Much of my offshore asset protection work involves legal entities in the island of Nevis, West Indies. Nevis has the best foreign limited liability company statute, and its offshore trust laws are considered among the best offered by foreign jurisdictions. Many of my clients who have used Nevis legal entities know little or nothing about this small country. This past week I made my first trip to Nevis to learn more about this island. Here are some things I learned about Nevis:
The correct pronunciation emphasizes the "e": The country is called "knee-vis" , not "neh-vis"
Charlestown , the capital of Nevis, is the only city on the island and it is very small. Charlestown is about three blocks long and two blocks wide. Nevis probably has a government and a judicial system, but I walked all around Charlestown and saw no government buildings. I could not find the courthouse.
Nevis has one national bank called the Bank of Nevis. I went inside the lobby where I saw many people lined up to do banking transactions. The lobby is very small and not air-conditioned. The bank has recently appointed an English banker to handle offshore accounts. His office is in a separate building, and this office is air-conditioned.
There is one two-lane highway which circles the island. All other roads are in horrible repair, filled with potholes.
I presume the national symbol of Nevis is the goat. There are wild goats everywhere. There are goats along the side of most roads; there are goats in the middle of the smaller roads; goats roam people's yards. I heard there are more monkeys than goats, but the monkeys stay in the forest.
Continue Reading...
