The scale of the offshore sector - Belize

Belize is known as a compact service export jurisdiction, where the offshore sector has been a driver of employment and non-tax revenues for decades. Its core is the registration of international commercial companies (IBC), corporate legal administration, trusts/funds, licensed financial services and niche areas (iGaming, forex/CFD brokers B2B, IT compliance outsourcing). Today, the sector is going through a phase of "post-offshore" transformation: less "anonymous flexibility," more transparency, substance and managed compliance.

1) What the offshore sector consists of

1. 1. Corporate core (IBC, trusts, funds).

IBC registration with registered agents: corporate secretariat, directors/officers, maintaining registers, KYC clients.

Trusts and private funds - for structuring assets, family planning, holdco for cross-border investments.

1. 2. Licensed services.

Investment/brokerage providers, payment institutions, captive/retail insurance (within local regimes).

B2B niches in iGaming (platforms, content providers, hosting, affiliate networks) and related technical services: log repositories, SOC/SIEM, RNG audit.

Fintech/crypto services that work strictly under AML/CFT and rules for virtual asset providers (where applicable).

1. 3. Professional services.

Lawyers, audit/accounting, KYC/AML outsourcing, on-chain analysis, IT contractors, data centers, cloud hosting. It is here that a significant part of employment and indirect income is formed.

2) Economic effect and "scale" in practical dimension

State revenues: state fees for registration/maintenance of companies, licenses and inspections, court/registry fees.

Indirect multiplier: each unit of licensed and registered income is served by lawyers, auditors, IT companies, which creates 1. 5-3 × turnover in related services (estimated).

Employment: the staff of corporate services providers, compliance, as well as in the "registrar - agent - auditor - IT" bundles.

Connection with tourism and iGaming: part of the offshore demand is business trips, conferences, staff training, purchases of local services.

Important: Belize is a niche market. The scale cannot be compared with the large financial centers of the Caribbean, but the relative role for the local economy is high due to the concentration of service companies and the export of "regulatory quality."

3) Regulatory evolution: from offshore to transparent export of services

The last decade has set a new standard:

AML/CFT and sanctions compliance as a basis for customer onboarding (risk-based approach, PEP screening, SoF/SoW, transaction monitoring).
Substance/physical presence: strengthening requirements for real management and functions on site (directors, office, audit trail).
CCM/beneficiaries: identification of UBO, maintenance of registers, exchange of information on requests.
International framework: FATF, OECD (BEPS), CRS/FATCA - pressure on anonymous structures and hybrid schemes.
Digitalization of supervision: submission/renewal portals, electronic registries, standardization of checklists.

The result is a narrowing of the "gray" segment and an overflow into a high proportion of companies with semantic activities, understandable sources of funds and an audit trail.

4) Risks and challenges of scale

Bank derisking: international correspondents are cautious of jurisdictions with offshore backgrounds; any deterioration of AML/CFT metrics reduces the availability of calculations.

Greys. com markets: diversion of flows outside the licensed framework hits statistics and reputation.

Personnel shortage in compliance and IT security (SOC, pentests), increase in the cost of qualified personnel.

Regulatory volatility: global updates (sanctions lists, Travel Rule, VASP requirements) require quick local adaptations.

Dependence on external demand: the global liquidity cycle and M&A directly affect the number of registrations and the volume of services.

5) Where the offshore sector intersects with iGaming

B2B providers (platforms, content, hosting) who need a transparent corporate outline, test labs, log audits and understandable IP rights.

Payment solutions: cards/acquiring, stablecoins (USDT/USDC) - only with strict on-chain monitoring, Travel Rule and an understandable return policy.

Affiliates and advertising: register of partners, labeling of offers, prohibition of "dark patterns."

ADR/Ombudsman: reducing reputational risks through independent dispute resolution.

The model wins, where Belize does not sell "speed without questions," but a package of regulatory reliability: licenses + audit + RG/AML practices.

6) Scenarios 2025-2030

A) Conservative. Maintaining current status: stable revenues from IBC and services, cautious growth due to digitalization, but low upside due to derisking and competition of jurisdictions.

B) Progressive. Strengthening substance, open register of key metrics (KPI-supervision), e-licensing portal, clear rules for VASP/stablecoins, recognition of test labs, register of affiliates.

Effect: increased conversion of B2B applicants, localization of more jobs, reduced banking risks.

C) Restrictive. Tightening without digitalization and without service infrastructure → outflow of registrations to competitors, compression of the service multiplier.

7) KPIs for assessing "scale" without overestimated expectations

Active IBCs (net gain/close), share with local substance.

License and registry revenues (application/annual/inspections) and their share in non-tax revenues.

Median time for processing applications, the share of applications through the e-portal.

Number of checklist inspections and percentage of violations rectified.

Local employment in compliance/audit/IT, number of certified specialists.

AML metrics: share of high-risk cases, failures/escalations, on-chain risk-score by VASP providers.

Banking availability: number of partner settlement channels and SLAs.

8) Practical recommendations

For State/Regulator

1. Develop an e-regulatory portal (filing, tracking, extension, payment fi), API for uploading aggregated indicators.

2. Fix online definitions (slots, live, crash games, DFS, P2P), minimum RG and rules for VASP/Travel Rule.

3. Recognize international test labs, maintain a register of RNG/RTP versions and audit logs (WORM, SIEM).

4. Publicly conduct KPI supervision: deadlines, inspections, complaints/ADRs, transparency of fines and remediation.

5. Launch personnel programs: grants/vouchers for training KYC/AML officers, auditors, SOC engineers.

For business (service providers and customers)

1. Build risk-based KYC/AML, prepare SoF/SoW, sanctions compliance, decision log and monitoring.

2. Substance approach: real management functions, local directors/office, tech logistics.

3. For iGaming/fintech: transparent cash register (USD/BZD), cards + stablecoins with explicit network marking, ADRs, understandable SLAs by conclusions.

4. Invest in information security: SOC, pentests, incident management, personnel training.

The scale of Belize's offshore sector today is not a race to number of "anonymous" companies, but the quality of regulated service exports. The sector remains significant for budget and employment, but its sustainability is determined by three things: transparent compliance, real substance, and digital surveillance. The choice of a progressive trajectory until 2030 turns Belize into a compact hub of compliance and services, where each registration and each license pulls local jobs, the export of intellectual services and stable non-tax revenues.