| New company registrations increased in most offshore jurisdictions in the second half of 2013, according to Appleby. Onshore comparator Hong Kong held up well against its offshore counterparts, with a 4 percent growth in new incorporations over the first half of 2013.
In total, there were 44,615 new offshore company incorporations in the second half of 2013, and the total number of active companies rose to 671,000, according to the firm’s latest report, which focuses primarily on the second half of 2013. “As the global economy follows a path to recovery, offshore company registration data reveals that levels of new company registrations are up in most jurisdictions during the second half of 2013, with increases of between 5 percent and 10 percent,” said Farah Ballands, Partner and Global Head of Fiduciary & Administration Services at Appleby. The report found that the combined total of new offshore incorporations in the second half of 2013 represents a slow-down compared to the preceding six months, much of which was attributed to a decline in incorporations in the British Virgin Islands — the offshore jurisdiction that attracts the most company registrations. “Onshore comparators in the UK, USA, Hong Kong and China continue to show signs of recovery, which indicates the global economy is strengthening, particularly in the Asian and European markets,” said Frances Woo, Appleby’s Hong Kong-based group chairman. “These jurisdictions are demonstrating growth in active companies on their registers between 7 percent and 12 percent” When looking at onshore comparators, Hong Kong and Chinese company registers were particularly strong. In fact, Hong Kong and mainland China each reported a double digit percentage increase in the total number of active companies in 2013 when compared to the previous year. Mainland China added more than 2.5 million new companies to its register in 2013, half a million more than in the previous year. |
