Investors frustrated by overlapping laws

September 10, 2026 10:46 pm | Posted in Business News | Share now Twitter Facebook

By Hilaire Bule.

Principal of Company Services Limited, Roy Macdonald, has called for greater coordination among government agencies after investors raised concerns about overlapping laws and regulatory requirements for doing business in Vanuatu.

Macdonald, whose company provides corporate services to local clients and foreign investors, including company incorporation, business licences and permits, said some government departments were applying requirements that overlapped with those administered by other agencies.

He said the introduction of the Partnership Act [CAP 92], alongside the Business Names and Registration Act, had created challenges because the laws are regulated by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC), while some related requirements also involve other government departments.

“Do we answer to the VFSC or do we answer to the Rates and Taxes Department? These are challenges that we feel that the government agencies should be talking to each other and to align their laws together and come to a common approach, basically to make the business environment more friendly to foreign investors and easier for the governments to do their job and easier for us to do our job and help investors,” he said.

Macdonald said overlapping and, in some cases, excessive requirements were creating unnecessary difficulties for investors and corporate service providers.

He said the main objective should be to attract bona fide investors, including those without criminal records, while ensuring Vanuatu has adequate laws and safeguards in place.

He raised the registration of Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) information as an example of what he described as duplication between government agencies.

“Currently there is this drive by the VFSC for the UBO registration. So UBO means alternate beneficial owner, which in itself is okay. But then now we just receive a requirement from the Rates and Taxes, the back office, that we have to register for UBO information for our clients. And we said to them, but we’ve already done that with the VFSC.

“You’re just regulating the business licence. Well, we need to know the corporate structure and to prevent anti-money laundering. And I said, that’s very fine, but corporate structure is under the VFSC,” he said.

“Anti-money laundering is under the Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). But you are mandated to regulate the business licence. So why are you doing their jobs? So this is one of the overlapping things that happened.”

Macdonald said the additional requirements were frustrating because corporate service providers had already spent considerable time submitting information to the VFSC and complying with FIU requirements as reporting entities.

He said having to provide the same information again as part of the business licensing process created additional work for businesses and their clients.

Macdonald made the remarks following an investor awareness workshop on Vanuatu regulations organised by the Vanuatu Foreign Investment Promotion Authority (VFIPA) yesterday at Warwick Le Lagon.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of VFIPA, Raymond Vuti, said the workshop was organised in response to concerns raised by the private sector, particularly foreign investors operating in Vanuatu.

CEO Vuti said investors had raised concerns about uncertainty over their obligations and instances where policies or regulations appeared inconsistent between government departments.

He said VFIPA organised the workshop to allow government departments responsible for issuing permits and business licences to explain their respective roles and requirements.

“There is a provision that if you breach any, if you do not comply then you are in breach of some certain sections of our regulations or Act that warrants you to be fined or pay a certain amount of fees. It could be the problem of communication or language, understanding but I think the main one is we are not doing enough awareness to inform them of their obligations. So I think that’s the main reason. That’s why we have this workshop today,” he said.

Vuti said more than 1,300 investors currently operating in Vanuatu are active.

He said their combined annual turnover was more than VT100 billion.

VFIPA collected more than VT50 billion in fees annually, based on its 2025 survey, he said.

The survey also found that the private sector was creating more than 10,000 jobs.

“My message to the investors is that once you get approval from VFIPA and Customs and so on, I think it’s important that you don’t start anything that you think it will cost you. I think it is good that you consult each one of the departments who are issuing the payments or the licences. Consult with them first, find out from them what are your obligations before you continue doing your operation,” he said.

Vuti said wholesale and retail was the main sector attracting foreign investors, describing it as the leading sector at present.

Tourism was the second most popular sector, followed by consultancy services.