ROADTOWN Tortola BVI, November 11th, 2011 – The British Virgin Islands (BVI) International Finance Centre (IFC) met with leading funds and investment executives in the United States of America (USA) in October to discuss the benefits of the BVI as a domicile for hedge funds.
According to the Director of IFC Ms. Sherri Ortiz, IFC partnered with the BVI Investment Funds Association for the meetings in New York and Boston where they spoke with leading professionals about the Territory’s reputation for transparency and good governance. The meetings came just before the BVI was recognised by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for its readiness to move to the next phase in its Peer Review programme.
“This is the latest signal that international regulators and other organisations recognise and support the steps being taken by the BVI to meet global standards,” Ms. Ortiz noted.
According to Ms. Ortiz, the OECD’s confirmation that the BVI is moving forward in meeting international standards follows an assessment of the Territory undertaken in April, and is a commentary on the BVI's legal and regulatory framework.
“This ensures that the jurisdiction has the capacity to implement its extensive network of Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs),” Ms. Ortiz said, adding, “The assessment judges that the BVI's TIEAs meet the OECD standard of transparency and exchange of information.”
The meetings in New York and Boston focused on development pertaining to BVI funds and discussions of how the BVI could help formulate strategies to deal with investment opportunities in the years ahead.
Ms. Ortiz explained that the BVI sponsored the Brazilian Investment Summit (BIS) held for the first time in New York where practitioners highlighted the unique benefits of domiciling funds in the BVI. The BIS is considered to be the leading Brazilian investment conference outside South America.
“The BVI has seen an increase in the number of new funds registering in the Territory this year as they look to redeploy some of their investment capital following the market volatility since 2008,” Ms. Ortiz said.
She added that alongside the strengthening and deepening of relationships with existing clients, the IFC’s aim is to reach out to new markets that could benefit from access to BVI services. Also, the Territory has an established reputation as a place that meets international standards of regulation within a supportive business environment.
“The BVI has many strong arguments to attract clients from the USA, alongside the strengthening and deepening of relationships with existing clients,” Ms. Ortiz said. “We are also witnessing that the upturn, already evident in new fund activity in the BVI, is leading to the provision of a broader range of value added services in the Territory. This also includes growth in the existing fund administration and accounting sector.”
She stated that the BVI’s strength is based on its nimble approach to providing fund services, enhanced by amendments made under the Securities and Investment Business Act, 2010 (SIBA). The act speeds up time-to-market for fund managers with professional funds. The change demonstrates the BVI’s commitment to having a dynamic fund industry to move quickly on new products and to set an appropriate level of regulation.
The meetings in the USA represent the latest moves by the IFC to expand and strengthen the jurisdiction as a funds domicile. The BVI is the second largest jurisdiction to domicile a hedge fund, with approximately 2,900 hedge funds recognised or registered with the BVI’s Financial Services Commission.
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