The annual compliance calendar for a Seychelles entity

Every Seychelles specified entity carries a small number of recurring obligations, and the failure mode is almost never a dramatic one. It is a letter that went to an old address, a fee that was assumed to be someone else's job, and a company that was struck off while its owners believed it was dormant and harmless.

What recurs

• The annual licence fee payable to the Financial Services Authority, which is the single most common cause of a company falling out of good standing.
• Renewal of the registered agent and registered office arrangement, which cannot lapse even for a month.
• For a licensed resident company, the annual return and the evidence of economic substance for its relevant activity.
• A periodic refresh of customer due diligence, so that the file on hand is current rather than historical.
• Amendments to registers whenever officers, shareholders or beneficial owners change.

Dormancy is not a defence

An entity that has never traded still has a licence fee, still needs a registered agent, and still has a beneficial ownership record that must be maintained. If a vehicle has genuinely finished its purpose, the honest answer is to dissolve it properly and take the cost of doing so, rather than to leave it on the register accruing obligations nobody is watching.

What a good provider does about it

• Holds one calendar across all your entities, with the due dates set from the Authority's cycle rather than from a guess.
• Confirms the amount payable before the due date, not after it has passed.
• Files changes as they happen, so the register reflects the position rather than last year's position.
• Produces a certificate of good standing on request, without a search being needed.
• Tells you when an entity should be struck off, even though it costs them the annual fee.

If you hold more than one vehicle, ask your provider to send the calendar. Seeing every due date on a single page is the cheapest insurance available in this part of the industry.