Registered Agent in the Marshall Islands

The Trust Company of the Marshall Islands, Inc. — TCMI — is the registered agent for every non-resident domestic entity formed in the Republic. This is not a competitive market you choose from, and Vepapu is not your registered agent. TCMI holds the registered office in the Republic and accepts service of legal documents on your company's behalf. What you actually choose is your qualified intermediary, because formation requests have to reach TCMI through one. Vepapu is that intermediary: we run the due diligence, submit the formation, procure the registered agent service, and manage the company's filings afterwards.

The Marshall Islands registry does not take formation requests directly from the public. They come through a qualified intermediary — a firm that has performed due diligence on the beneficial owners and stands behind that file. That is why forming an RMI company starts with a document request from us rather than a form on the registry's website, and it is also why total elapsed time depends more on how fast your documents clear than on the registry, which can form a company the same day.

No. TCMI does not provide nominee directors, and we will not tell you otherwise. Your Marshall Islands company needs at least one director, of any nationality and resident anywhere, and a corporate director is permitted — but the person or entity in that seat is a real appointment with real duties, not a name rented from the registered agent. If director privacy is your concern, note that no RMI law requires directors, officers, or shareholders to be filed in any public registry; the records are held internally and produced to the registered agent on demand.

The Marshall Islands does not maintain a public register of directors, officers, or shareholders — no RMI law requires those to be filed publicly. Your beneficial ownership record is kept internally, retained for at least 5 years, and produced to the registered agent within 60 days of a demand, for its audit function or a valid government request. It is not a public register. Alongside that, anti-money laundering rules require your intermediary to conduct customer due diligence and, in defined circumstances, to disclose — no provider can promise secrecy from a lawful request.

Say good-bye to the days when it used to cost around $10,000 to get an offshore structure off the ground. Thanks to Vepapu's efforts and transparency, you will get your Marshallese company incorporated, with the registered agent and a local registered address in place, for just around $4,000.

No. TCMI is the registered agent for all non-resident domestic entities by law, so there is no mechanism for a company to act as its own agent or to appoint a different one. This also means the usual comparison shopping between registered agents does not apply in the Marshall Islands — what differs between providers is the quality of the intermediary sitting in front of TCMI.

Not the registered agent itself — TCMI holds that role for every non-resident entity, so there is nothing to change it to. What you can change is your service provider: the intermediary that manages your due diligence file, your filings, and your annual compliance. Transferring your company's administration to Vepapu, or away from us, is a normal process and does not disturb the registered agent relationship at all.

Yes. We can prepare and execute the transfer instruments and resolutions, update the company's internal records of shareholders, directors, and beneficial owners, record any bearer share transfers with the registered agent, and submit whatever the change requires to the Registrar of Corporations. Where a transaction needs legal or tax advice, we bring in the right professionals rather than improvising.

The economic substance report is the one to watch. It is due through the Registrar's online portal within 12 months of your anniversary date; missing the deadline suspends all corporate services for the entity, and twelve months past the deadline the Registrar will annul it. The annual attestations about your directors, officers, shareholders, and beneficial owners run through the same annual invoicing cycle. Note that no annual return, financial statements, or tax return is filed in the Marshall Islands — the substance report and attestations are the real obligations, and they are not optional.

Vepapu prioritises data security and implements robust protocols to safeguard your company's information. We have strict confidentiality measures in place, and our team handles sensitive documents and communications with professionalism. Your data is accessible only to authorized personnel. Where the registered agent or a competent authority makes a valid demand for records, we comply — that obligation is part of how the jurisdiction works.