Accounting and audit obligations in offshore jurisdictions. Reminder to all owners of Seychelles, Belize, and other offshore jurisdictions previously not having accounting obligations ->

Seychelles imposed the new requirements applicable to all International Business Companies (“IBC”) and related to the new obligations on retention of accounting records introduced on August 6, 2021 by the Financial Services Authority (“FSA”). These obligations read that:

According to International Business Corporation Act, all IBCs are required to maintain reliable accounting records, which must be lodged at the Registered Agent of the Company and are not intended for public viewing but may be requested to be provided to the Seychelles authorities at any time. These records should be retained for at least 7 years from the date of completion of the operations/transactions.

Considering that most IBCs operate outside the Seychelles, the accounting records must be lodged at the registered office in the Seychelles at least two times per year. While enforcing the record keeping requirement, the Registrar authorizes deferral of record keeping in Seychelles in the following manner: (a) Accounting records relating to transactions or operations in the first half (January to June) of a calendar year must be kept in Seychelles by July of that year; (b) Accounting records relating to transactions or operations in the second half (July to December) of a calendar year must be kept in Seychelles by January of the following year.

Further details have been provided for the sake of clarity in relation to all records entered before and during year 2022: (a) Accounting records relating to transactions or operations in the past 7 years to 31st December, 2021 must be kept in Seychelles by 6th February, 2022; (b) Accounting records relating to transactions or operations in the first half (January to June) of 2022 must be kept in Seychelles by July 2022; (c) Accounting records relating to transactions or operations in the second half (July to December) of 2022 must be kept in Seychelles by January 2023.

At the same time, an IBC that is dissolved, de-registered or struck off must ensure that all outstanding accounting entries are lodged at its registered office in the Seychelles by January or July following the date of its dissolution, de-registration or strike-off.