International Business, Multi-Nationals, and the Nationality of the Company

Changing corporate domicile: the case of the Rhodesian Selection Trust companies

Simon Mollan, Billy Frank and Kevin Tennent

Abstract

This article explores the transfer of corporate domicile of the Rhodesian Selection Trust group of ‘Free-Standing Companies’ (FSCs) from the UK to Northern Rhodesia. To explore the ‘nationality of the company’ we question how political and economic factors affected strategic decision-making. We contribute further understanding of the impact of international double taxation to the history of FSCs. The article illustrates how the ‘nationality of the firm’ became a contested zone of interaction as British imperial power waned, American capital investment became more dominant, and colonies began to assert themselves ...