¶ 401
Overview
Scope of the chapter. Every Nevis trust, limited liability company, corporation and multiform foundation reaches the registry through a licensed Nevis service provider, and every one of them must keep that provider as its registered agent for as long as it exists. The law that governs those providers is therefore the law that governs the practical life of a Nevis structure: who may form it, who may act as its trustee, protector, manager or director, where its records are kept, who pays its annual fees, and what happens when the provider resigns or loses its licence. This chapter examines that law. It covers the federal regulator, the Financial Services Regulatory Commission, and its Nevis Branch; the Nevis Trust and Corporate Service Providers Ordinance, 2021, which licenses the providers; the registered-agent provisions of the four entity Ordinances; the registries and the annual filings and fees that keep an entity in good standing; and, in outline, the anti-money-laundering and information duties that the providers carry. The constitutional division that produces this structure is examined in chapter 1 (see supra ¶¶ 120, 150), and the anti-money-laundering, beneficial-ownership and tax-information regimes are treated in full in chapters 27 and 28 (see infra chs. 27–28).
Three layers. Regulation of the Nevis financial-services industry operates in three layers. The first is federal. The Financial Services Regulatory Commission Act, Cap. 21.10, establishes a single Commission for Saint Christopher and Nevis, makes it the "ultimate regulatory body for financial services and for anti-money laundering" for the Federation, and divides it into two operational departments, one on each island. Fin. Servs. Regul. Comm'n Act, Cap. 21.10, §§ 3–5 (rev. ed. 2020). The second layer is Nevis's own licensing statute. The Nevis Trust and Corporate Service Providers Ordinance, 2021, No. 2 of 2021, sets up a Nevis Licensing Committee and a Regulator appointed by the Nevis Minister of Finance, defines the "regulated activities" of corporate services business and trust business, and prohibits anyone from carrying them on in or from within Nevis without a licence. Nevis Trust and Corporate Service Providers Ordinance, No. 2 of 2021, §§ 3, 5–7, 30 ("TCSP Ordinance"). The third layer is the entity Ordinances themselves. Each requires its entity to have a licensed registered agent in Nevis, makes the agent's office the entity's registered office, routes filings and annual fees through the agent and, since 2023 and 2025 in the case of limited liability companies, requires copies of key records to be held where the agent can produce them. Nevis Business Corporation Ordinance, Cap. 7.01(N), §§ 7, 14–16 (rev. ed. 2020) ("NBCO"); Nevis Limited Liability Company Ordinance, Cap. 7.04(N), §§ 7, 12–13, 67A (rev. ed. 2020, as amended by No. 3 of 2023 and No. 4 of 2025) ("NLLCO"); Multiform Foundations Ordinance, Cap. 7.08(N), § 19 (rev. ed. 2017) ("MFO"); Nevis International Exempt Trust Ordinance, Cap. 7.03(N), §§ 2, 43, 48 (rev. ed. 2017) ("NIETO").
Why the layers matter to the planner. A planner who forms a Nevis entity rarely deals with the Commission or the Licensing Committee directly. The service provider does. But the provider's licence, its class and its standing with the Regulator determine what it may lawfully do for the client: whether it may act as trustee or protector of an international trust, whether it may supply managers for an LLC or board members for a foundation, and whether its resignation will leave the client's entity without an agent. A trust whose only Nevis trustee loses its licence, or an LLC whose agent resigns and is not replaced within sixty days, faces consequences that the governing instrument cannot cure. NLLCO § 73(2); NBCO § 119(2) (removal for failure to maintain an agent); see infra ¶¶ 460.05, 490.04. The rules described in this chapter therefore belong in the planner's due diligence on any Nevis provider, and in the drafting of the trust deed, operating agreement or foundation by-laws that will depend on that provider.
Sources. The chapter relies on the revised edition of the Commission's Act showing the law at December 31, 2020, and on the amending Act of 2026; on the 2021 Ordinance, its Commencement Order and the Forms and Fees Regulations made under it; on the revised editions of the four entity Ordinances; and on the amending Ordinances and fee regulations published by the Commission's Nevis Branch. Where a section has been renumbered by a later amendment, the text follows the numbering of the edition cited. The amounts in the 2021 Ordinance are in Eastern Caribbean dollars unless the text states otherwise. TCSP Ordinance § 2 (definition of "dollars"). The Eastern Caribbean dollar has been pegged to the United States dollar at EC$2.70 to US$1.00 since 1976, and the fee regulations state most amounts in both currencies.
Plan of the chapter. Section 410 examines the federal Commission and its powers. Section 420 explains the Nevis Branch, the Nevis Regulator and the Nevis Licensing Committee and how their jurisdiction fits with the Commission's. Section 430 analyzes the activities that require a licence under the 2021 Ordinance, and section 440 the licensing process, the four classes of licence and the fees. Section 450 covers supervision, enforcement, confidentiality and appeals. Section 460 turns to the registered-agent provisions of the entity Ordinances, and section 470 to the registries and the annual filings and fees. Section 480 outlines the anti-money-laundering and information duties of service providers. Section 490 draws the practical lessons for choosing, monitoring and changing a provider.