Bermuda E-Commerce Firm Makes ‘E-Suites’ Push

An investor group launched a Bermuda-based electronic-commerce company offering virtual offices, or “e-suites,” in an effort to capitalize on the island nation’s lack of corporate taxes. E-suites are legal entities for companies selling goods globally on the Internet. In the largest venture to date in the British territory’s push to become an offshore hub for e-commerce, EOCnet.com (https://www.eocnet.com) plans to offer thousands of e-suites.

Bermuda’s reputation as a tax haven also has attracted the attention of the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which during the last year have launched attacks on what the organizations call tax competition from offshore jurisdictions.

Granger Whitelaw, chief executive of EOCnet.com and a New York investment banker, said the new venture allows companies to set up Internet and data storage sites on the island. Internet transactions will be routed to the island through the Bank of Bermuda. U.S.-based companies taking out e-suites can then classify offshore businesses as foreign sales corporations--giving them tax advantages on overseas earnings, Whitelaw said. He said EOCnet.com is the first overseas company to qualify as a safe harbor under the EU data protection laws.

“We are not trying to get people to escape taxes,” Whitelaw said. “This company is promoting business globally on the Internet.”