Apart from the 6 commercial banks, Barbados has 54 licensed off-shore banks and 14 licensed Trusts, Finance and Merchant banks.
All offshore banking activities in Barbados are controlled by the Offshore Banking Act which provides incentives to carry on business in Barbados by way of tax reductions and other exemptions. Offshore banking can be defined as the acceptance of foreign funds through foreign money deposits, the sale or placement of foreign securities and any similar activity involving foreign money, or through securities. Further to receiving such funds, they are to be used to make loans, advances and investments.
In order to engage in offshore banking in Barbados, the interested party must apply for a license from the Minister of Finance. Such a license will only be issued to an eligible company or to a qualified foreign bank.
Regulations and Requirements
An eligible company must be incorporated under the Companies Act and restrict its activity to offshore banking from within Barbados. At least one of its directors must be a resident of Barbados. All applications are subject to stringent standards of investigation in order to limit activities to only those with first class credentials.
Minimum capital requirements for non-residents are BDS$1,000,000 (one million) which must be paid up in cash. For residents, the capital requirements are smaller at BDS $250,000 (two hundred and fifty thousand).
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