Panama Incorporation – Step by Step Guide

Panama Key Points

• Time – 5 – 7 days to incorporate your company
• Directors – only three directors of any nationality, are necessary for your Corporation
• Shareholders – only one shareholder of any nationality, is required
• Share Capital – the standard authorised share capital for your company is US$10,000 and may be expressed in any currency
• Share Capital – The capital of the corporation need not be paid at the time of the incorporation
• Support – using our 20 years experience we guide you throughout every step of the company formation process
• A company secretary must be appointed

Select the company name for your Corporation

First select a name for your corporation.

• All Panama corporations must end with the suffix Corporation, Incorporated, Sociedad Anónima or the abbreviations Corp, Inc or SA
• The name of your company may not be identical to that of an existing company
• Your name may be expressed in any language
• A company name check can be carried out free of charge to see if a required name has already been registered
• We can reserve your company name for up to ten days
• You are not be allowed to use a name which is either identical or deceptively similar to one that is already used by another corporation

Share Capital

Select the number of shares each shareholder will have.

• The standard authorised share capital for your company is US $10,000
• It then gets divided in to 100 common voting shares of US $100 or 500 common voting shares at no par value
• The capital may be expressed in any currency
• Share capital does not have to be paid into a bank account before the incorporation
• The minimum issued capital is one share

Select Directors

Decide who will be the directors of your company.

• Directors may be of any nationality and may reside anywhere
• Your company requires three directors

Select Shareholders

Select who will be the shareholders of your company.

• The minimum number of shareholders is one
• Shareholders can be of any nationality and may reside anywhere.
• The name of the shareholder is not required to be registered in the Panamanian
• Public Registry. Provides complete confidentiality

Select a Registered Office

A Panamanian registered office is required for your company. Formacompany can provide this service.

Features of a Panama Company

• There is no need to hold annual meetings of directors or shareholders
• Members and/or Administrators may hold their meetings in any country and they may attend such meetings by proxy
• Panamanian Companies can be incorporated without regards to the nationality of its directors and shareholders
• The authorized capital does not have to be paid in full or partially
• There is no income tax, if income is produced outside of Panama
• The freedom of capital movement in and out of panama and the absence of regulatory supervision
• No requirement to file annual returns or financial statements
• No limitations on the maximum number of directors or shareholders
• The company may engage in any type of civil or commercial activities
• The financial liability of the members is limited to the amount of their participations made or promised
• Members and administrators may be of any nationality, resident of any country and be either corporate entities or natural persons
• The company can be easily converted into any other type of entities, such as a Corporations
• The company can be re-domiciled to any jurisdiction and vice versa
• The company can be merged into/with any type of legal entities
• Incorporation documents may be drafted in any language together with a translation into Spanish
• It is not mandatory to present the changes of administrators at the Public Registry