Vanuatu General Mutual Fund

Vanuatu revamped the Mutual Funds Act in 2005 to offer a competitive edge to established mutual funds and administrators in the world. The Act provides for the licensing of mutual funds and mutual fund administrators.

Key Features

A mutual fund license can be issued to a company, a unit trust or a partnership.

A General Mutual Fund license is issued on the following grounds:

• Each promoter of the fund is of sound reputation; and
• The fund will have a mutual fund administrator in Vanuatu that be providing an office in Vanuatu for the fund; and
• The arrangements for the administration of the fund are otherwise satisfactory; and
• If the fund is a company, the fund must at least have two directors and the rules prohibit the issue of bearer shares; and

Legal Requirements

Requirements	Description
General
Corporate  vehicle permitted	Vanuatu International Company, Partnership or Unit Trust
·         License application fee	USD 250
·         Annual license fee	USD 1,000
Physical office in Vanuatu	No
Share capital or equivalent
·         Minimum subscription	None
·         Minimum investors	None
Directors
Minimum number	2
Corporate directorship allowed	Yes
Local director required	No
Service Providers Required
Custodian	Yes (from anywhere)
Fund manager/Investment manager	Yes (from anywhere)
Local fund administrator	Yes
Auditors	Yes

 Tax Treatment

Vanuatu has no income tax, capital gains tax, tax on wealth, estate duty or inheritance tax.

Duration to Set Up

About 4 weeks

Distinctive Benefits of Licence

• Ease and speed of establishment
• Friendly regulatory environment

The Valsen Advantage

• End to end comprehensive service
• Speedy and efficient service
• Expert advice on structuring options
• Dedicated ongoing compliance support
• Extensive network pool of service providers