currently no formal legislation regulating data protection in the BVI, however the BVI Government has pledged to enact suitable data protection legislation in the near future. For now, the collection, storage and transfer of personal data is governed by the general principle of confidentiality applied at common law. This means there are no BVI requirements for a company to register with a data protection authority, appoint a data protection officer or maintain formal security measures. Although all of these considerations will be important for a startup to gain trust with consumers, it means the founders would be free to structure their own internal policies as required and appropriate.
BVI公司
设立一家BVI公司是非常快捷的，因为它拥有灵活的组织架构以及最小化的财务报告要求。BVI公司是新设公司的理想选择，它可以在全世界任何地方运营且不受业务经营地点的限制。
BVI公司以其公司章程作为治理文件，其中规定了关于公司运营以及如何监管公司董事、股东以及第三方之间的关系等条款。公司章程可以规定公司发行不同类型的股份，其对应的投票、分红、出资权利会有所不同。这表明创始人以及投资人可以通过持有不同类型的股份而对公司享有不同的权利。
公司管理
BVI公司的经营与事务由董事管理，董事对公司承担诚实、善意以及为公司利益最大化的义务。如果在公司章程中明确意，BVI法律允许某一位董事代表特定的一位股东或一部分股东的最大化利益。该条款在设立合资公司时可发挥极大的作用，因为任一合资方可委任一名董事有效的代表其利益而非代表公司全体股东或公司。
董事与股东
董事或股东可以是个人或公司机构。BVI法律不要求公司董事或股东在BVI有住所或在BVI召开会议，也不要求BVI公司召开董事会、股东会达到一定次数。董事和股东无需在同一个地点召开会议，而可以通过视频或电话召开。
尽管BVI公司需要维护关于公司董事和股东的登记，但该项登记不会被公众所获悉，因此确保了创始人和投资人的保密性。
出资
根据BVI法律，授权资本、出资额以及资本保持等概念已不再适用，公司只需简单说明公司拟授权发行的最大股份数或说明不设限制。之所以有这样的变化是为了使BVI公司在认缴出资、拆股、变更股份净值或赎回时享有更多的灵活性。这意味着一家BVI公司的董事可以授权公司股东在任何时间、以任何形式、出资任意董事认为合适的金额（如果董事同意且基于一些合理的理由，如可用于清偿公司即将到期的债务以及出资后公司资产将高过债务等）。
公司治理
现行有效的BVI公司治理要求（即最小化的申报要求）同样适用于新设公司。这意味着创始人可以将更大的精力专注投入在业务发展而减少对于文件申报的关注，同时可以将费用控制在最小范围。
BVI公司应保存足够的记录显示说明公司的交易情况，以确保公司的财务状况可以被认定为是合理准确的。这意味着BVI公司必须维护其财务帐户。然而，BVI公司无需适用任何特定的财务准则，且该等财务信息无需申报以保持私密性。
税收优惠
BVI公司享有财务中性待遇是最为公众所知（且常常被误解）的关于设立BVI公司的优势。BVI公司无需承担任何公司所得税，这使得BVI成为设立新公司的理想之地。然而，BVI是国际反洗钱法律法规的全球领先者，并签署了大量的税收信息交换协议。这些都使得BVI成为OECD组织列出的“白名单”国家之一，适用国际认可的、透明化的税收标准。
获得投资
BVI公司可以在全球领先的证券市场上市，凭借其高效且税收中性的优势，已被接受并成为得到伦敦、纽约、新加坡、香港等国际金融中心认可的获得资金的平台。在投资新设公司时，风险投资人往往注重寻求资金退出的方式，因此，从公司架构的角度而言，拥有一个适合的股份发行平台是重要的考虑因素。这也为创始人在投资人退出后获得持续的发展奠定了有效的基础。
信息保护
目前BVI尚未出台正式的关于信息保护的法律法规，但BVI政府已承诺将在近日颁布相关立法。因此，目前BVI有关个人信息的收集、保存和转交受英美法关于隐私保护的一般原则约束。这意味着BVI尚无关于公司需要向信息管理保护机构进行注册、聘用信息保护专员或维持日常安全管理措施的要求。尽管这些将成为消费者建立对公司信任的重要因素，但在现状下创始人在制订公司内部政策时拥有更多自主权。
