Cayman Exempted Company is a Cayman Islands company whose operations are conducted mainly outside the Cayman Islands and which benefits from a 20-year tax exemption undertaking, used for funds, SPVs, and joint ventures.
A Cayman Islands Exempted Company is the most common Cayman corporate vehicle for international business. It is incorporated under the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands and is subject to a lighter compliance regime than ordinary resident Cayman companies because it is intended to operate primarily outside the islands.
Key features include a written undertaking from the Cayman government that no future taxes will apply to the company for 20 years (renewable for 10 more), no requirement to maintain a register of shareholders open to the public, ability to issue shares with or without par value in any currency, no requirement to hold an annual general meeting in Cayman, and freedom to redenominate share capital.
Exempted companies are subject to economic substance rules introduced by the International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) Act if they conduct relevant activities, and to the Beneficial Ownership Transparency Act, which maintains a private register of beneficial owners accessible to authorities and, since 2024 reforms, in some cases to legitimately interested third parties.
Exempted companies are the standard vehicle for offshore funds, joint ventures, securitization SPVs, IPO holding companies (Cayman is one of the dominant jurisdictions for US- and Asia-listed holding companies), and family wealth structures.
You will encounter Cayman exempted companies when working with venture capital funds, hedge funds, private equity, joint ventures between investors from different countries, structured finance deals, and offshore IPO holdcos. Many Asia-headquartered tech companies that listed in New York or Hong Kong used Cayman exempted holding companies sitting on top of their operating subsidiaries.
See what a company actually costs in year one, and how the jurisdictions compare on tax, capital and timeline.
