Read our article in the Cayman Financial Review Magazine, eversion 

Cayman Enterprise City, the first technology-based special economic zone in the Cayman Islands and the Americas region, has officially opened and now offers corporate services providers and their clients a new model for establishing a business in the Cayman Islands.   

Cayman Enterprise City is designed to attract internet, technology, commodities & derivatives, media and biotechnology companies from around the world; industries that so far, have not been attracted to the Cayman Islands.  

The special economic zone , brings the benefit of a genuine physical presence on island, nd supplies the local infrastructure,including fully serviced office accommodation and all of the facilities from furniture,f ixtures, shared receptionists, shared meeting rooms, shared kitchens and video conferencing to private phone numbers and mailing addresses.

To attract these new industries to Cayman,special economic zone companies benefit from very attractive and unique concessions.  Companies establishing within the special economic zone are exempt from work permit fees and import duties, they enjoy 100 per cent foreign ownership rights and have a guaranteed exemption from corporate, income and capital gains taxes in the Cayman Islands for 50 years.

A Special Economic Zone Authority (SEZA) has been formed and issues Zone Trade Certificates and Zone Employment Certificates enabling businesses within these industries the benefit of setting up operations within the special economic zone and becoming fully operational in only ten working days.

An independent study by KPMG anticipates that in combination these concessions can reduce operating costs for exempted zone companies by 54 per cent per ear.

Referral strategic partnerships sought In the highly competitive global market place where Cayman struggles to compete with other more aggressive jurisdictions in the offshore company formations arena, Cayman Enterprise City now affords Cayman’s corporate service providers an attractive new business licensing model to offer their clients.

It is, in essence a new item to add to their service menu and one that will produce a significant recurring revenue  stream for their firms. With Cayman Enterprise City’s new special economic zone offering, Cayman’s company management and trust firms now have a more appealing coterie of services than those offered by other competing jurisdictions.

It is expected that this new model will enable Cayman to not only protect market share but grow it.  To this end Cayman Enterprise City is seeking strategic  partnerships with local corporate service providers and trust companies and offers an attractive referral fee structure.  While corporate service providers will continue to provide their normal services such as company incorporations, registered offices, directorships and so on, they can now offer the new Cayman Enterprise City business model to their clients with a fast-track application and licensing process that cuts red tape and enables businesses to quickly and efficiently establish an office in Cayman’s tax
neutral jurisdiction.

Cayman Enterprise City will apply for a company’s Zone Trade Certificate and Zone Employment Certificates for any foreign workers directly with the Special Economic Zone Authority, which combines the elements of immigration, trade and business licensing and customs in one entity, making it possible to be fully legal, set up and operational within 10 days.  And of course, Cayman Enterprise City’s business licensing model does not only apply to new companies, but is also an opportunity to convert existing exempted companies registered in the Cayman Islands into special economic zone companies.

Given the growing international regulatory pressure to demonstrate substance over form, requiring more offshore companies to set up physical, fully resourced offices, Cayman Enterprise City meets a pressing need for exempted companies and exempted limited liability partnerships that carry on their business outside of the Cayman Islands.  Cayman’s new business licensing model