Ordinance for Multiform Foundation of Nevis, passed in 2004, created an innovative new corporate entity based on the 'Foundation' of civil law, which is well known in jurisdictions such as Liechtenstein and Panama. While many foundations are formed for charitable purposes, many families in continental Europe have been using private foundations for asset protection and succession long before the Second World War. Especially when the property or residence is located in civil law countries, a foundation can be a handy tool for asset management.
What is a Multiform Foundation?
The Foundation is a hybrid multiform without owners, managed by a supervisory board on behalf of their beneficiaries and defined according to a constitution. Nevis Foundation is "multimodal" because it can take the form of a regular charity, a private foundation, trust, corporation, association or foundation tax resident and can change shape during their lifetime.
Characteristics of Multiform Foundations of Nevis
- Have all the necessary arrangements for business entities and foreign national to continue, transfer, convert, consolidate or merge into a multimodal Foundation.
- For administrative purposes, may take the form of a trust company, an LLC or a partnership.
- The statutes were submitted to the registry and can be certified, apostille, etc, but are not subject to public inspection.
- It is not mandatory that the beneficiaries are named.
- Any legal proceedings against the Foundation should be initiated only in Nevis and apart from any criminal proceedings, will be kept private.
Foundations Structure
- It must have a Nevis based registered agent
- It should have a Nevis registered office
- It must have an acceptable name that is not used by another foundation or that is not offensive, discriminatory.
- It is necessary to have a management board and secretary.
- It must have a memorandum of establishment.
A Nevis Multiform Foundation is required to have a Nevis registered agent and office to which communications can be sent, an acceptable name with the word trust in it, a management board and secretary and a memorandum of establishment filed with the Registrar.
Taxation
The Foundation is tax exempt by default, but you can choose to be a tax resident in Nevis and taxed at a maximum rate of 1% in order to qualify for treaty benefits, if desired.
Benefits
- 100% Anonymity, no public records are kept of the names of the beneficiaries.
- Asset protection
- Inheritance planning
- Children’s benefits
- effective tax planning