Category: British Virgin Islands
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Amendments to the BVI Business Companies Act: Changes to Beneficial Ownership Regulations
Background to the beneficial ownership updates Recent amendments to the Business Companies Act have introduced several new requirements to align with international compliance standards. The Business Companies and Limited Partnerships (Beneficial Ownership) Regulations (the BO Regulations) aim to enhance transparency by mandating certain obligations for companies. The first of these changes is set to commence…
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Important Update: Filing of Annual Returns for BVI Companies
The deadline for the first filing of annual financial returns (AFRs) by companies incorporated or registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) is Monday, 30 September 2024. On 26 September 2024, the BVI Financial Services Commission (the Commission) announced that due to policy and logistical issues in ensuring full compliance for the first return deadline,…
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BVI Business Companies Annual Financial Return (AFR) – a guide (Updated)
As noted in our previous updater, amendments to the BVI Business Companies Act (Revised) came into force on 1 January 2023 introducing the requirement for BVI companies to file an annual financial return (AFR) with their registered agent. The BVI Business Companies (Financial Return) Order, 2023 (the Order) enacted in March, details (1) the form of…
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Mitigation of Risks of Sanctions and other Violations by Directors, Trustees and Beneficiaries
Scrutiny on offshore transactions and their participants is at an all-time high. Through an ever growing number of regulations and laws, parties to transactions and third party providers from banks to corporate service providers are required to gather and, in some circumstances, share information with governments and regulatory authorities. For the underlying officers and…
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Winding up BVI companies following the reform of the BCA
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is a popular jurisdiction for establishing companies due to its favourable tax and regulatory environment. However, there are instances when a BVI company is no longer needed, and the decision must be made to either strike it off or initiate a voluntary liquidation. This article aims to shed light on…
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Striking off in the British Virgin Islands
Recent amendments to the BVI Companies Act (Revised) have introduced significant changes to the strike off regime and restoration process. We outline the process and implications around strike off and dissolution of BVI companies under the new regime and the temporary transitional period which is currently in force.
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Reminder: Changes to Strike off Regime and Restoration Process in BVI – Transitional period ends 30 June 2023
The BVI Business Companies (Amendment) Act introduced changes to the strike off regime and restoration process that may impact your BVI company. Specifically, these changes affect BVI companies that were struck off after 1 July 2016 and before 1 January 2023, and that have not yet been dissolved. If you have any such existing struck…
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The importance of compliance with AML requirements across jurisdictions
Regulators are taking firm action again non-compliance with AML and CFT regulations as highlighted by these recent enforcement cases in Hong Kong and BVI.
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Disclosure of directors’ conflicts of interest
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A director is appointed by company shareholders to manage the day-to-day affairs of a company. With such management comes certain legal and fiduciary duties, and a director must act in the best interests of that company and its shareholders. Amongst these duties, is the ‘disclosure of interest’, which is the focus of this article with…
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BVI Accounting Records
Reminder to BVI companies on ongoing maintenance of accounting records and related official documentation detail Under the BVI Companies Act (Revised) and the Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Act (Revised) a BVI company and the registered agent are required to have knowledge of the location of accounting records and also the person responsible for the…