Marshall Islands Law

Our practice area lead, Nick Sam, is uniquely qualified and is praised by Chambers and Partners as “an excellent resource for advice on the intricacies of Marshall Islands law.”

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is home to one of the largest leading ship registries in the world.  A significant number of business entities incorporated in the Marshall Islands are routinely used as public and private corporate vehicles for a broad variety of corporate activities.

Marshall Islands business entities are highly regarded by global investment banks and securities institutions. As a testament to this, approximately 37 Marshall Islands business entities are publicly traded on both the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.

Marshall Islands non-resident business entities are statutorily exempt from any corporate tax, income tax, corporate profit tax, withholding tax, asset tax, stamp duty or exchange controls.  Marshall Islands business entities are governed by the Associations Law which is modelled on the corporate laws of the US state of Delaware. The Associations Law specifically incorporates the judicial case law of Delaware and other states with substantially similar legislative provisions which ensures legal decisions of the Courts of the Marshall Islands are commercially pragmatic, consistent and legally grounded.

The Marshall Islands is designated as largely compliant by the OECD, and in compliance with the FATF International Standards on Combatting Money-Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism. Since February 2020, the Marshall Islands has also been whitelisted on the EU’s list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, reflecting the Marshall Islands commitment to the highest standards of global compliance.