The Objects and Purposes of the Bank License
The objects and purposes of the Company is to offer different banking services for corporate, private banking for the general public and non-residents of the State of Anjouan as a class B Banking license; to carry on all or any of the business of a company and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, to carry on, in conjunction with each other or as separate and distinct undertakings, all or any of the following businesses:
- To accept cash deposits of any type (depositary transactions).
- To provide loans and borrow funds (loan transactions).
- To carry out the service of forming bonds and listing them as a sponsor on stock exchanges
- To carry out currency and exchange transactions.
- To issue securities and credit cards processing.
- To provide securities safekeeping, manage securities and accomplish securities purchase or sale.
- To act as intermediary in securities trading.
- To provide guarantees of any type (guarantee business).
- To effect payments (opening of accounts for legal entities and individuals).
- To hold assets, capital, precision metals, bonds, shares or another financial instruments for third parties.
- To undertake electronic commerce (e-commerce).
- To provide other financial services.
- To carry on business as capitalists, financiers, promoters, and concessionaires and participate in, undertake, carry on and execute all kinds of financial, commercial, industrial, trading, exploitation, development, agency and other operations and to advance or provide money, with or without security, to concessionaires, inventors, patentees and others, for the purpose of improving and developing or assisting to improve and develop any concessions, lands or otherwise, or of experimenting, improving, testing or developing any invention, design or process industrial or otherwise.
History of Banking Authorities and License
Anjouan, pursuant to the Regulation of Banks and Comparable Establishments of 1999, licensed more than 300 offshore banks. All of the shell banks and other entities are located offshore and have no permanent presence in the Comoros. Anjouan sold the right to issue bank licenses and delegated most of its authority to operate and regulate the offshore business to private, non-Comoran domiciled parties.[12] In 2002, after Anjouan’s reentry into the Union of the Comoros as an autonomous island, Anjouan’s Offshore Finance Authority was established to promote the island as a tax haven to attract foreign capital.[11] In 2005, new laws were passed[13] and all of the banking licenses issued there previous to that date were cancelled those that could show proper due diligence were reset up by the newly rearranged Offshore Finance Authority, monopolized by Anjouan Corporate Services Limited since 2003, which has claimed the authority as registered agent for all International Business Companies and banking license issuance on the island since that time and authorized directly by the Legislative Assembly in Anjouan. It should also be noted that the company claiming to sell licenses previous to 2003 were sued in the London High Court on behalf of the Anjouan Government and lost, The High Court of Justice in London confirmed after seeing all the legal documentation that Anjouan Corporate Services Ltd, were legally entitled to operate the offshore business, with full consent of the Anjouan Government. All Banking Licenses currently are issued as a Class B Banking License and have terms of one year, which are renewable as long as no complaint has been made against the Bank in violation of anti-money laundering regulations, fraud, or Banking laws.
Bank Formation Process
An International banking License ( Class B ) is the only Banking License offered in Anjouan and is an offshore banking licence granted, by the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority. This is a full-unrestricted Banking licence, for all Banking services outside of Anjouan, Union of Comoros. It encompasses banking business and investment banking business conducted in all major foreign currencies. Services such as fund administration, custodial services, trusteeship, international portfolio management, money market and other treasury operations may be undertaken by an offshore bank.
The entire process takes 10 days depending on the nature of the clients business plan, directors, and timeframe for approvals by service providers for ancillary services listed within the contract.
