ST KITTS & NEVIS Law and Practice Contributed by: Dahlia Joseph Rowe and Daisy Joseph Andall, Joseph Rowe, Attorneys-at-Law
5.5 Applicable Governance Requirements
is personally liable for debts and the limited part - ner has limited liability but cannot participate in the management of a business. The partners of a limited partnership are exempt from all income, capital gains and withholding taxes with respect to the limited partnership if the general partners only transact with persons who are resident out - side the Federation. This is the type of owner - ship structure used for the Park Hyatt project. Limited Liability Company A local limited liability company is governed by a board of directors, the members of which may be resident or non-resident. However, there is a requirement that the secretary or assistant sec - retary of the company be resident in St Kitts and Nevis. The company is also required to have a local address as its registered office. There are several local firms that offer secretarial and reg - istered office services. The shareholders of the company need not be citizens of or resident in St Kitts and Nevis. How - ever, if the shareholders are non-citizens, they would be required to apply for and obtain an alien land holding licence to own the shares in a local company. The alien land holding licence application procedure to be a shareholder in a company is simple and relatively inexpensive. 5.3 REITs A real estate investment trust is not a common - ly available investment vehicle in St Kitts and Nevis. 5.4 Minimum Capital Requirement There is no minimum capital requirement.
See the description in 5.2 Main Features and Tax Implications of the Constitution of Each Type of Entity . 5.6 Annual Entity Maintenance and Accounting Compliance The annual maintenance cost would depend on the type of entity used. The government fee for the maintenance of a local company in St Kitts or Nevis is approximately USD100. 6. Commercial Leases 6.1 Types of Arrangements Allowing the Use of Real Estate for a Limited Period of Time In the Federation of St Christopher and Nevis, the law recognises the use of leases to allow a person, company or other organisation to occu - py and use real estate for a limited period. All leases are governed by the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, the Rent Restriction Act and the Recovery of Rent Act. A “public or commercial building” is defined by the Rent Restriction Act as a building, or part of a building, separately let, or a room separately let, which at the material date was or is used mainly for the public service, or for business, trade or professional purposes, and includes land occupied therewith under the tenancy but does not include a building, part of a building or room when let with agricultural land. 6.2 Types of Commercial Leases In St Kitts and Nevis, there are two standard forms of commercial leases: the fixed-term lease and the ordinary lease (for a periodic tenancy).
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