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Overview
New Zealand has become a preferred destination for foreign investors searching for a well-reputed onshore jurisdiction with a favorable environment for establishing an entity allowed to provide a wide range of financial services.
Timeframe: within 3 months
Minimum capital requirements: is set on case-by-case basis
Overview
A company applying for a New Zealand Financial Service Provider’s (FSP) license must be registered within New Zealand as this option is not available for foreign legal entities.
An applicant for the New Zealand Financial Service Provider’s license is required to file respective application to the Financial Markets Authority or FMA.
Under current regulations, representatives of the FMA shall conduct an inspection of the registered place of business in order to determine if these are genuine working premises. This means that local office with at least one employee are required and this must be the place of carrying out business activity.
New Zealand Financial Service Provider’s license allows a licensee to perform the following key financial activities:
- ▪Asset Management on behalf of third parties;
- ▪Provision of credit under a credit contract;
- ▪Foreign currency exchange;
Benefits
- ▪Well-reputed jurisdiction, which is not blacklisted by any country or financial institution
- ▪Member state of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
- ▪Member state of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
- ▪Wide network of double tax treaties
- ▪There are no minimum share capital requirements
- ▪Official language is English
Comprehensive Guide to Company Incorporation
General information
Company structure
- ▪At least 1 shareholder (natural persons and legal entities allowed, no restrictions with regards to citizenship or residence)
- ▪At least 1 director (natural persons only, at least one local director or a resident of any enforcement country, who is a director of a company registered in that enforcement country)
Taxation
- ▪28% corporate income tax rate
- ▪15 % Goods and Services Tax rate (GST, similar to VAT), not applied to residential rents and financial services
- ▪Around 40 Double Taxation Avoidance (DTA) agreements signed
Accounting requirements
- ▪Accounting year starts on the 1st day of April
- ▪Annual Returns must be filed to the Companies Office
- ▪Annual audit is mandatory;
Secretary – Required
Registered office – Required
Registered Agent – Required
Company name
- ▪Language: Any
- ▪Letters: From Roman alphabet
- ▪Names having royal, national, international, and commercial or other significance are prohibited
- ▪Names that are misleading or deceptive are prohibited
- ▪Identical or almost identical names are prohibited
- ▪Offensive names are prohibited
- ▪An only suffix “Limited” is allowed. After incorporation, the suffix “Ltd” can be used everywhere
- ▪The following abbreviations whenever they appear in a name are allowed: “&” for “and”, “no” for “number”, “co” or “coy” for “company”, “N.Z.” or “NZ” for “New Zealand”, “Bros” for “Brothers”
In order to obtain New Zealand Financial Service Provider’s license, the following steps shall be carried out:
- ▪Incorporation of a local legal entity
- ▪Preparation of application forms
- ▪Initiation of the license obtaining process
- ▪Application is being processed and conditional approval is granted by the FMA
- ▪Provision of proof of local presence
In order to obtain New Zealand Financial Service Provider’s License, please provide the following documents:
For each beneficial owner, shareholder, director, authorized signatory and secretary:
- ▪Notarized passport copy
- ▪Notarized proof of residential address (utility bill or bank statement)
- ▪Bank reference letter
- ▪Lawyer/CA reference letter
- ▪CV
For directors and shareholders:
- ▪Educational qualification certificate
For shareholders:
- ▪Bank balance confirmation
N.B.
- ▪If documents are not in English language, then they must be accompanied by a notarized translation.
- ▪Please ensure that notarization is in English language if not then please provide with notarized English translation.
- ▪When Shareholders are legal entities, it is required to provide apostilled set of corporate documents and certificate of Good Standing.