Cayman Islands Companies

Companies may be registered in the Cayman Islands as exempted, ordinary (subdivided into resident and non-resident) and foreign. There were approximately 76,000 companies registered in the Cayman Islands at the end of 2004 of which 73% were exempted, 18% ordinary non-resident, 7% ordinary resident and 2% foreign. This memorandum is intended to be an introductory summary only and focuses primarily on exempted companies. It is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, which should always be obtained prior to incorporating any type of company.

The governing legislation is the Companies Law, Cap.22 (as revised and amended) (the "Companies Law") of the Cayman Islands, which was originally modeled on the United Kingdom Companies Act, 1948 but has been modified over the years to accommodate the evolving requirements of international clients.