Category: British Virgin Islands
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Directors’ Duties: Payments made by Insolvent Shipping Company
Scrutiny faced by directors of companies for possible breaches of their fiduciary duties has been further clarified by the Privy Council in a case[1] involving actions of a director leading up to the insolvency of the company. Key takeaways regarding duties are: The Privy Council dealt with the following questions regarding the actions of the director…
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BVI Economic Substance – Significant amendments to BOSS Act
The most recent amendment to the Beneficial Ownership Secure Search System Act (the BOSS Act) applies to those financial periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022. Below is summary of the most significant amendments. It is expected that the BVI International Tax Authority (ITA) will publish version 3 of its ES Rules and Explanatory…
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BVI: New Registry filing fee for the first Register of Directors
Further to the BVI Business Companies (Amendment of Schedule 1) Order, 2021, a fee of USD75 will be introduced for filing of the first register of directors. Please note that a filing fee of USD75 will be added to the incorporation of all BVI companies incorporated on or after 1 Jul 2021.
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OVERVIEW: A Look at the Approved Manager Regime in the BVI
The Approved Fund Manager regime in the British Virgin Islands has been in force since 2012 and was designed to cater to start-ups, but is equally attractive to established small and medium-sized funds. Until recently we could count the number of AFMs in the structures we administer on one hand. However this has changed rapidly…
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BVI Economic Substance framework now fully operational
The International Tax Authority has informed all Registered Agents and legal entities with reporting obligations under the Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, 2018 and the Beneficial Ownership Secure Search System Act, 2017 that the Economic Substance portal as integrated with the Beneficial Ownership Secure Search system (BOSS(ES)s) went live on 12 June 2020.
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CRS and FATCA Reporting deadline extension and NEW Information Requirements
FATCA: BVI, Bermuda and Cayman Islands – The IRS has provided for an extension of time for Model 1 IGA jurisdictions to provide their 2019 FATCA data to the United States competent authority. Currently the deadline… NEW Cayman Islands CRS Compliance Form…
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Regulatory regime for closed-ended funds in the BVI
In line with other offshore jurisdictions and in order to comply with commitments to the EU, the BVI has introduced a ‘private investment fund’ regime by enacting the Securities and Investment Business (Amendment) Act, 2019 and the accompanying Private Investment Funds Regulations, 2019.
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Economic Substance Requirements in the BVI
The Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, 2018 came into force on 1 January 2019 requiring British Virgin Islands companies and limited partnerships that are tax resident and carrying out ‘Relevant Activities’ to demonstrate economic substance. The new legislation, which applies to existing and new BVI entities, was introduced to address the concerns of…
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Economic Substance Legislation in the British Virgin Islands
BVI ITA issues final Economic Substance Rules – The ITA has now published the final version of the Code which has been renamed Rules (and Explanatory Notes) on Economic Substance (the Rules). The content of the Rules is broadly the same as the draft Code, but it includes a number of amendments following feedback to…
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Economic Substance – an overview and comparison summary of requirements
In response to increasing pressure from the EU and the OECD, and to avoid being placed on the EU Council’s list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, each of Bermuda, BVI and Cayman have introduced economic substance legislation (ES Legislation) effective 1 January 2019 to satisfy such requirements. The ES Legislation varies slightly by jurisdiction…