The United kingdom

Population:

60 million

Currency:

Pound sterling; = US$1.77 (mid-2005)

Language:

English

Time zone:

GMT; GMT plus 1 in summer

Centre's expertise:

The world's bigger international financial centre

General requirements

Type of entity

Limited by shares; limited by guarantees; unlimited; public limited company (plc)

Type of law

Common Law

Shelf company available

Yes

Time to establish a new company

Certificate of incorporation takes five working days, but can be done same-day electronically for extra fee

Taxation

Zero on first 10,000; small companies rate is 19%

Double taxation agreements

Yes, one of the largest double tax treaty networks in the world

Forex restrictions

None

Language & name restrictions on companies

Documents must be in English; sensitive names will have to be checked

Share capital

Permitted currencies

Any

Minimum paid up

1 minimum for private companies, but plc must have authorised capital of at least 50,000, and issued capital of at least 50,000 if it is trading

Usual authorized capital

None

Directors and personnel

Minimum number

1 (2 for plc)

Local required

No

Company secretary & qualifications

Yes

Shareholders and AGM

Minimum number

1 (2 for plc)

Disclosure requirements

Details of shareholders must be disclosed

Publicly accessible records

Yes

Obligations for annual meetings

Yes

Location of AGM

Anywhere

Accounts

Requirement to prepare

Yes

Audit requirements

Yes, except for small companies

Account filing obligations

Yes

Publicly accessible accounts

Yes

Other

Requirements to file annual return

Yes

Change in domicile permitted

Yes

Need to registered office

Yes, must be in the UK and cannot be a post box address alone; must be full address including postcode

Number of companies set up in last year

334,000 (including UK domestic and international companies)

Total number of companies on register

1,909,000 (including UK domestic and international companies)