NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas government plans to offer wealthy international families establishing substantial family offices in the country specially negotiated investment agreements providing certainty on immigration, taxation, business licensing and exchange controls, as part of a broader strategy to attract a greater share of Asia’s growing private wealth market.
Minister of Economic Affairs Senator Jerome Fitzgerald outlined the initiative during his opening remarks at the Bahamas Asia Forum 2026 in Singapore on Monday, revealing that qualifying family offices will be treated as strategic foreign direct investments and afforded arrangements similar to those negotiated for major development projects.
“Substantial family offices will have a dedicated programme of their own. We will treat the establishment of a substantial family office in The Bahamas as a strategic foreign direct investment,” Fitzgerald said.
“Each qualifying family office will enter into a single agreement with the Government, similar to the Heads of Agreement we use for major developments.”
The proposed arrangement would provide wealthy families with a more structured framework for establishing operations in The Bahamas, while requiring them to demonstrate meaningful economic activity through investments and the use of Bahamian professional services.
“A family that brings real substance to The Bahamas, through its investments and its use of Bahamian professional services, will receive a clear immigration position, tax and business licence treatment, exchange control certainty and coordinated government approvals,” Fitzgerald said.
“Both sides will know exactly what is expected of them.”
The announcement comes as The Bahamas seeks to strengthen its position in the increasingly competitive international wealth management industry, particularly among wealthy Asian families looking to diversify their investments, establish residency and manage assets across multiple jurisdictions.
According to Fitzgerald, global cross-border wealth reached approximately $15.6 trillion last year, with Hong Kong narrowly overtaking Switzerland as the world’s largest cross-border wealth hub.
“Asia sits at the centre of global private wealth. And families across this region are thinking more than ever about where their capital, business, and family’s future should be based,” he said.
“For these families who plan across generations, I believe The Bahamas has a great deal to offer.”
The minister also provided further details on the government’s planned Bahamas Tax Residency Certificate, which would allow individuals spending at least 90 days in the country during a calendar year to apply for tax residency.
Importantly, those days would not have to be consecutive, potentially making the programme attractive to internationally mobile investors and families who divide their time among several countries.
“Ninety days in the country during a calendar year will make a person eligible to apply for tax residency, and those days do not have to be consecutive,” Fitzgerald said.
“A family can move through the year across several countries, as globally mobile families do, and still have certainty about its tax residency in The Bahamas.”
The proposed certificate would form part of a wider package of measures intended to strengthen the country’s appeal as a destination for private wealth, investment and international residency.
Fitzgerald also announced that the government is preparing to launch the Bahamas Invest Concierge Unit, designed to provide investors with a single point of contact throughout the investment approval process.
“When your client decides to invest in The Bahamas, the unit will guide them from first enquiry to final approval through a single point of contact,” he said.
The unit’s responsibilities are expected to extend across economic permanent residency, tax residency, investments in government bonds, Family Island projects and major developments.
The initiative appears intended to simplify the administrative process for prospective investors, although Fitzgerald did not specify when the unit would become operational.
The minister also reiterated the government’s intention to eliminate Value Added Tax on trust services by the end of 2026, along with VAT on certain transfers of property into trusts involving specified classes of beneficiaries, including family members.
The proposed tax relief is intended to reduce the cost of succession and estate planning, an important component of the country’s international financial services industry.
“Last month, I announced that the Government intends to remove Value Added Tax from trust services at the end of this year, along with VAT on transfers of property into trusts for certain classes of beneficiaries, including family members,” Fitzgerald said.
“Because we believe families who plan ahead should be incentivised, not penalised.”
He highlighted recent legislative developments, including the introduction of the usufruct, statutory demergers for International Business Companies and changes to the Segregated Accounts Company regime, as examples of the country’s efforts to modernise its wealth management offerings.
According to Fitzgerald, these structures provide families with greater flexibility in managing assets, transferring wealth between generations and accommodating changing family circumstances.
The minister further promoted The Bahamas’ existing tax environment, noting the absence of personal income, estate, wealth and capital gains taxes, alongside its common law legal system and established financial services infrastructure.
He argued that these features provide the long-term certainty international investors increasingly seek when deciding where to establish financial structures or relocate family operations.
“When a family commits capital to a jurisdiction, it wants to know where it stands today and what it can expect for decades to come,” Fitzgerald said.
“That combination gives families what they increasingly value most, which is certainty.”
Beyond traditional wealth management, Fitzgerald pointed to opportunities in digital assets, renewable energy, blue carbon credits, ecotourism and the wider green and blue economies as potential areas for investment.
The Bahamas Asia Forum, first held in Hong Kong in 2025, is intended to strengthen investment and financial services relationships between The Bahamas and Asian markets.
Fitzgerald said the government’s return to Asia reflects its commitment to expanding those relationships and attracting new business to the jurisdiction.
“We have kept that commitment, and we have returned to Asia with a clear purpose: to deepen the relationships that began in Hong Kong and to open new ones across the continent,” he said.
The minister closed by urging Asian wealth advisers to consider The Bahamas when assisting clients with decisions involving residency, financial structures and family offices.
“When your clients are deciding where to place a structure, establish residency or base a family office, I ask that you bring The Bahamas into that conversation,” Fitzgerald said.
“Better still, come and see our islands for yourselves, and let us show you what The Bahamas Advantage really feels like.”