The British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) is the world’s premier offshore jurisdiction for the incorporation of business companies. Almost 1 million companies have been formed in the jurisdiction. One of the key reasons for the BVI’s popularity is that it offers flexibility to businesses, with domiciled companies not being over-burdened with regulation. At the same time it is important to maintain the
BVI’s reputation as a responsible international financial centre, to protect the jurisdiction’s position into the future. The suite of regulatory reforms discussed in this article, and which took effect over 2009 and 2010, are designed to take BVI one step further in embracing and complying with international best practice policies and standards. This article dissects and discusses these reforms, and observes that while an extra layer of regulation has been applied to BVI companies through recent reforms, the BVI remains an attractive jurisdiction to incorporate a company offshor