BVI Finance is reporting that the size and scale of deals facilitated by the British Virgin Islands’ international business and the financial centre has increased both in value and quality as the BVI reports its strongest incorporation numbers in three years. Photo: Internet Source

According to Elise Donovan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BVI Finance, “We are delighted to see that 2018 was a strong year for incorporations as more businesses and individuals chose to take advantage of the strategic and administrative benefits that our global financial centre offers. The noted increase in the quality business happening on-island is a reflection of the type of businesses and professionals making the BVI stronger." Photo: VINO/File

“The strength of this BVI sector is exemplified by recent activity, such as the counsel provided by BVI-based law firm Ogier on a US$350 million biopharmaceutical merger,” the institution noted in a press release on Friday, May 31, 2019.

BVI a Market Leader - Elise Donovan

According to Elise Donovan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BVI Finance, “We are delighted to see that 2018 was a strong year for incorporations as more businesses and individuals chose to take advantage of the strategic and administrative benefits that our global financial centre offers. The noted increase in the quality business happening on-island is a reflection of the type of businesses and professionals making the BVI stronger."

Further, she said, “The BVI continues to be a leader for M&A, public listings and innovative areas like initial coin offerings. More than 400,000 organisations recognise that our strong legal system, business-friendly laws and world-class corporate services sector means we are an indispensable hub for global trade.”

Earlier this year Harneys, the BVI-based firm, represented an IT services provider on a US$2 billion merger acquisition. This transaction set a new BVI record for the largest ever takeover of a publicly-listed BVI company by transaction value.

The quality of business on-island is also increasing as new technologies come to the fore, “Appleby, another BVI-based law firm, recently acted as advisers on a private token sale, raising approximately US$1 billion in just 10 days,” they noted.

Increase in On-Island Business

“This increase in quality on-island business is reflected in the latest quarterly figures from the BVI Financial Services Commission (FSC). It found that nearly 1,000 Limited Partnerships (940) were registered on-island in 2018, following the new Limited Partnership Act enacted in December 2017 to meet modern businesses’ commercial requirements and to reflect the flexibility and simplicity of BVI’s popular incorporation rules,” BVI Finance also notes.

According to the Q4 2018 FSC quarterly statistical bulletin, company incorporations grew 4.4% year-on-year (8,916 vs. 8,538 in Q4 2017), while quarterly figures fell by 6.9% after a particularly strong Q3 2019 (8,916 vs. 9,575).

The company implored that the strong year for registrations comes as the BVI enjoyed its strongest year for overall new incorporations in three years. The BVI recorded a total of 37,415 incorporations in 2018, up 15% on 2017’s incorporations (32,493) and up 18% on 2016 (31,769).