Companies incorporated outside the Isle of Man which establish a place of business in the Isle of Man are at present required to register with the Isle of Man Companies Registry as F-Companies under Part XI of the Isle of Man Companies Act 1931 (“Part XI”). The purpose and effect of F-registration is essentially to place a foreign registered company under a similar reporting and disclosure regime to an Isle of Man incorporated company.
Part XI of the 1931 Act is to be replaced with new stand alone legislation in the form of the Foreign Companies Act 2014 (the “FCA 2014”), which is expected to come into force on August 1 2014. This note highlights the key changes arising from this new legislation, which have practical implications for the administration of foreign companies in the Isle of Man.
The meaning of “foreign company”
At present Part XI requires registration of companies (including limited liability companies) incorporated outside the Isle of Man. Section 4 of the Foreign Companies Act 2014 will widen this requirement as it defines a foreign company as a person (by whatever name called) which has legal personality but is not an individual incorporated under the laws of a jurisdiction outside the Island, and goes on to provide that types of legal person such as a foundation, limited liability company, PCC, ICC and a limited partnership which has legal personality will each be a foreign company.
Download the full article here: Foreign Companies Act July 2014