Jersey Foundation formation
Jersey Foundation under the Foundations (Jersey) Law 2009: a council-governed, ownerless private-client vehicle for estate planning, asset segregation, philanthropy, and tokenized-asset structures. A regulated qualified member (a JFSC-licensed Jersey trust company business) must sit on the council, alongside a guardian and a nominated person; that mandatory regulated administration is the recurring cost. No shares and no minimum endowment. The Crown-Dependency alternative to the Liechtenstein and Panama foundations.
- Tier
- REPUTABLE
- Formation
- up to 5 business days
- KYC
- Tier 2
- Renewal
- $13999/yr
What is the Jersey Foundation formation and what does it cost?
HNW Crown-Dependency foundation, council-governed. It is $19,900 all-in / ₿0.25000000 / 25,000,000 sats, paid in Bitcoin or USDT, and formation takes 5 business days.
- Tier
- REPUTABLE
- All-in price
- $19,900 all-in / ₿0.25000000 / 25,000,000 sats
- Year-2 renewal
- $13,999/yr
- KYC tier
- Tier 2
- Formation time
- 5 business days
- EU / FATF status
- off both EU lists, off the FATF lists
What's included
- Jersey commercial-register filing fee at the JFSC registry: we file and pay it on your behalf
- Foundation charter and regulations (incorporated under the Foundations (Jersey) Law 2009), with the regulations naming the beneficiaries on the private record rather than a public one
- Foundation Council formation, including the regulated qualified member required by statute to sit on the council
- Guardian appointment and nominated-person provision required by the Foundations (Jersey) Law 2009
- Beneficial-owner and founder identification file prepared and held centrally by the JFSC (not a public register), with the licensed TCSP identifying the UBO under Jersey due-diligence law
- First-year administration by a JFSC-licensed Jersey trust company business (TCSP) acting as the regulated qualified member, supplying the registered office and statutory administration
- Token-container drafting where the foundation will hold tokenized assets
- Sanctions screen on the order (OFAC, EU, UN) plus Tier 2 KYC (enhanced: documented source of funds and source of wealth)
What's NOT included
- Apostille (sold separately at $189; Jersey is a Hague jurisdiction and supports it, and private banks usually require legalized documents)
- Year-2+ renewal ($13,999/yr; this is the mandatory JFSC-licensed TCSP annual responsibility fee plus the commercial-register renewal, the main recurring cost, and it cannot be self-provided offshore)
- Bank account opening: a separate post-formation flow; Jersey, Channel Islands, and Swiss private banks run 6 to 12 weeks and are the real gate, and the major US rails do not onboard a Jersey foundation
- Endowment assets: a Jersey foundation has no minimum endowment, so any assets you settle into it are your own capital, passed to the foundation directly, and are not part of our fee
- US tax filings for US persons (a foreign foundation can trigger FBAR, Form 8938, and possibly Form 3520 and 3520-A; your responsibility, we refer you to cross-border tax counsel, we do not file them)
- Mail forwarding (we don't sell this)
We list what's not included on every product page so there are no checkout surprises.
Operator-grade use case
The Crown Dependency foundation for high-net-worth estate planning, asset segregation, philanthropy, and tokenized-asset structures. Reach for it when you need a self-owning legal person with no shareholders and no minimum endowment, governed by a Foundation Council and steered by private regulations, sitting under English-derived law rather than a continental civil code. A Jersey foundation (Foundations (Jersey) Law 2009) is not a trust and not a company: a council runs it, a guardian holds the council to the charter, and the beneficiaries live in the private regulations rather than on any public register. Jersey is REPUTABLE: a British Crown Dependency that is not the EU and not the UK, on no EU Annex I or Annex II list and on neither the FATF grey nor black list, so EEA, UK, and Swiss private banks, notaries, and institutional counterparties treat it as a known, credible structure.
Most appropriate for operators protecting a substantial asset base who want a top-band, clean-listed jurisdiction whose name reassures private banks rather than inviting extra scrutiny; families organizing succession and asset segregation outside probate; philanthropic structures; and operators running a tokenized-asset structure that wants a regulated, well-administered home. Beneficial ownership is held centrally by the JFSC and is not a public register, a privacy advantage over the UK, Cyprus, and Estonia public registers, though authorities and obliged entities still access it and the licensed TCSP identifies the UBO regardless of platform tier. There is no statutory audit and no company secretary requirement for the foundation. The premium buys reputation, clean-list status, and the mandatory regulated administration, not just a filing.
Less ideal for an ordinary operating company, a budget solo founder, or an asset base that does not justify a high-net-worth vehicle. Formation is the top of the platform price band, and the recurring cost is driven by the mandatory JFSC-licensed TCSP annual responsibility fee, which is real, recurring, and cannot be self-provided from offshore. This is the right tool for genuine holding, fund, asset-protection, and estate structures, not a cheap shell. If your goal is privacy on a budget, route to a Wyoming or New Mexico LLC; if it is cheap zero-tax holding, a Seychelles IBC does that work for a fraction of the cost; and if your counterparties are continental-EU-heavy and you want civil-law mechanics, the Liechtenstein Foundation is the EEA-aligned alternative. General information, not legal or tax advice.
What you'll need to hand us
- Email address
- Country of residence
- Intended use statement (free-text)
- Government-issued photo ID (passport or national ID)
- Proof of address (utility bill, bank statement, or government letter, dated within 90 days)
- Source-of-funds attestation (drop-down + free text)
- Optional: PEP and adverse-media screening consent
- Everything in Tier 1
- Beneficial owner declaration for every party with 25%+ ownership
- Source-of-wealth documentation (tax return, employment letter, salary, asset proof)
- Manual enhanced-due-diligence reviewer notes from our KYC partner
Common questions
- What is the total Year-1 cost, and what is the renewal?
- $19,900 is the all-in Year-1 price for the Jersey Foundation, formed under the Foundations (Jersey) Law 2009 and administered by a JFSC-licensed Jersey trust company business (TCSP). That covers the JFSC commercial-register filing, the Foundation Council with its statutory regulated qualified member, the guardian and nominated-person provision, and the first-year regulated administration. Year-2 onward is $13,999/yr, which is the mandatory TCSP annual responsibility fee plus the register renewal: the main recurring cost, and it cannot be self-provided from offshore. You settle the whole order in BTC (on-chain and Lightning) or USDT via BitSettle.
- How is this different from a Liechtenstein Foundation?
- Both are self-owning foundations with a council and private regulations, neither is a company or a trust, and neither publishes a UBO register. The difference is the legal family and the counterparty fit. Jersey is a British Crown Dependency under English-derived law, off every EU and FATF list, and reads naturally to UK, Channel Islands, and common-law counterparties. Liechtenstein is EEA-aligned civil law and reads naturally to continental-EU and Swiss counterparties. If your banking and counterparties are common-law or UK-facing, Jersey fits; if they are continental-EU-heavy, the Liechtenstein Foundation is the closer match.
- Is a Jersey Foundation anonymous?
- There is no public beneficial-owner register in Jersey. Ownership is held centrally by the JFSC and is not published, and your beneficiaries live in the private regulations rather than on the public record, which is a privacy advantage over the UK, Cyprus, and Estonia public registers. But the JFSC-licensed TCSP on the council is statutorily required to identify the founder and ultimate beneficial owners and the JFSC and obliged entities still access the central record. Privacy from public search is real; anonymity from the regulated provider or the authorities is not. Beneficial-owner identification and documented source-of-funds and source-of-wealth diligence happen at formation regardless of our platform tier, and the TCSP will not proceed without them.
- Does the Jersey Foundation have an audit or a minimum endowment?
- No statutory audit and no company secretary requirement apply to the foundation, and there is no minimum endowment, so you can fund it with whatever assets the structure needs. The recurring obligation is the mandatory regulated administration: a JFSC-licensed TCSP must act as the qualified member on the council and supply the registered office and statutory administration, and its annual responsibility fee is folded into the $13,999/yr renewal. This is a premium, recurring-fee-heavy vehicle for genuine holding, asset-protection, and estate structures, not a cheap shell.
- If I am a US person, does the Jersey Foundation cut my US tax?
- No. It does not reduce your US tax, and the reporting is heavier than for an LLC. A foreign foundation can trigger foreign-trust-style reporting: FBAR, Form 8938, and possibly Form 3520 and 3520-A. Get cross-border tax counsel before forming; we form the entity and refer you to a US Enrolled Agent or tax counsel, we do not file those returns. The structure protects and organizes assets; it is not a tax-avoidance tool. General information, not tax advice.
Operators usually pair this with
Apostille + Good Standing
Apostille + Good Standing for international banking.
Jersey Private Company
Crown Dependency, 0% std tax, non-public UBO.
Liechtenstein Foundation (Stiftung)
EEA foundation. TVTG token-container.
Nominee Director / Shareholder
Annual offshore nominee service.