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Seychelles Company Privacy: What Changes on 1 January 2027
From 1 January 2027, the names of a Seychelles IBC's current directors become public. Here is what anyone can see, what stays private and what to do first.
Licensed auditor & chartered accountant · 6 years of experience in offshore accounting
From 1 January 2027, the names and appointment dates of a Seychelles IBC’s current directors will be open to the public. The register of directors that each company files with the Registrar has been closed to the public since November 2018. In this post, we’ll walk you through what the new law opens up, what stays private, who can already see your details, and what to settle before 31 December 2026.
Quick Summary
From 1 January 2027, anyone can see the name and appointment date of each current director of a Seychelles IBC, under Act 13 of 2026.
The details come from the Register of International Business Companies (US$10 to inspect) or a certificate of official search (US$25).
Shareholders, beneficial owners, accounting records, former directors and directors’ addresses stay out of public view.
By 31 December 2026, every company must record in its register of directors whether a director is a nominee and who the nominator is.
The Registrar, the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Seychelles Revenue Commission and your bank can see far more than the public can, before and after 2027.
What Changes for Seychelles Companies on 1 January 2027
The International Business Companies (Amendment) Act 2026, Act 13 of 2026, was assented to on 11 August 2026 and published in the Official Gazette on 24 August 2026. Two of its amendments to the International Business Companies Act 2016 take effect on 1 January 2027:
Section 346(2)(g). The Register of International Business Companies, which the Registrar keeps and anyone may inspect, will contain “the name and date of appointment of each company’s current directors”.
Section 352(1)(fa). A certificate of official search, which anyone may request for any company, will list the same two details.
Both paragraphs apply “notwithstanding” section 152(5). That subsection, added by the 2018 amendment (Act 12 of 2018), says the copy of the register of directors filed with the Registrar is not disclosed to anyone except under a court order, when a law compels it, to the company’s registered agent, or to a third party the agent or a director has authorised. From 2027 the rule still covers the filed register, with current directors’ names and appointment dates carved out of it.
Both paragraphs are also “subject to” section 346(4): where a company has not filed a copy of its register of directors, the Registrar “shall not be required to specify” its directors. Filing is compulsory within 30 days of appointing the first directors, with a penalty of up to US$5,000 (section 152), so this covers a new company still inside that period or a company in breach.
A member of the public gets the details in one of two ways: inspecting the Register for US$10, or requesting a certificate of official search for US$25 (Second Schedule, Part II). The certificate is the fullest record of what the public register shows.
The same Act shortens one deadline for new companies. First directors must now be appointed within 30 days of incorporation (section 134), where the Act used to allow nine months.
What Is Public About a Seychelles Company Today
A Seychelles company already has a public record. The table sets out what a member of the public can obtain from the Registrar as of October 2026, and what is added on 1 January 2027.
Item | Public now | Public from 1 January 2027 |
|---|---|---|
Company name, registration number and incorporation date | Yes | Yes |
Registered office address | Yes | Yes |
Name and address of the registered agent | Yes, on an official search | Yes |
Memorandum and articles | Yes, filed at incorporation and open to inspection | Yes |
Status, strike-off and restoration dates | Yes | Yes |
Due date of the annual fee and good standing | Yes, on an official search or certificate of good standing | Yes |
Registered charges | Yes | Yes |
Current directors’ names and appointment dates | No | Yes, where the register of directors has been filed |
Directors’ addresses, dates of birth and nationalities | No | No |
Former directors | No | No |
Nominee status and the nominator’s identity | No | No |
Shareholders | No, unless the company chose to file its register of members | No, unless the company chose to file its register of members |
Beneficial owners | No | No |
Accounting records | No | No |
Inspecting a company’s file or its charges register costs US$10 each, and a copy of a filed document costs US$25. Every Seychelles company must have a registered office and a registered agent in Seychelles, which is why both appear on the record.
What Stays Private After 2027
Act 13 opens two data points. Everything else keeps its current status:
Shareholders. The register of members is kept at the registered office and is not filed unless the company elects to file it (sections 104 and 349). Only directors and members have a right to inspect it (section 107).
Beneficial owners. The register sits with the company’s resident agent “in confidentiality”, and the particulars go to a database run by the Financial Intelligence Unit (Beneficial Ownership Act 2020, sections 11 and 13). A new owner, or one whose details change, has 21 days to tell the company (section 10).
Accounting records. They are kept or lodged at the registered office and are not filed with the Registrar (section 175).
Former directors. The new paragraphs cover “current directors” only.
A director’s other details. Address, date of birth and nationality are in the filed register, which section 152(5) still protects.
The nominator behind a nominee director. Nominee status and the nominator’s identity are entered in the register of directors, and neither is among the items made public.
Who Can Still See Your Details
Privacy from the public is not privacy from authorities. Each of these already has access:
The Registrar. The Registrar’s office holds the full filed register of directors, including addresses, dates of birth and, once an updated copy is filed, nominee details.
The Financial Intelligence Unit and other Seychelles authorities. Only authorised officers of the bodies listed in the Beneficial Ownership Act can search the beneficial ownership database, and the list includes the FIU, the FSA, the Central Bank, the police financial crime unit and the Seychelles Revenue Commission (Beneficial Ownership Regulations, regulation 16). Accounting records must be presented to the Seychelles authorities on request (section 175).
Foreign authorities, on request. Database information can be shared with a foreign counterpart that makes a formal request (regulation 17). For tax, the OECD Global Forum’s 2026 peer review of Seychelles counts 158 exchange of information relationships, 146 of them in force.
Courts and law enforcement. A court order or the enforcement of any law opens the filed register of directors (section 152(5)).
Your bank and your corporate service provider. A bank asks for directors, shareholders and beneficial owners before it opens an account, and a licensed provider runs KYC checks on every owner and director before a company is formed.
The 31 December 2026 Deadline for Nominee Directors
Act 13 adds two entries to the register of directors that every company keeps at its registered office (section 150(1)(da) and (db)):
the nominee status of any director or alternate director
the identity of the nominator, where the director or alternate is a nominee
A nominee is a person who routinely exercises a director’s functions on behalf of, and subject to the direct or indirect instructions of, the nominator. The nominator is the person who issues those instructions.
“Identity” includes the following (section 150(1B)):
Nominator | Details entered in the register |
|---|---|
An individual | Name, address, date of birth, nationality, and national identity number or equivalent, if any |
A company | Name, address, date and place of incorporation or registration, and incorporation or registration number |
Every company must comply by 31 December 2026, existing arrangements included. A company whose register is inaccurate or incomplete is liable to a penalty of up to US$10,000, and so is a director who knowingly permits it (section 150).
What to Do Before the End of 2026
Check the filed register of directors is current. From 1 January 2027 a certificate of official search takes its particulars from the Registrar’s registers and filed documents (section 352). Start with your own copy of the register, which is among the documents you receive at incorporation, and compare it with who sits on the board today.
File any change you have missed. Director changes are filed within 30 days, at a government fee of US$25 per filing.
Record nominee arrangements. If a director acts on your instructions, the register needs their nominee status and your identity details by 31 December 2026.
Decide who should sit as director. Whoever holds the seat on 1 January 2027 is named publicly: you, a corporate director, or a nominee. With a nominee, the nominee’s name is public and yours is recorded in the register as nominator.
For a new company, our Seychelles IBC from US$850 includes the registers and the beneficial ownership filing.
FAQ
Is a Seychelles company private?
Partly. Shareholders, beneficial owners and accounting records stay off the public record unless a company chooses to file them, and from 1 January 2027 current directors’ names and appointment dates are. The Registrar, the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Seychelles Revenue Commission, courts and your bank can all obtain ownership details through their own channels.
Will my name appear in a Seychelles company search?
From 1 January 2027, yes, if you are a current director: your name and appointment date will appear in the Register and on a certificate of official search. If you are only a shareholder or beneficial owner, no.
Are the shareholders of a Seychelles company public?
No. The register of members is kept at the registered office and only directors and members have a right to inspect it. It becomes public only if the company itself chooses to file a copy with the Registrar.
Do past directors appear on the public record?
No. The 2027 change covers current directors only, so a director who has left before 1 January 2027 falls outside it. The company files its updated register within 30 days of the change (section 152).
