Jurisdiction in Focus: British Virgin Islands

In this feature, we look at the British Virgin Islands as a leading international financial centre. As well as comments from respected industry professionals, this feature provides technical analysis of the wealth tools and vehicles offered by the jurisdiction, with a particular focus on fund and trust structures.

The Great Connector

The BVI’s Critical Role In Global Finance

British Virgin Islands

Simon Filmer

Vistra

The British Virgin Islands (BVI), long heralded as a leading international finance centre, had its reputation further burnished when the European Union (EU) whitelisted the jurisdiction in February 2020.

For multinational businesses, having a reliable third-party conduit such as the BVI is key to conducting successful international trade. A trusted neutral party assumes even greater importance in our era of growing geopolitical conflict and trade wars.

There are several reasons for this, and in each case, the BVI plays a unique but often little understood role in driving prosperity not only for companies, but also for the countries where they are domiciled.

For decades, the BVI has been a leading international financial centre, one that is synonymous with offshore business operations.

Comment

Staying Ahead of the Curve in an Age of COVID-19

British Virgin Islands

Hon. Lorna Smith

Deputy Premier and Minister for Financial Services, Labour and Trade

The British Virgin Islands’ (BVI) journey to the top in financial services was not just happenstance: we combined our creativity, our human capital, and collective strength to become a jurisdiction that is globally respected and admired.

Earlier this year, we celebrated the results of our hard work and effective engagement with the European Union (EU) when we were deemed to be ‘whitelisted’. However, we had hardly begun to savour this accomplishment when we had to immediately rush our business continuity plans to completion, in the face of the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic. This meant not only making sure that staff could work remotely, but equally that our clients were comfortable with these unexpected arrangements.

Can this jurisdiction afford to rest on its laurels? Most definitely not! The published statistics for the first quarter of 2020 do not paint a pretty picture. Government revenues from financial services are down by US$20 million which means that our incorporation numbers have dropped significantly. What is our game plan to stay ahead of the curve?