Originally from:
Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Latin America - Second Edition - Looseleaf
Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Latin America - Second Edition - Digital
Preview Page
The Turks and Caicos Islands
Norman B Saunders
Saunders & Co
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands
and
George CJ Moore
Attorney & Barrister
West Palm Beach, Florida, United States
Introduction
The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) are a British Overseas Territory under the overall
jurisdiction of the British Government in London, but internally administered by a locally
elected Government. The Islands are located in the Caribbean/Atlantic area, southeast of
the Bahamas, 575 miles southeast of Miami, and 100 miles north of the Dominican
Republic and Haiti. The Turks and Caicos consists of 30 islands, islets, and cays spread in
a crescent across 80 miles, east to west, and 50 miles north to south. Comprising 166
square miles, the islands have a population of approximately 28,000. The Turks and
Caicos Islands are in the same Eastern time zone as Florida and New York.
Miles of unpopulated beaches ring the islands. Access is by a daily 90-minute flight via
American Airlines from Miami, as well as a daily service from Atlanta via Delta. There
are three flights a week from New York via American Airlines. British Airways provides
weekly service from London. Within the Caribbean, there are direct commercial flights
from the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti. Direct-dial
telephone, fax, and high speed Internet service connect the Turks and Caicos Islands with
the world. The Turks & Caicos is also fortunate to be a landing point for the American
Region Caribbean Optical-Ring System (ARCOS), which is one of the most technically
advanced undersea fibre optic telecommunications cables in the world, with the capacity
to provide the country with inexpensive and practically unlimited telecommunications
bandwidth. The Turks&Caicos Government approved new telecommunications legislation
in 2004 liberalizing the telecommunications industry and Government has granted
three new licenses, with at least two service providers planning to offer services in early
2006.
Turks and Caicos have no direct taxation and no tax treaties, much like the Cayman
Islands and the Bahamas, although they are different with unique special attractions. Offshore
business is attracted by comprehensive and modern new ordinances governing
Norman B Saunders Saunders & Co Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands
George CJ Moore Attorney & Barrister
West Palm Beach, Florida, United States
