Great Britain

Basic law for formation	Companies Act 1985
Type of company available for offshore business	Ltd., Plc.
Out-of-territory income taxed	30%
Minimum number of Directors	1 (Ltd.) / 2 (Plc.)
Minimum number of shareholders	1 (Ltd.) / 2 (Plc.)
Shares unregistered to a name	Yes
Standard share capital	1,000 GBP (Ltd.) / 50,000 GBP (Plc.)
Registered agent / seat necessary	No / Yes
Local secretary necessary	Yes
Tax report obligatory	Yes
Audit obligatory	Yes
Local general meetings	No
Companies registered in 2008	300,171

British companies are used especially in combination with classic offshore companies, which may help build a very efficient tax-optimizing structure that meets even the most demanding requirements of privacy and asset protection. Common law offers many instruments that may efficiently resolve problems unresolvable in European law (e.g. already mentioned trust or hybrid companies).