Financial place
As a leading offshore financial centre, The Bahamas is a low tax jurisdiction offering a diverse range of financial and corporate services.
The Bahamas begins just 50 miles off Florida's East Coast at the island of Bimini and stretches for more than 500 miles southeast in a chain of some 700 islands and cays in the Atlantic ocean. The capital and largest city is Nassau on the island of New Providence.
The political system is based on the British Westminster model with a Governor General, a Prime Minister and a Parliament. Queen Elizabeth II is the nation's Head of State. The Bahamas is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations (consisting of former British colonies), the Organization of the American States and the United Nations.
The Bahamas is a leading wealth management jurisdiction, meeting the needs of high net worth clients and institutions. It also has a long history of commitment to trust services, with the Trustee Act 1998 placing it at the forefront of trust legislations.
The jurisdiction continues to be responsive to evolving international market requirements and the needs of trust companies, advisors and their clients. The purpose trusts legislation and the amendment to the perpetuity period are just two examples of new initiatives to strengthen this sector of The Bahamas' financial services industry.