The Nevis Multiform Foundation in 2026: One Entity, Four Forms, and When It Earns Its Place

Status as of 23 October 2026: based on the Multiform Foundations Ordinance of Nevis, Cap. 7.08(N), Ordinance No. 2 of 2004 as amended by Ordinance No. 2 of 2011, in the revised edition showing the law as at 31 December 2017 published by the Nevis Financial Services Regulatory Commission; the Commission's foundations page, which also lists Amendment Regulations SRO 5 of 2023 and SRO 11 of 2024; the Confidential Relationships Act of Nevis; the German Foreign Tax Act (§ 15 AStG) and Inheritance and Gift Tax Act (ErbStG); the Romanian Fiscal Code; the US check the box regulations (Treas. Reg. § 301.7701-3); and the OECD Common Reporting Standard. We update this guide when the law or official practice changes.

Most structures force a choice on day one. Trust or foundation. Company or partnership. Then your life changes, your residence changes, your bank changes, and the structure that was right in 2026 is wrong in 2034. Unwinding it costs money, tax and time.

Nevis wrote a law that refuses that choice. The Multiform Foundations Ordinance of 2004 created an entity that can be declared a foundation, a trust, a company or a partnership, and that can later change from one form to another without being dissolved. That is what Bogdan means when he says you can turn it from a trust into a foundation into a holding. It is legally accurate, and it is rare. Family offices have used flexible vehicles like this for years. Until now. Through Bogdan and ENCC, the same tool is on the table at the scale of your own life.

This is the deep dive that our comparison of private foundations promised. We go section by section through the Ordinance, say what it does and does not do, and are honest about the part no statute can solve: how your home country taxes a shape shifting entity.

One warning first. Flexibility in Nevis law is not flexibility in German, Romanian or US tax law. Each change of form can be a taxable event or a reclassification at home. The structure moves freely in Charlestown. Your tax file may not.

The short version

• One entity, several forms. Under section 10 of the Ordinance, a multiform foundation can be a foundation, a trust foundation, a company foundation or a partnership foundation.
• It can change form. The constitution can be amended to change the form, and the entity's existence, rights and obligations continue unchanged.
• Only one form at a time. The foundation must state its form, and it can be one stated multiform at any given time.
• Any lawful purpose. It can be used for family wealth, a purpose, or commercial activity, and it does not need beneficiaries.
• Strong creditor rules. Proof beyond reasonable doubt, short limitation windows, a 50,000 US dollar bond before suing, no enforcement of foreign judgments.
• Nevis tax is light. A foundation that transacts only with persons not resident in Nevis is exempt from Nevis taxes under section 93.
• Home tax decides. Each form, and each change of form, is classified by the tax law where you and your beneficiaries live.
• It reports. St Kitts and Nevis exchanges information under the Common Reporting Standard.

What the Ordinance actually is

The legal basis. The Multiform Foundations Ordinance is Chapter 7.08(N) of the laws of Nevis. It was enacted as Ordinance No. 2 of 2004 and amended by Ordinance No. 2 of 2011. The consolidated text published by the Nevis Financial Services Regulatory Commission shows the law as at 31 December 2017. The Commission also lists amendment regulations from 2023 and 2024. We read the consolidated Ordinance. The later regulations should be checked before any structure is built, and we flag that in our sources.

What a multiform foundation is. A legal entity registered with the Registrar of Foundations in Nevis, created by a founder who endows it with assets, governed by a constitution made up of a charter and by laws. It acts through a management board. It can have a supervisory board, which the Ordinance itself defines and empowers.

Why it exists. Nevis already had strong trust and company laws. The multiform law added something else: a single registered entity that can borrow the rules of those other laws when it declares a particular form. A trust foundation follows trust rules. A company foundation follows company rules. The registry, the name and the legal continuity stay the same.

The four forms

Section 10 lists the forms a multiform foundation can take.

1. Foundation. The ordinary, unclassified form, governed by the Ordinance alone. This is the civil law foundation familiar to clients from Liechtenstein, Panama or Austria.
2. Trust foundation. The by laws are treated as the trust deed, and the Nevis Trust Ordinance applies, with the management board acting in the role of trustee.
3. Company foundation. The entity is treated as a company under the Nevis Business Corporation Ordinance, or as a limited liability company under the Nevis Limited Liability Company Ordinance.
4. Partnership foundation. The entity is treated as a partnership.

Within those forms, section 10(2) lists the liability options. Limited or unlimited liability, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, general partnership and limited partnership.

The by laws can plan more than one form. The constitution of an ordinary foundation can provide for a later change into another form, so the path is written in from the start.

But only one at a time. Section 10(6) is clear: a multiform foundation can be only one stated multiform at a given time. It is not a foundation and a company at once. It is a foundation now, and a company later if the constitution is amended.

The registry polices this. Under section 10(7), the Registrar can refuse to register a constitution that does not conform to the stated form. Under section 10(10), the Minister can add further forms by regulation.

Changing form: how it works

The mechanism is simple on paper. Sections 10(2) to 10(5) let the foundation change its form by amending its constitution in the way the constitution allows, then filing the amended constitution with the Registrar within 14 days. The change takes effect when the Registrar issues an amended certificate.

Continuity is the point. The Ordinance provides that a change of form does not affect the existence of the foundation, or its rights, liabilities and obligations. Contracts continue. Assets stay where they are. The legal person is the same.

Who decides. That depends on the constitution. A well drafted constitution reserves this power carefully, often to the management board with the consent of the supervisory board, so no single person can flip the form under pressure.

What changes in practice.

• Governing rules. A trust foundation follows trust rules. A company foundation follows company rules, with members or shareholders, directors and share capital where relevant.
• Bank onboarding. The bank will reclassify the account holder and may ask for fresh documents.
• Reporting. Under the Common Reporting Standard, the reportable persons can change with the form: founder and beneficiaries for a trust or foundation, controlling persons for a company.
• Home country tax. This is the large one. We cover it below.

Fact, inference and our view. The fact: Nevis law lets the same entity change form and stay the same entity. The inference: you can design one structure for several stages of a family's life, for example a trust foundation while the founder is alive and a company foundation for the operating holding after succession. Our view: this is the real value of the multiform, but only when each planned change is tax tested at home before it is written into the by laws.

Continuance, conversion and merger

The Ordinance also lets entities arrive and leave.

Arriving in Nevis (sections 62 to 66). A foreign foundation or similar entity can continue into Nevis as a multiform foundation, if its home law allows this. It keeps its legal personality.

Leaving Nevis (sections 67 to 69). A Nevis multiform foundation can continue into another jurisdiction. The Ordinance requires a unanimous resolution of the management board and an ordinary resolution of the supervisory board and of beneficiaries with absolute interests, and the Registrar must be satisfied that creditors are not prejudiced. Section 68 sets further conditions.

Conversion and merger (sections 70 to 77). A Nevis company, limited liability company or trust can convert into a multiform foundation. Multiform foundations can consolidate and merge with each other and, where the other law allows it, with entities outside Nevis.

Why this matters. A family can move an existing Nevis company or trust into the multiform without starting over, or move a foundation out of Nevis if circumstances change. Our view: the option to leave is worth as much as the decision to arrive. Banks and tax authorities change their views. A structure that can redomicile is a structure that can survive those changes.

Purpose and beneficiaries

Any lawful purpose. Section 11 lets a multiform foundation be formed for any lawful purpose, including commercial activity. That sets it apart from many foundation laws that limit private foundations to managing assets.

No beneficiary required. A multiform foundation can exist for a purpose without named beneficiaries. That is useful for holding a family company, a collection or an operating business under a governing mission.

Beneficiaries when you want them. Where the constitution names beneficiaries, their rights depend on the form and on the by laws. In the trust form, trust rules shape their position. In the foundation form, a discretionary design keeps beneficiaries without a claim until the management board decides.

Asset protection: what the Ordinance says

The protective provisions are among the strongest of any foundation law we have reviewed.

• Firewall (section 46). No multiform foundation and no transfer to it is void or voidable because of foreign law, including foreign heirship rights or rules that do not recognise the foundation.
• Restriction on alienation (section 47). The constitution can stop a beneficiary from assigning, charging or pledging an interest.
• Forfeiture (section 48). The constitution can provide that a beneficiary loses an interest if a creditor tries to reach it.
• Creditor bond (section 83). A creditor suing the foundation must first deposit with the Minister a bond of 50,000 US dollars from a financial institution in Nevis, as security for costs. Section 2 defines dollars as US dollars. A charging order is the remedy against an interest under section 83(2).
• Fraudulent transfer (section 108). A creditor must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the transfer was made with intent to defraud that creditor and that it left the founder insolvent. A transfer made more than one year after the creditor's cause of action accrued is not fraudulent against that creditor. A creditor whose cause of action arose earlier must bring the claim within six months of the transfer. Transfers made before the creditor's claim existed are safe under section 108(4). The burden stays on the creditor.
• No foreign judgments (section 110). A foreign judgment against the foundation is not enforced in Nevis. The creditor has to start again in Nevis.
• Confidentiality (section 113). The Confidential Relationships Act applies, and proceedings are heard in camera.
• Statute of Elizabeth excluded (section 115). The old English fraudulent conveyance statute does not apply to the trust form.

What these rules do not do. They bind Nevis courts. A court in Germany, Romania or the United States can still act against the founder personally, order the founder to repatriate assets, or treat retained rights as the founder's property. A founder who keeps control remains the weak point, as we explain in our trust comparison.

Fact, inference and our view. The fact: Nevis makes a creditor's path long, expensive and short in time. The inference: a creditor with a modest claim will usually settle or pursue other assets. Our view: these rules reward the families who plan early and punish the ones who transfer late. A multiform funded after a claim is visible invites a judge at home to look straight through it.

Governance: the boards

Management board. Runs the foundation and acts for it. In practice it includes a licensed Nevis professional, with the registered agent at the centre of the administration.

Supervisory board. Optional but defined in the Ordinance. It supervises the management board, can approve key decisions, and is part of the approval chain for redomiciliation. A supervisory board that is independent strengthens the structure. One that is the founder by another name weakens it.

Founder rights. The founder can reserve rights in the constitution. Every reserved right is a door a creditor or tax authority will try to open. We design founder rights around the founder's real need, not around the wish to keep everything.

Accounts and returns. Section 44 requires accounts to be kept, and section 95 requires an annual return. A multiform is not a vehicle you set up and forget.

Nevis tax by form

Section 93 is the core. A multiform foundation that does not transact business with persons resident in Nevis is exempt from Nevis income tax and other Nevis taxes on its income and distributions, under the terms of the section.

Section 93(3) adds an option. A foundation can elect to be treated as tax resident in Nevis and receive a certificate, with tax at a rate of not more than one percent. Some clients consider this for treaty or substance arguments in specific cases. It needs specialist advice.

Section 93(4). There is no Nevis estate, inheritance, succession or gift tax on the foundation or its assets.

Section 94. No stamp duty on transactions of the foundation involving foreign assets, within the terms of the section.

By form. The Nevis exemption is set in the Ordinance for multiform foundations, whatever form they take. Whether a company foundation could, in some circumstances, be treated differently under the Nevis company tax rules is a point we flag for confirmation.

Nevis tax is rarely the question. Home tax is.

Home country tax: the part the brochure skips

The rule. Your home country classifies the foundation according to its own law, usually by comparing it to a domestic entity. Each form can be classified differently. Each change of form can be a taxable event.

Germany

• Classification. Germany compares the foreign entity with German types (Typenvergleich). A foundation or trust form will usually fall under § 15 AStG as a family foundation or similar asset pool. A company form may instead be treated as a foreign company, under the CFC rules in §§ 7 ff. AStG.
• Endowment. Transfers to a foundation or trust form are taxable gifts under § 7(1) no. 8 ErbStG, usually in the least favourable class for foreign foundations.
• § 15 AStG. Income of a foreign family foundation is attributed to a German resident founder or beneficiaries. The EU or EEA exception in § 15(6) does not apply to Nevis, which is outside the EU and EEA.
• Change of form. Moving from a foundation form to a company form can change the regime from § 15 AStG to §§ 7 ff. AStG and may be treated as a disposal or a new endowment. This needs a German tax opinion before any change.

Romania

• No domestic equivalent. Romanian law has no private family foundation. Foundations under Government Ordinance 26/2000 serve general or community purposes.
• Company form. A company foundation may be treated as a foreign company. Dividends paid to Romanian resident individuals are taxed under the Fiscal Code at the rate in force, 16 percent from 2026. Romanian controlled foreign company rules can also apply to entities controlled by Romanian companies.
• Foundation or trust form. The Fiscal Code has no specific regime for distributions from a foreign private foundation or trust, and practice is unsettled. This is a question for a Romanian tax adviser before any transfer.

United States

• Classification. The check the box regulations let some foreign entities elect their tax classification. A trust foundation is likely to be tested under the US trust rules, with heavy reporting. Whether each form is eligible for an election, or is a per se corporation or a trust, needs US advice.
• Reporting. US persons face extensive reporting on foreign trusts and companies. The multiform does not reduce it.

Fact, inference and our view. The fact: Nevis does not decide how you are taxed at home. The inference: the same multiform can be efficient for one family and costly for another. Our view: the plan for each form, and for each change of form, must be tested at home first. Flexibility you cannot use without a tax charge is not flexibility.

Reporting and transparency

St Kitts and Nevis participates in the Common Reporting Standard. A multiform foundation managed by a financial institution is usually a reporting financial institution itself. A passive one is reported by its bank, which looks through to controlling persons. For a trust or foundation form, that means founder, board members, protector or supervisory board, and beneficiaries receiving distributions. For a company form, controlling persons.

Beneficial ownership. Registered agents in Nevis must hold beneficial ownership information and make it available to the competent authorities. Confidentiality in Nevis means privacy from the public, not secrecy from tax authorities.

Economic substance. St Kitts and Nevis has adopted economic substance rules for certain entities carrying on relevant activities. Whether and how they apply to a given multiform foundation depends on its activity and form, and should be confirmed with the registered agent.

Who it suits

The multiform earns its place when flexibility is the actual need.

• Families planning in stages. A trust form while the founder is alive, a foundation form after succession, a company form for the operating holding. Planned in the constitution from the start, tested at home.
• Founders with an uncertain future residence. A structure that can adapt and redomicile if the family moves.
• Holders of operating businesses. Because a multiform can carry on commercial activity, it can hold and run a business where other foundations cannot.
• Families who want strong creditor protection with a civil law face. A foundation form that a German or Romanian lawyer recognises, with Nevis creditor rules behind it.

It may not be the right fit when:

• Simplicity matters more. A single holding company or a Liechtenstein foundation may serve the purpose with less complexity.
• Banking is the priority. Nevis entities can be banked, but onboarding is slower and more demanding than for Liechtenstein, Jersey or Guernsey.
• Home tax is unfavourable. For a German resident, the EU or EEA exception in § 15(6) AStG is not available for Nevis, which often points to a Liechtenstein foundation instead.
• The claim is already visible. No structure helps then, and a late transfer creates new problems.

Is it unique? Several jurisdictions offer hybrids, and some foundation laws allow conversion into other entities. We have not found another law that lets a single registered entity declare and switch between foundation, trust, company and partnership forms in the same way. We describe it as rare, not unique.

Practical steps

1. Map. Assets, residence of founder and beneficiaries, heirs, risks, timeline for the next ten years.
2. Test the home tax. Each form you might use, and each change of form, with a licensed adviser where you live.
3. Choose the starting form. The form that fits now, and the path to the next form, written into the by laws.
4. Draft the constitution. Charter and by laws, management board, supervisory board, reserved rights, change of form procedure.
5. Register. Through a licensed Nevis registered agent, with the Registrar of Foundations.
6. Bank. A bank plan before registration, usually with an account outside Nevis.
7. Fund. Early, from a solvent position, with documented source of funds.
8. Maintain. Accounts, annual return, board minutes, reporting, and review at each life change.

Common mistakes

• Treating flexibility as free of tax consequences. A change of form can be taxable at home.
• Keeping every lever. The founder's reserved rights are the weak point in court and in tax.
• Funding late. Nevis rules protect early transfers far better than late ones.
• Forgetting the bank. A structure no bank will onboard is a cost, not protection.
• Ignoring reporting. Data reaches your tax authority whether you declare or not.

FAQ

Can a Nevis multiform foundation really change from a trust into a company?

Yes. Section 10 of the Ordinance lets it change form by amending the constitution and filing within 14 days, and the entity's existence, rights and obligations continue. The tax effect at home is a separate question.

Can it be a foundation and a company at the same time?

No. Section 10(6) says it can be only one stated form at a time.

Does it need beneficiaries?

No. Section 11 allows any lawful purpose, including commercial activity, without beneficiaries.

How strong is the creditor protection?

Among the strongest of the foundation laws we reviewed: proof beyond reasonable doubt, short windows, a 50,000 US dollar bond and no enforcement of foreign judgments. It protects early, honest planning, not late transfers.

Does it pay tax in Nevis?

A multiform that transacts only with persons not resident in Nevis is exempt from Nevis taxes under section 93. Your home country taxes you under its own rules.

Will my tax authority know about it?

Yes. St Kitts and Nevis exchanges information under the Common Reporting Standard.

Can it move out of Nevis?

Yes, under sections 67 to 69, with board and supervisory board approvals, beneficiary approval and the Registrar satisfied that creditors are not harmed, provided the destination law allows it.

Is it better than a Liechtenstein foundation?

It depends. Liechtenstein offers stronger banking and, for German residents, the EU and EEA exception in § 15(6) AStG. Nevis offers more flexibility and stronger creditor rules. Our foundations comparison sets them side by side.

Next steps

For the full comparison of foundation jurisdictions, read private foundations compared. For trusts, read Cook Islands trust, Nevis trust or US DAPT. For Liechtenstein banking, read Liechtenstein foundation banking. For the wider picture, read asset protection and privacy. All guides are on the English blog.

Sources

• Nevis, Multiform Foundations Ordinance, Cap. 7.08(N), revised edition as at 31 December 2017: https://www.nevisfsrc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Ch-07.08N-Multi-form-Foundations-Ord.pdf
• Nevis Financial Services Regulatory Commission, foundations and amendment regulations: https://www.nevisfsrc.com/services/foundations/
• OECD, Common Reporting Standard and participating jurisdictions: https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/common-reporting-standard/
• Germany, Außensteuergesetz, §§ 7 and 15: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/astg/
• Germany, ErbStG, §§ 7 and 15: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/erbstg_1974/
• Romania, Fiscal Code (Law 227/2015): https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/171282
• Romania, Government Ordinance 26/2000 on associations and foundations: https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/20689
• United States, Treas. Reg. § 301.7701-3: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-301.7701-3

Verified on 23 October 2026.

Cover photo: Sailboat off Nevis, 1966. Photo: Wilford Peloquin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, cropped.