BVI Company

The House of Assembly of BVI has passed a Bill in March 2023 to amend the BVI Business Act 2004 called BVI Business Companies (Amendment) Act 2023 requiring a company to file with its registered agent, information on the beneficial owner of the company. The key requirements include: - A company shall, collect and file with its registered agent, information on the beneficial owner of the company. - Where the beneficial owner of, or any information in relation to a beneficial owner's interest in, a company changes, the company shall, within 15 days of the occurrence of the change, file with its registered agent, information of the change. Whatsapp : (852) 6499 4686 Phone :...

What has changed in terms of accounting/financial record keeping obligations under BVI Business Companies (Financial Return) Order 2023? The basic principle that all BVI companies were required to maintain accounting records and underlying documentation below remains unchanged: (a) sufficient to show and explain the company's transactions; and(b) reasonably accurate at all times in determining the company's financial position. The following additional obligations have been introduced: All BVI companies are now required to provide certain financial information/confirmations, in the form of an Annual Return (also known as Financial Return), to their Registered Agent for each...

The Virtual Assets Service Providers Act, 2022 (VASP Act 2022) introduced by the BVI Financial Services Commission (“FSC”) effective from 1st February 2023 needs you to submit an application for registration as a VASP by 31st July 2023 if you conduct virtual assets service via BVI entities. The VASP Act describes the activities that require registration through the definitions of key terms such as virtual assets, virtual assets service and VASPs. It also indicates those services that do not qualify as VAS. The VASP outlines key features which include: details of the application and approval requirements for registration as a VASP, including additional specific...

The BVI International Tax Authority (“BVI ITA”) has updated the Rules on Economic Substance (“ES”) in the Virgin Islands under the Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, Revised Edition 2020 (as amended), with effect from 24 February 2023. The updates introduce additional reporting requirements that must be submitted as part of each BVI company’s 2023 Annual Economic Substance Reporting. The new rules are applicable for financial periods commencing on or after 1 January 2022. Key changes to the ES Rules: 1. Major additional disclosures in the ES reporting The ES reporting now requires additional disclosures, as...

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) enacted the BVI Business Companies (Amendment) Act, 2022 and the BVI Business Companies (amendment) Regulations, 2022 come into force on 1 January, 2023. The new amendments are intended to strengthen the BVI business companies' regime and ensure continued compliance with international standards and emerging global standards in financial services. We would like to highlight the key changes from these amendments: 1. Director's Name Made Available To The Public The Registrar will make available, upon request, a list of directors contained in a company's register of directors filed with the Registrar. Only the name of the existing director (not the...

The rapid rise and popularity of virtual assets has created a real challenge where regulation has struggled to keep pace whilst many people hold virtual assets. The BVI is one of the leading jurisdictions for the establishment of virtual asset legal structures over recent years. The BVI Virtual Assets Service Providers Act, 2022 (the "VASP Act") was enacted on 29 December 2022, demonstrating the government’s commitment to the virtual asset sector. In the Act, the following has been addressed: 1. Clear definition of virtual assets, virtual assets services, virtual assets services providers, virtual assets custody service and virtual assets exchange. 2. Regulatory...

The British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (“BVI FSC”) has recently announced an increase in Annual Licence Fees which will come into effect on 1 January 2023. This fee increase does NOT impact on the 2022 Annual Licence Fee invoices issued in 2022 i.e. the 2022 fee remains as issued with no fee increased. With respect to the 2023 fee increases, the most notable are summarised in the table below: Company type Fee type Current fee (US$) New fee (US$) Standard company authorised to issue up to 50,000 shares Government incorporation fee 450 550 Annual licence fee 450 550 Standard...

Bank of Asia (BOA) has been established in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) to address the need of BVI and other offshore companies in getting bank accounts opened and other banking needs satisfied. It facilitates the growing offshore banking needs of a large, underserved universe of Chinese and other Asian high net worth individuals and their related offshore business companies. As a platform, BOA is free from legacy constraints and is focus on a simple set of products differentiated through quality of service and rolled out using best of breed technology. Client service, efficiency and user-friendly technology are core to BOA’s strategy for customer acquisition and...

“Fintech is the future. The British Virgin Islands is the appropriate home for Bank of Asia because the BVI is at the forefront of delivering high quality technological and innovative offshore services. We are proud to be the first bank to be licensed by the BVI in more than two decades and we plan to change how people bank using innovative technology, products and better customer service, not only here in the BVI but also globally,” chairman Carson Wen said. Bank of Asia wants to tap into the growing needs of offshore companies as the world’s first fully digital global cross-border bank and the first digital bank in the British Virgin Islands. It is using the BVI as...

British Virgin Islands (BVI) remains a popular jurisdictions with active company of 364,980 as at end of Q2 2021. Despite the various effort of OECD / FATF in cracking down offshore jurisdiction, BVI is proven to be one of the most ideal places in the world for establishing an offshore business. 1. Is BVI a tax haven? A tax haven country is where a country offers businesses and foreign investors with low or no tax liability, enabling it to be an attractive jurisdiction to incorporate businesses. Most of the Caribbean nations are known as pure tax havens where no taxes are imposed. BVI is one such example where no taxes are imposed on offshore businesses. In addition, since...

What are the advantages of the BVI as an offshore jurisdiction for Chinese investors? What makes it different from other jurisdictions? The British Virgin Islands (BVI) has built a reputation as one of the world leading finance centres meeting the needs of international businesses and high net worth individuals. Advantages for Chinese investors using BVI structures and services include: 1. Protect assets from expropriation or confiscation orders from foreign governments 2. Asset security- able to transfer domicile 3. No all local taxes and stamp duty 4. Maximum confidentiality and anonymity no requirements to file the accounting information with the Registrar of Corporate...

The government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) plans to create a public register of beneficial owners (RBO) of companies registered locally by 2023. In this regards, the business owners of an entity will be shown at the Registry publicly from year 2023. This is a measure adopted in accordance with international anti-money laundering standards and becomes a significant step in fighting corruption and financial crimes. What information will the public register contain? The public register is expected to be the same information as contained in the existing private registers except that residential addresses will not be made publicly. As a British Overseas Territories, the...