list of offshore countries
There are a large number of offshore financial centers (by some measures, there are more countries that are offshore financial centers than not), but the following jurisdictions could be considered to be “market leading” jurisdictions for various reasons:
- Bahamas, which has a considerable number of registered vessels. The Bahamas used to be the dominant force in the offshore financial world, but fell from favor in 1970s after independence
- Bermuda, which is market leader for captive insurance, and also has a strong presence in offshore funds and aircraft registration.
- British Virgin Islands, which has the largest number of offshore companies.
- Cayman Islands, which has the largest value of AUM in offshore funds, and is also the strongest presence in the U.S. securitisation market.
- Gibraltar, which, whilst not dominating the offshore market in any particular specialisation, retains a strong presence in most fields. Gibraltar is no more an offshore center since 30th June 2006. No new Exempt Company certificates are being issued from that date.
- Jersey, which is a dominant player in the European securitisation market and the European REIT market.
- Luxembourg, which is the market leader in Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities and is believed to be the largest offshore Eurobond issuer, although no official statistics confirm this.
- Panama, which is a significant international maritime center. Although Panama (with Bermuda) was one of the earliest offshore corporate domiciles, Panama lost significance in the early 1990s. Panama is now second only to the British Virgin Islands in volumes of incorporation.
Although there are many, many other offshore jurisdictions, some of which are relatively sophisticated (for example, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are particularly well developed and well regulated offshore centres, although they tend to be overshadowed by Jersey; and the offshore aircraft registration market, unusually, is not dominated by one jurisdiction but is fragmented amongst Bermuda, Cayman, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles and the Seychelles), those seven jurisdictions are generally considered to be the key market participants, and to possess the most sophisticated offshore infrastructure.
Whole list:
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bermuda
- British Virgin Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey)
- Cook Islands
- Cyprus
- Dominica
- Gibraltar is no more an offshore centre since 30th June 2006. No new Exempt Company certificates are being issued from that date.
- Ghana
- Hong Kong
- Isle of Man
- Labuan, Malaysia
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Macau
- Mauritius
- Monaco
- Montserrat
- Nauru
- Panama
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Seychelles
- Switzerland
- Turks and Caicos Islands