Seychelles

The Republic of Seychelles is a group of 155 islands in the Indian ocean, at the North-East of Madagascar and 1,500Km east of the African continent coast. Seychelles manages one of the fastest-growing International Business Companies (IBC) registers in the world and is governed and protected under the enactment of the Financial Service Authority Act 2013. The descendant of Seychelles International business authority (SIBA), the financial service authority, is responsible for regulating non-bank financial service sector.

Central bank of Seychelles, established in 1983, exerts the power over regulating and supervising the banking system. Seychelles is one of the first countries in the region adopting Anti-Money Laundering Act in 1996.

The banking sector in Seychelles operates under the single regime licensing in which banks are allowed to conduct both domestic and international (offshore) banking business without separate licenses. As of the end of 2018, there are 8 licensed commercial banks in Seychelles, of which twos are fully and majority-owned by the government, namely Seychelles Commercial Banks and Nuovobanq bank, the rest are subsidiaries of foreign banks.

Opening bank accounts in Seychelles gives many advantages. Beside extensive banking facilities offered i.e. multi-currency accounts, internet banking…, most banks have reasonable account deposits. Moreover, opening accounts without signatory travel would add a plus for banking in Seychelles.