Set-up time and official fees by domicile: what the registries and regulators publish

Official set-up fees for fund vehicles are small, fixed and published, while the total cost of launching a fund is large, variable and set by service providers. Registries and regulators in Singapore, the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong publish exact registration fees and, in several cases, target processing times. Luxembourg and Ireland charge fees under their regulators' fee schedules, but this site has not verified current amounts. This page lists each published figure with its currency and date, explains what the clocks leave out, and gives a worksheet for comparing a shortlist like for like.

Figures are shown in their original currency. They are not converted, and this page does not conclude which domicile is cheaper. This page compares published fees and timelines; it does not rank domiciles.

Official registration fees, as published

Read the table by fee basis rather than headline number. Only the Singapore VCC (S$400) and the private umbrella OFC (HK$1,250) charge per sub-fund, so for an umbrella plan, model the sub-funds expected over three years, not just at launch. Cayman's SPC registration fee depends on authorised share capital; annual fees per segregated portfolio were not verified. The Hong Kong rows split fees between the SFC and the Companies Registry, and the LPF's lodgement fee is non-refundable. Irish and Luxembourg rows give no figure because no dated official schedule was verified. Amounts are not converted, and all are small next to legal, administration and audit costs.

Published processing times

The ACRA and Central Bank clocks start only when an application is complete. The Central Bank returns incomplete or incorrect applications.

The clocks measure different events, so they are not a league table. ACRA's range includes referral authorities' reviews; the SFC's private OFC figure starts when the SFC takes up an application; the Irish figure covers the registrar step only, not authorisation; the Cayman ELP figure is secondary, from law-firm guidance. The useful question for each row is what must be ready before the clock starts, because preparing a complete application usually takes longer than the published review.

What the clocks do not include

A published processing time measures one administrative step, usually the registry's own review. Launch timelines are driven mostly by steps that no registry measures:

1. Fund authorisation. In Ireland, the registrar function is separate from authorisation, so a UCITS or AIF ICAV also needs authorisation. A public OFC needs SFC authorisation as well as registration.
2. Manager readiness. A VCC needs a MAS-regulated fund manager and an OFC needs a Type 9 manager. If the sponsor has no licensed entity, licensing comes first and usually takes longest.
3. Bank and custody accounts. Opening accounts depends on the bank's due diligence on the fund, the manager and the investors.
4. Offering documents and investor onboarding. This includes the private placement memorandum or prospectus, subscription documents and AML checks.
5. Tax applications. Singapore's 13O, 13OA and 13U schemes need MAS approval, which follows incorporation.
6. Exit steps for re-domiciliation. These include deregistration in the original jurisdiction within the receiving regime's deadline. See re-domiciliation regimes.

Treat any "weeks to launch" claim as a plan, not a published standard.

Recurring official fees

Some official fees recur every year, and the set-up fee is a poor guide to them.

• Cayman ELP annual fee: CI$1,400 (US$1,707.32) for a regulated partnership under section 39(a), or CI$2,200 (US$2,682.93) for an unregulated one under section 39(b). Schedule effective 1 January 2025.
• CIMA fees: registered mutual funds and private funds pay CIMA fees in addition to registry fees. The current schedule has not been verified here.
• Singapore: ACRA filing fees for annual returns and extensions are covered on vccfund.com.sg. MAS licence fees for the manager are a manager-level cost, not a fund-level one.
• Hong Kong: business registration renewals and statutory filings apply to OFCs and LPFs. OFCs must publish an annual report within four months of the financial year end (SFC FAQ, 23 July 2026), which drives audit timing.
• Ireland and Luxembourg: regulator levies and register fees apply annually. Confirm the current schedules.

When comparing domiciles, model three to five years of recurring official fees rather than the year-one fee alone.

Cost categories with no official benchmark

No registry or regulator publishes market prices for the following categories. They usually make up most of the budget.

Ask each provider to quote on the same assumptions so that quotes are comparable.

Grants and fee relief

Hong Kong's SFC runs a grant scheme for OFCs that are set up in or re-domiciled to Hong Kong. It pays 70% of eligible expenses paid to Hong Kong-based service providers, capped at HK$300,000 per public OFC and HK$150,000 per private OFC, with one OFC per investment manager. Applications are accepted until 9 May 2027 (SFC grant scheme Terms and Conditions, 11 April 2025). Grants are subject to the SFC's eligibility conditions and are not assured.

This site has not verified the current status of Singapore's VCC grant after 15 January 2025, so it is not stated here as available. Check with MAS or a Singapore service provider.

A like-for-like worksheet

Use the same fund profile for every shortlisted domicile:

1. Fix the profile: number of sub-funds, open-ended or closed-ended, expected assets in year one and year three, number and location of investors.
2. List the official one-off fees from the tables above, in their original currency, with the source date.
3. List the official recurring fees for three to five years.
4. Ask for quotes on the same assumptions for each no-benchmark category.
5. Map the critical path: manager licence, authorisation (if any), registry step, bank account, first close.
6. Note any grant only as a possible offset, subject to approval.
7. Convert currencies once, at a stated date and rate, and keep the original figures alongside.

The process page places this worksheet in the wider decision, and the domicile matrix and VCC vs Cayman and VCC vs Hong Kong pages give the structural differences behind the numbers.

Fees and timelines change. Check each authority's current page before relying on these figures. This page is general information, not legal advice. To discuss your situation, register your enquiry through the contact details on this site.