The real (and practical) reasons for using an offshore Corporate Service Provider (CSP)

26 Oct 2021

Whilst many clients employ staff in a private office to take care of their personal affairs or lifestyle they will at some time turn to a Corporate Service Provider (CSP) for support, below we set out the most common reasons for doing so.

1.       Regulated specialists ensuring good governance:

CSP’s are regulated businesses specialising in the provision of companies, partnerships, Trust or Foundations for clients. They provide the officers (directors and trustees), administrators and registered office, and frequently employ bookkeepers, accountants and often tax advisors or other specially qualified staff members. When a client engages a CSP they have access to a highly qualified team under one engagement saving time and money. If the CSP is in an offshore jurisdiction they should hold a licence issued by a government regulator, hold professional indemnity insurance, be skilled in ensuring compliance with AML and other legislation tackling financial crime and have a wealth of experience in their specialist field. Although it is not often mentioned, international legislation will often require offshore jurisdictions to operate at a higher level of compliance to international rules than many onshore jurisdictions.

2.       Long term relationship with client and asset:

Whilst lawyers are experts in leading and completing transactions, the long term management of the resulting investment or asset is often looked after by a CSP. The CSP provide the appropriate corporate structure for the client based upon legal and tax advice at the outset. In the longer term, the CSP will monitor, administer and review the corporate structure for the client with appropriate updates during its lifetime. The CSP’s administrators will develop long term relationships with the client and their private office to ensure seamless operations when the unexpected occurs.

3.       Expertise for special projects

From time to time clients will have a specialist project, such as buying a business aircraft or investing in an international business, which requires in-depth and specialist knowledge to complete successfully. Employing a CSP with the hands on experience in a specialist field can often prove a wise and cost efficient method; specialist skills of the CSP can be accessed without the client needing to permanently employ extra staff into the private office. Engaging a CSP team also means access to a far broader and deeper level  of understanding and experience in contrast to employing a single person. A team approach also means automatic holiday and sickness cover. As we are all aware, projects often have their own timescales together with workloads which can’t always be easily accommodated into the workflow of a private office. CSP teams are able to pick up the “heavy lifting” required for unusual and demanding projects leaving the private office to concentrate on their regular work. If you would like to know more about how our team can support yours please contact Phil Hardisty at

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