Why Choose Anjouan for Company Formation?
An Anjouan IBC is chosen for one honest reason: it is the lightest-touch vehicle in its offshore peer cluster, incorporated in roughly three to seven business days with full foreign ownership and no minimum capital.[1] It is also the least credible vehicle in that cluster, and its tax case cannot rest on the unsupported 0% exemption commonly used in agent marketing. The official Union tax code instead supplies a 35% corporate rate for taxable Comorian profits under a territorial/source rule.[18]
Anjouan is an autonomous island of the Union of the Comoros, and the IBC is formed under island-level legislation outside the supervision of the Central Bank of the Comoros.[1][16]
Formed under the International Business Companies Act 2005 and the IBC Regulations 2005, the vehicle is the Anjouan International Business Company, administered by the Anjouan Registrar of IBCs through a licensed registered agent.[1][17] Absent a verifiable official public register, an online company-search facility or a published fee schedule, every operational figure on this page is agent-sourced and flagged as indicative.[1]
Speed and Entry Price
A plain Anjouan IBC reaches legal personality in about three to seven business days once due-diligence checks clear, with a reported annual Anjouan authority fee of around USD 300, which no official schedule verifies, and an all-in Year-1 figure via an agent of roughly USD 1,400 to 3,100.[1][2] In the comparison below, Belize and Saint Vincent register faster, Seychelles incorporates within 24 to 48 hours once KYC clears (3 to 10 days end to end), and all three peers charge lower government fees.
At formation the trade-off does not appear; it surfaces at the banking stage and at every counterparty due-diligence check thereafter. Treat the low entry cost as the headline, not the whole picture.
The Licence-Validity Controversy
The defining reputational fact is the dispute over the Anjouan offshore financial-services authority. A Central Bank of the Comoros communiqué of 15 June 2022, re-published by the Ministry of Finance on 10 December 2025, names that authority among fictitious structures claiming to issue banking and financial licences, says that those structures and the offshore entities they approve grant approvals and offer banking and financial services illegally, and states that licensing banks and financial institutions operating in the Comoros is the Central Bank’s exclusive remit.[2]
In a further warning signed by its Governor on 8 December 2025, the Central Bank names the Mwali International Services Authority alongside the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority and Anjouan Corporate Services. It says these bodies are not recognised in the Union, hold no legal authorisation to issue financial or banking licences, and cannot act on behalf of the Union or any of its islands, and that no forex, virtual-asset, or online-gambling licence has been issued in the Union.[2]
A December 2025 ABC News investigation reported that Anjouan Licensing Services claims to have issued more than 1,300 gambling licences while operating outside any recognised supervisory framework.[3] The Central Bank’s communications do not rule on IBC incorporation as such, but the reputational spillover is real and must be planned around.
Off the Lists, but Low Credibility
After the 19 June 2026 plenary Comoros is on neither the FATF grey nor black list, and it is not on the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions as updated on , the latest update.[5][6] That clean list status reflects the national anti-money-laundering regime, not validation of the Anjouan authority; the 2024 GIABA mutual evaluation rated all 11 effectiveness outcomes low, and Comoros remains under GIABA enhanced follow-up.[4][20]
Combined with the absence of any economic-substance regime, the result is an entity that is technically off the lists yet carries low credibility with banks and counterparties.
Entity Types: Anjouan, Mwali, and the Comoros Mainland
Which Comoros regime you are using matters more than the entity form. Three distinct routes exist, and they are routinely confused in marketing material. Two are island-level offshore IBC registries that sit outside Central Bank supervision: the Anjouan regime and the Mwali (Mohéli) regime. The third is the Union mainland, where Comoros is a full member of OHADA and companies are formed under the OHADA Uniform Act, are supervised, and pay real corporate tax.[1][8][9]
Definition: Anjouan International Business Company (IBC)
A company formed under the Anjouan International Business Companies Act 2005, administered by the Anjouan Registrar of IBCs through a licensed registered agent. It permits a single shareholder and a single director (which may be the same person, of any nationality or residence), corporate directors, and 100% foreign ownership. There is no minimum capital. An IBC may not carry on domestic Anjouan business or own Anjouan real estate, and the plain IBC grants no financial authorisation.[1][17]
| Route | Regime / Law | Min. Capital | Corporate Tax | Supervised? | Used For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anjouan IBC | IBC Act 2005 (island-level) | None | 35% on taxable Comoros-source profits; no separate 0% exemption verified[19] | No (outside Central Bank) | Early-stage validation; holding/base entity behind a banked hybrid |
| Mwali (Mohéli) IBC | Mwali Services regime (island-level) | None (plain IBC) | 35% on taxable Comoros-source profits; no separate island rate verified[19] | No (outside Central Bank) | Not a recognised alternative: the Central Bank names MISA among unrecognised bodies |
| Union mainland SARL | OHADA Uniform Act | No statutory floor | 35% standard | Yes (OHADA, supervised) | A genuinely recognised Comoros entity |
| Union mainland SA | OHADA Uniform Act | OHADA SA minimum | 35% standard | Yes (OHADA, supervised) | Larger mainland operating companies |
For the licensed-crypto, fintech, and high-risk audience this page addresses, the dominant offshore vehicle is the Anjouan IBC. Mwali runs a separate island registry through the Mwali International Services Authority (MISA), whose description of its own framework is the authority’s claim;[9] the Central Bank names MISA alongside the Anjouan authority among bodies that are not recognised and hold no legal authorisation to issue financial or banking licences, so neither registry is a recognised alternative to the other.[2] Neither registry’s tax marketing displaces the official Union tax code without current Comorian advice. A buyer who actually needs a credible, supervised Comoros entity should look at a mainland OHADA company instead, accepting the 35% corporate rate that comes with taxable Comorian profits.[8][18]
Formation Process
An Anjouan IBC is formed remotely through a licensed registered agent, who is the only route to the Anjouan Registrar of IBCs. Realistically, incorporation runs about three to seven business days once know-your-customer (KYC) checks clear, with materially longer to add document legalisation and, critically, banking. A registered agent and a registered office in Anjouan are both mandatory.[1]
What You Need to Prepare
| Document / Item | Details | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Passport (certified copy) | For each director, shareholder, and beneficial owner | Notarised; consular legalisation often needed for downstream banking |
| Proof of residential address | Two documents, dated within 3 months | For each individual |
| Bank or professional reference | For each beneficial owner | Reused at banking onboarding |
| Beneficial ownership details | Identity of each UBO | Held by the agent under KYC; not a public register |
| Company name | Checked for availability with the agent | No online public name-search exists |
| Business description and source of funds | Plain-English activity and CV | Prepare early; banking applications reuse it |
| Registered office and agent | Mandatory, maintained in Anjouan | Provided by the licensed agent |
Engage a Licensed Registered Agent
Foreign-owned IBCs can only be incorporated through a licensed Anjouan registered agent, who performs KYC, files with the Registrar and maintains the statutory registers. Engagement plus document collection is where most of the calendar time sits, and the agent relationship is the company’s lifeline, since there is no direct registry access.
Name Check and KYC
Name availability is checked by the agent (there is no public online register to search), along with identity, address, and source-of-funds checks on every director, shareholder, and beneficial owner.[1]
File the Memorandum and Articles
The agent prepares and files the Memorandum and Articles of Association and the incorporation forms with the Registrar of IBCs. Founders do not appear in person, and the entire step is handled remotely.[1][17]
Certificate of Incorporation Issued
A Certificate of Incorporation is issued, usually within three to seven business days of clean KYC. Legal personality follows, so the company can sign contracts, but it carries no financial authorisation and no entitlement to bank.[1]
Consular Legalisation and Banking
Corporate documents needed abroad require full consular legalisation rather than an apostille, because Comoros is not in the Hague Apostille Convention, and banking onboarding begins.[7] Experienced applicants start the banking workstream in parallel with formation, because account opening, not the registry, is the binding constraint and the most common point of failure.[14]
Requirements and Document Legalisation
Anjouan formation requirements are light on paper. Statutory minima run to a single director, a single shareholder, a registered office, and a licensed registered agent, with 100% foreign ownership and no minimum capital. One director may hold every role.[1] What is heavy in practice is not the corporate minima but the document trail, because Comoros is outside the Hague Apostille system and every cross-border document needs full consular legalisation.[7]
| Requirement | Anjouan IBC |
|---|---|
| Min. Directors | 1 (may also be the sole shareholder) |
| Corporate Directors | Permitted |
| Foreign Ownership | 100% |
| Min. Share Capital | None |
| Local Director / Staff / Premises | Not required |
| Registered Office | Mandatory (in Anjouan, via agent) |
| Registered Agent | Mandatory (the only filing route) |
| UBO Disclosure | To the agent under KYC; not a public register |
| Document Legalisation | Consular legalisation (not Hague Apostille) |
| Accounts / Audit | No filing or audit for a plain IBC |
Registered Office and Registered Agent
Every Anjouan IBC must maintain a registered office and a licensed registered agent in Anjouan, and only that agent can incorporate the company or file changes on its behalf.[1][17] The agent is the gatekeeper: all filings, KYC, and register maintenance route through them, and there is no public registry portal behind them.
Losing an agent without appointing a replacement risks suspension or strike-off, because the company can no longer maintain its statutory presence. Annual agent and registered-office fees are therefore not optional overhead; they are the cost of keeping the company in existence.
Consular Legalisation: Comoros Is Not in the Hague Apostille
Here is the under-covered requirement that catches most applicants. Comoros is not a party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, so documents cannot be validated with a single apostille.[7] Instead they require full consular legalisation: a chain of notarisation, authentication by the relevant foreign ministry, and legalisation by the destination consulate.
Both directions are affected, inbound founder documents and outbound corporate documents needed for banking, and the process is materially slower and costlier than an apostille. Price and schedule the legalisation chain from the outset, rather than discovering it at the banking stage.
Beneficial Ownership and Records
The registered agent collects and holds UBO and KYC information at onboarding, but there is no public beneficial-ownership register and no online disclosure.[1] A plain IBC has no obligation to file accounts or submit to audit, and there is no currency control.[15]
GIABA’s 2024 evaluation found that Comoros had not assessed legal-person and beneficial-ownership money-laundering risk at Union level, which is part of why bank screening treats Anjouan ownership chains cautiously even where the underlying client is sound.[4]
Costs and Pricing
Agent quotations make Anjouan inexpensive to enter, but the honest position is that no official fee schedule verifies its costs. The Banque Centrale des Comores says the Anjouan offshore authority holds no legal authorisation to issue financial or banking licences, and no official schedule verifies the roughly USD 300 it is reported to charge each year, so that figure is not presented here as the statutory cost of the company.[1][2]
Licensed agents quote a founder approximately USD 1,400 to 3,100 in Year 1, including the registered office and document legalisation. Every figure on this page is agent-quoted, indicative, and should be confirmed with a current quote.
Indicative Government and Agent Fees
| Fee Item | Amount (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee charged by the Anjouan offshore authority | ~300 indicative | Not verified as a state fee: no official schedule verifies it, and the Banque Centrale des Comores disputes the authority[1][2] |
| Registered agent and office (Year 1) | 800 to 1,800 | Bundles incorporation, office, and good-standing |
| Consular legalisation (per document) | 150 to 400 | No Hague Apostille; full legalisation chain[7] |
| Certified translations | varies | English / French as required |
| Annual agent and office renewal (Year 2+) | 700 to 1,400 | Keeps the IBC in existence |
All figures indicative and agent-sourced as of ; no official Anjouan fee schedule could be verified.[1]
Total Cost Summary
| Item | Quoted by agents (USD, indicative) |
|---|---|
| Anjouan authority fee (Year 1) | ~300 |
| Registered agent and office (Year 1) | 800 to 1,800 |
| Consular legalisation and translations | 300 to 1,000 |
| Statutory cost, Year 1 | None that can be verified from an official fee schedule for an Anjouan IBC |
| Anjouan authority fee (annual, Year 2+) | ~300 |
| Registered agent and office renewal (annual, Year 2+) | 700 to 1,400 |
| Statutory cost, Year 2+ | None that can be verified from an official fee schedule, for the same reason |
Of every line in an Anjouan budget, the reported USD 300 Anjouan authority fee is the smallest and least reliable, and it is reported to be charged by the authority whose standing the Banque Centrale des Comores disputes. What a founder actually pays sits in the registered-agent and registered-office package and in consular legalisation, neither of which a non-resident can avoid.
Quoting the Anjouan authority fee as the statutory cost of an Anjouan company is a budgeting error, and no official schedule verifies it.[1][2]
Taxation
The official Union of the Comoros tax code taxes profits from enterprises and operations carried on in Comoros and Comoros-source profits under Article 8. Article 33 fixes the corporate income tax rate at 35%; Article 35 imposes a minimum equal to 1.5% of turnover, and Article 36 sets it at 3% of Comoros turnover where a business keeps its accounts at a head office outside Comoros.[18] The code contains no distinct 0% exemption for an Anjouan IBC. This supports a territorial/source model, but it does not make a 0% island-level outcome automatic or verified.
Neighbouring Mwali’s offshore registry should not be assumed to mirror Anjouan, and self-published island material is not a substitute for the Union code.[9] Obtain current Comorian tax advice on source, residence, withholding, indirect tax, and any claimed island-level exception before relying on a tax outcome.
| Tax Type | Anjouan IBC | Comoros Mainland (OHADA) |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate income tax | 35% on taxable Comoros-source profits; 1.5% turnover minimum (3% if accounts are kept at a foreign head office) | 35% standard |
| Capital gains tax | Not verified for an Anjouan IBC | 20% on immovable property |
| VAT | No Anjouan IBC exemption verified | Per Union rules |
| Dividend / interest / royalty WHT | No Anjouan IBC exemption verified | Per Union rules |
| Tax-treaty relief | None in force (UAE 2015 and Mauritius 2018 signed only) | None in force (treaties are Union-level) |
| Social security / payroll | Only where local employees exist (rare) | CNPS employer and employee contributions |
CRS, CARF, and Treaty Position
Comoros has not signed the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) multilateral agreement and is not on the OECD Global Forum list of jurisdictions committed to the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) as updated on 14 September 2026, with no published timeline for either.[11] In the transparency era this non-participation reads to many banks and counterparties as a risk signal rather than an advantage, because it places the jurisdiction outside the automatic-exchange mainstream. There is also no double-tax treaty in force: the Union tax code lists only two signed treaties, with the United Arab Emirates (2015) and Mauritius (2018), neither of which had entered into force when its 2023 edition was published, so an Anjouan IBC offers no treaty-based withholding relief.[10]
Pillar Two
Comoros has not adopted OECD Pillar Two rules: there is no income inclusion rule, no qualified domestic minimum top-up tax and no undertaxed-profits rule.[12] Under the GloBE rules, the 15% global minimum tax applies only to multinational groups with consolidated revenue at or above 750 million euros, a threshold that does not reach a standalone Anjouan IBC, so Pillar Two is not the relevant tax constraint here.
Banking
Banking is the single hardest part of an Anjouan structure and the point at which it most often fails. Compounding red flags stack up here: an offshore non-resident-owned company, high-risk activity, and a jurisdiction whose financial-services authority is publicly disavowed. Once screening tools recognise Anjouan or AOFA paperwork, enhanced due diligence, and outright refusal are common, even though Comoros sits off the FATF and EU lists.[2][14]
The correspondent-banking backdrop is structurally fragile. Comoros is a small, cash-dominated economy with limited correspondent-banking depth, and the public Central Bank disavowal of the Anjouan authority means screening systems flag AOFA-linked documentation directly.[2][14] Being off the FATF grey list reflects the national anti-money-laundering regime, not validation of the Anjouan authority, and banks treat the two separately, weighing the disavowal heavily at onboarding.[4]
In practice, only three archetypes onboard an Anjouan structure, and each comes with conditions. First, a regional African or Indian-Ocean commercial bank where a genuine regional nexus exists, demanding full KYC and source-of-wealth. Second, a high-risk-specialist payment institution outside the EU willing to take crypto-adjacent flows at premium pricing with rolling reserves.
Third, and most common for serious operators, a hybrid in which a properly banked EU or low-tax mainland payment company holds the bankable relationship while the Anjouan entity sits behind it. Scrutiny shifts rather than disappears under the hybrid, because the ultimate ownership chain still leads back to the Anjouan vehicle.
Onboarding takes several weeks to a few months and requires certified documents, a clear business description, banker or professional references, a detailed business plan, expected flows, and counterparties, and source-of-funds evidence. Jagelski & Partners’ banking partner network spans more than 90 institutions across multiple jurisdictions, matched to the company’s activity, ownership, and risk profile. For an Anjouan structure, banking is the deciding workstream: see the banking service overview for how account opening is sequenced alongside, and often ahead of, incorporation.
Annual Compliance
For a plain Anjouan IBC, ongoing compliance is genuinely light: there is no obligation to file accounts, no audit, no public financial filing and no currency control.[15] Substantively, maintenance means keeping the registered-agent and registered-office engagement current and paying the annual Anjouan authority fee. A separate private AOFA certificate may carry contractual renewal and compliance conditions. Those terms belong to the certificate; they establish neither recognised financial permission nor duties of plain IBC formation.[1]
Agent, Office, and the Annual Fee
Maintenance is the registered-agent and registered-office renewal plus the annual Anjouan authority fee.[1] Since the agent is the company’s only link to the Registrar, allowing that engagement to lapse is the practical equivalent of abandoning the company. Treat the annual renewal as a non-negotiable calendar item, because there is no self-service portal to recover a lapsed standing.
Beneficial Ownership Updates
UBO and KYC information is held and updated by the registered agent under its own onboarding obligations; there is no public beneficial-ownership register to file to.[1] Evaluators at GIABA noted in 2024 that Comoros had not assessed legal-person and beneficial-ownership money-laundering risk at Union level, which is one reason bank screening applies extra scrutiny to Anjouan ownership chains regardless of the underlying client.[4]
Penalties and Strike-Off
Non-payment of the annual Anjouan authority fee and agent renewal can suspend or strike off the IBC, and where a private certificate is attached, its provider may also cancel it.[1] Carrying on business through a struck-off or cancelled entity can create personal liability for those running it. Because there is no transparent restoration process documented against an official schedule, keeping fees current is far cheaper and more reliable than letting the company lapse and attempting to revive it.
No Economic-Substance Regime: Why the Absence Hurts
Unlike the major IBC jurisdictions, neither Anjouan nor Mwali has enacted any OECD or EU-style economic-substance regime.[13] Missing entirely are the local-management test, the adequate-expenditure or employee requirement, the core-income-generating-activity rule, and the substance return to file. On a marketing page this reads as convenience. In reality it is a credibility and banking negative, and the page treats it as one.
The Cayman and BVI Contrast
When Cayman and the BVI introduced substance tests, they accepted ongoing reporting and genuine local-presence costs in exchange for staying inside the credible-offshore mainstream, which is what keeps their entities bankable and recognised.[13] Anjouan made the opposite trade: it kept formation frictionless and cheap, and in doing so stayed outside that mainstream. Buyers choosing Anjouan choose the cheaper, lighter entity and accept the lower credibility that comes with having no substance framework behind it.
What This Means in Practice
Practically, an Anjouan IBC cannot lean on a substance regime to reassure a bank or a counterparty, because there is none to point to. Combined with non-participation in CRS and CARF, and the licence-validity controversy, the absence of substance compounds the due-diligence burden at every onboarding.[4][11] This is why the legitimate use of an Anjouan IBC is narrow: an early-stage or holding layer where credibility is supplied elsewhere in the structure, never the entity that has to carry the banking relationship by itself.
Licensing Pathways from an Anjouan Company
Forming an Anjouan IBC and obtaining a private Anjouan certificate are two different things, and conflating them is the costliest mistake in this jurisdiction. A plain IBC is a corporate vehicle only: it grants no financial authorisation, no EU or EEA status, no passporting, and no entitlement to bank.[1]
Forex, brokerage, or crypto activity requires the authorisation applicable to the product and customer markets. A private AOFA certificate does not supply recognised financial permission. The paired crypto guide explains the authority warning and the need for a fresh application in a recognised jurisdiction.
An Anjouan licence cannot be converted into a recognised authorisation, and an operator that outgrows the jurisdiction must apply afresh in a real-regulator jurisdiction rather than upgrade in place.[3] Honest planning uses the Anjouan IBC as an early-stage or holding layer, with a defined migration plan to a credible supervisor built in from the start.
Anjouan Crypto Certificate and Authority Warning
The private AOFA crypto and brokerage certificate, the central-bank warning, commercial cost estimates and routes to recognised authorisation. IBC formation creates a corporate vehicle; it does not validate the certificate or permit regulated activity.
Real-Regulator Alternatives
Where credibility matters, the realistic route is a fresh application in a jurisdiction with a genuine supervisor, such as an EU member-state CASP, or the BVI or Cayman VASP regimes, rather than an Anjouan licence.
EU passporting rights do not attach to an Anjouan entity, and MiCA contains no third-country equivalence regime. MiCA Article 61 permits third-country firms to serve EU clients only at the client’s own exclusive initiative. ESMA’s guidelines list signs of solicitation, such as EU-targeted advertising or a website in an EU language not customary in international finance, judged on all the facts, and a firm that solicits EU clients cannot rely on the exemption.
For full detail on what constitutes solicitation, see Reverse Solicitation Under MiCA → The realistic structure is an Anjouan IBC for non-EU, early-stage or holding use, alongside a separate EU CASP entity if genuine EU access is required.
Advantages and Limitations
Anjouan offers the lightest-touch offshore incorporation in its cluster, balanced against the Union tax code’s 35% territorial corporate rate, severe banking difficulty, low credibility, the licence-validity controversy, and the absence of any substance framework. Stated honestly, the trade-off is stark: maximum entry efficiency for minimum credibility, without a verified 0% IBC exemption.
Who an Anjouan IBC is, and is not, for
It can fit: an early-stage operator validating a model before committing to a real-regulator licence; or a holding or base entity that sits behind a properly banked EU or low-tax payment company that carries the credibility and the banking relationship.
It does not fit: any business whose first need is straightforward fiat banking; anyone seeking EU market access or passporting; an operator who needs an entity a counterparty will trust without explanation; or a buyer who needs a recognised, supervised Comoros company, who should look at a mainland OHADA entity instead.
- Light-touch incorporation. Roughly 3 to 7 business days to incorporation; indicative all-in Year 1 from ~USD 1,400.
- Full foreign ownership. 100% non-resident ownership, with one person able to hold every role.
- No verified 0% IBC exemption. The official Union tax code applies a 35% rate to taxable Comorian profits and a 1.5% turnover minimum (3% where the accounts are kept at a head office abroad). Mitigation: obtain current Comorian tax advice before relying on any source or island-level exception.
- Light maintenance. No accounts filing, no audit, no public financial filings for a plain IBC.
- Off the formal lists. Comoros is on neither the FATF grey or black list after the June 2026 plenary nor the EU non-cooperative tax list of 17 February 2026.
- Banking is very difficult. Offshore, non-resident, high-risk, and a disavowed authority compound into frequent refusal. Mitigation: solve banking before formation, via a regional bank with a genuine nexus, a high-risk-specialist payment institution, or a hybrid where a banked EU or low-tax company holds the relationship and the Anjouan entity sits behind it.
- Licence-validity controversy. The Central Bank disavows the Anjouan offshore authority as a fictitious structure. Mitigation: keep plain IBC formation separate from any private AOFA certificate, and never present the entity as carrying recognised financial authorisation.
- No economic-substance regime. The absence is a credibility and banking negative, not a convenience. Mitigation: supply credibility elsewhere in the structure, and use the Anjouan IBC only as an early-stage or holding layer.
- No EU passporting. An Anjouan company cannot serve the EU on its own. Mitigation: obtain a separate CASP authorisation in an EU member state, or rely only on the narrow reverse-solicitation exemption under MiCA Article 61.
- Outside CRS and CARF, no usable treaties. Non-participation reads as a risk signal to many banks. Mitigation: present a clean, fully documented ownership and source-of-funds trail, and expect enhanced due diligence regardless.
- No verifiable official data. No public register or official fee schedule could be verified. Mitigation: confirm every cost and standing question with a current licensed-agent quote, and treat all figures here as indicative.
How Anjouan Compares
Within its offshore cluster, Anjouan is neither the cheapest nor the fastest option in the table below, and it is the least credible, because the Central Bank disavows the authority behind it. Seychelles is the credibility benchmark of the group: it has an economic-substance regime, participates in the Common Reporting Standard, and sits off the FATF lists after the June 2026 plenary and off the EU tax lists since 17 February 2026. Belize and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are mid-cluster on list status, both off the FATF list, with Belize still on the EU’s Annex II tax-cooperation list and Saint Vincent off the EU lists; on institutional credibility only Belize sits mid-cluster, and Saint Vincent shares Anjouan’s low band. Anjouan’s distinguishing features are the licence-validity controversy, the absence of any substance regime, and non-participation in CRS.
| Factor | Anjouan (Comoros) | Seychelles | Belize | St Vincent & the Grenadines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entity Type | Anjouan IBC | IBC (Act 2016) | IBC (company ltd by shares) | Business Company (BC) |
| Timeline | 3 to 7 days | 3 to 10 days | 1 to 3 days | 1 to 5 days |
| Government Fee | ~USD 300 / yr (Anjouan authority; agent-reported, unverified) | USD 130 reg / USD 140 yr | USD 150 (incorporation) | USD 125 (incorporation) |
| Min. Capital | None | None | None | None |
| Corporate Tax | Territorial: 35% on Comoros-source profits; IBC foreign-source treatment not verified | 15%/25% local; 0% foreign-source (conditional) | 0% CIT; business tax on receipts | 0% on foreign-source income |
| Economic Substance | No regime | Yes (substance rules) | Substance Act 2019 | Substance Act 2020 |
| EU Passporting | No | No | No | No |
| FATF Status | Clean | Clean | Clean | Clean |
| EU Tax List | Not listed | Not listed (off Annex II, Feb 2026) | Annex II (grey) | Not listed |
| Institutional Credibility | Low (disputed authority) | Medium (cluster benchmark) | Medium | Low |
| Remote Management | Yes (via registered agent) | Yes (via registered agent) | Yes (via registered agent) | Yes (via registered agent) |
| Banking | Very difficult | Difficult (cluster best) | Difficult | Difficult |
| Best For | Early-stage validation; holding/base entity behind a banked hybrid | Cost-led offshore holding and trading | Fast, low-cost incorporation for non-EU operators | Offshore holding and structuring with banking arranged first |
Compare every formation jurisdiction side by side →
On the figures in this table, Anjouan’s case rests on light formal requirements rather than on price or speed, and it loses on credibility and banking. Benchmark status goes to Seychelles because it pairs a foreign-source exemption (conditional for multinational-group members) with an economic-substance regime, CRS participation, and a clean EU tax-list standing.[6]
All four jurisdictions present difficult crypto banking and none grants EU market access, so the real choice is between Anjouan’s light formal requirements and maximum friction at one end and the cluster’s more credible options at the other.
Among gaming operators, Anjouan’s truest substitutes are not classic IBC jurisdictions at all but gaming bases such as Curaçao, which licenses operators, and Costa Rica, which issues no gaming or crypto licence and hosts operators on an ordinary company and municipal permit. Where the decision is genuinely about a credible offshore company rather than a cheap one, Seychelles is the stronger pick in this table, and a mainland Comoros OHADA entity is the option for a recognised, supervised Comoros presence.
When Anjouan Is the Right Choice
Against the fit and not-fit criteria set out above, the alternatives map cleanly: where you need a credible entity a counterparty will trust, consider Seychelles, or a mainland OHADA company for a recognised Comoros presence; where you require EU market access, which an Anjouan company cannot provide, an EU member-state CASP is the route.
Not sure which column is you? Ask Emma. She compares these jurisdictions in seconds, in your language.
Frequently Asked Questions
Anjouan and Mwali are autonomous islands of the Union of the Comoros. Island-level offshore International Business Company registries are marketed for both, outside the supervision of the Central Bank of the Comoros: the AOFA framework for Anjouan and MISA for Mwali. The Central Bank says both authorities are not recognised in the Union and cannot act on behalf of the Union or any of its islands. The Union mainland is different again: Comoros is a full member of OHADA, so mainland companies such as the SARL and SA are formed under the OHADA Uniform Act, civil-law-based and supervised, and pay real corporate tax. Neither island authority is recognised, so a mainland OHADA company is the option for a buyer who actually needs a recognised Comoros entity.
The Anjouan IBC is formed under island-level legislation that agents reproduce; no official Union or island publication of it was located. In a warning of 8 December 2025 the Central Bank names the Mwali International Services Authority, the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority, and Anjouan Corporate Services, says these bodies are not recognised in the Union, and says they cannot act on behalf of the Union or any of its islands. The Central Bank of the Comoros has publicly described the Anjouan offshore authority and Anjouan Corporate Services as fictitious structures that claim to issue banking and financial licences, in a communiqué of 15 June 2022 that the Ministry of Finance re-published in December 2025, and states that licensing banks and financial institutions operating in the Comoros is the Central Bank’s exclusive remit. Neither communication rules on IBC incorporation as such, but the reputational spillover is real and surfaces at banking and counterparty due diligence.
The official Union of the Comoros tax code taxes profits from enterprises and operations carried on in Comoros at 35% under Articles 8 and 33, with a 1.5% turnover minimum under Article 35, or 3% of Comoros turnover under Article 36 where the accounts are kept at a head office outside Comoros. We found no separate 0% exemption for an Anjouan IBC in that official code.
Source and island-level treatment depend on the facts and current local law. Obtain current Comorian tax advice before relying on any exemption claim; banking and credibility remain separate constraints.
A plain Anjouan IBC is typically incorporated in about three to seven business days through a licensed registered agent once due diligence clears. The fee charged by the Anjouan offshore authority is reported at around USD 300 a year, and no official fee schedule verifies it: the Banque Centrale des Comores names that authority among fictitious structures claiming to issue banking and financial licences.
No statutory cost of an Anjouan IBC is therefore stated here. Agents quote a founder approximately USD 1,400 to USD 3,100 in Year 1, including the registered office and document legalisation, with ongoing annual cost of roughly USD 1,000 to USD 1,700; these are indicative agent quotations, not verified figures. No official Anjouan fee schedule is verifiable against a government source, so every figure on this page is indicative and should be confirmed with a current agent quote before budgeting.
This is the single hardest part and frequently the point at which an Anjouan structure fails. The combination of an offshore non-resident-owned company, high-risk activity, and a jurisdiction whose licensing authority is publicly disavowed is a compounding red-flag stack, and screening tools flag AOFA paperwork once they see it. Operators do not bank an Anjouan company at a Comoros bank. The workable approaches are a regional African or Indian-Ocean bank where a genuine nexus exists, a high-risk-specialist payment institution outside the EU at premium pricing, or a hybrid in which a properly banked EU or low-tax payment company holds the relationship and the Anjouan entity sits behind it. Banking must be planned before formation, not after.
No. Comoros is not a party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. Documents moving to or from Comoros therefore require full consular legalisation rather than a single apostille: a chain of notarisation, then authentication by the relevant foreign ministry, then legalisation by the destination consulate. This is materially slower and costlier than an apostille, and it applies to inbound founder documents as well as outbound corporate documents. Build the legalisation chain into the timeline and budget from the outset.
No. After the 19 June 2026 plenary Comoros is on neither the FATF grey list nor the FATF black list, and it is not on the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions as updated on 17 February 2026, the latest update. The important nuance is that this clean list status reflects the national anti-money-laundering regime, not validation of the Anjouan offshore authority, and the two must not be conflated. The 2024 GIABA mutual evaluation returned weak effectiveness ratings across the board, and the absence of any economic-substance regime keeps credibility with banks and counterparties low even though the country sits off the formal lists.
No, and here the absence is a negative rather than a convenience. Neither Anjouan nor Mwali has enacted OECD or EU-style economic-substance legislation of the kind BVI and Cayman adopted in 2018 and 2019, with their local-management, adequate-expenditure, employee, and core-income-generating-activity tests. Those jurisdictions adopted substance rules precisely to stay off EU and OECD lists and to preserve banking access.
Anjouan’s non-adoption, combined with the disputed licensing layer, leaves its companies with lower credibility at banks and counterparties even while formation stays cheap and light. There is no substance return to file, and that is part of the problem, not a feature.
No, and conflating the two is the most common and most expensive mistake. Forming an Anjouan IBC creates a corporate vehicle only: it grants no financial authorisation, no EU or EEA status, no passporting, and no entitlement to bank. A private AOFA financial, forex or crypto certificate has separate commercial costs and renewal terms, but does not establish recognised financial authorisation. This page covers formation; the separate Anjouan crypto guide examines the private certificate and the authority warning. A plain holding or base IBC that does not itself carry on regulated activity avoids the licence-validity question entirely.
Non-payment of the annual Anjouan authority fee and registered-agent renewal can suspend or strike off the IBC, and where a private certificate is attached, its provider may also cancel it; carrying on business after cancellation can create personal liability. On upgrading, an Anjouan structure cannot be converted into a real-regulator authorisation. The realistic path for an operator that outgrows Anjouan is a fresh application in a jurisdiction with a genuine supervisor, such as an EU member-state CASP, the BVI or Cayman VASP regime, or a comparable framework, with the Anjouan entity used only as an early-stage or holding layer in the meantime.
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References
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- Anjouan International Business Companies Act 2005 and IBC Regulations 2005 (island-level; administered by the Anjouan Registrar of IBCs). Note: no government primary source is publicly verifiable; agent-hosted mirrors only. Accessed .
- Banque Centrale des Comores, Communiqué sur l’exercice illégal d’activités bancaires offshores, , re-published by the Ministry of Finance on , banque-comores.km; and Mise en garde contre des entités délivrant et/ou opérant avec des agréments frauduleux, , banque-comores.km, accessed .
- ABC News (Julian Fell), The operators issuing fake corporate licences in the name of a tiny African island, , abc.net.au, accessed .
- GIABA / FATF, Mutual Evaluation Report of the Comoros, 2nd Round (adopted May 2024), fatf-gafi.org · giaba.org, accessed .
- Financial Action Task Force, Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring – 19 June 2026 and High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action – 19 June 2026 (Comoros on neither list), fatf-gafi.org, read through an Internet Archive capture of 14 September 2026, accessed .
- Council of the European Union, EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes (17 February 2026), consilium.europa.eu, accessed .
- Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Apostille Convention status table (Comoros not a party), hcch.net, accessed .
- OHADA, Uniform Act relating to Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Groups; general overview, ohada.org, accessed .
- Mwali (Mohéli) International Services Authority, MISA registry and IBC framework, mwaliregistrar.com, accessed . Note: self-published by the authority itself, which the Banque Centrale des Comores names among fictitious structures. No independently verifiable government primary source.
- Union of the Comoros, Code général des impôts 2023, uncodified tax texts, section 1 “Conventions fiscales” (p. 165): treaties signed with the United Arab Emirates (26 March 2015) and Mauritius (12 September 2018), not in force at publication, justice.gouv.km, accessed .
- OECD, CRS MCAA signatories (status 13 March 2025) and Addendum to the CRS MCAA signatories (status 26 August 2026); OECD Global Forum, Jurisdictions committed to implement the CARF (last update 14 September 2026); Comoros appears on none of them, oecd.org, accessed .
- Tax Foundation, Global minimum tax (Pillar Two / GloBE) adoption tracker, taxfoundation.org, accessed .
- OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices, Economic-substance requirements in no- or only-nominal-tax jurisdictions (BVI and Cayman 2018–2019 reforms), oecd.org, accessed .
- International Monetary Fund, Comoros: ECF arrangement and Article IV (fragile economy; correspondent-banking depth), imf.org, accessed .
- US Department of State, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR): historical Anjouan offshore banking and IBC regime, 2009-2017.state.gov, accessed .
- NYU Law GlobaLex, The Legal System of the Union of the Comoros, nyulawglobal.org, accessed .
- UNCTAD Investment Policy Hub, Comoros Investment Law (2007) and offshore instruments, investmentpolicy.unctad.org, accessed .
- Union of the Comoros, Code général des impôts 2023, Articles 8, 33 and 35, justice.gouv.km, verified .
- Union des Comores, Direction Générale des Impôts, Code général des impôts 2023, article 33 (corporate income tax rate fixed at 35%), dgi.gouv.km, accessed .
- GIABA, Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures – the Comoros, Second Enhanced Follow-Up Report and Technical Compliance Re-Rating, adopted at the May 2026 Plenary, giaba.org, accessed .