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Consultation Paper: Strengthening Beneficial Ownership Regime in BVI

The Government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) has released a consultation paper outlining its action plan to strengthen the current regime on money laundering, terrorist financing, and other forms of financial crime. The paper aims to gauge public opinion and receive opinions from members of the public, including the private sector, law enforcement agencies, and other key institutions and stakeholders in the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) field.

Action Plan

The BVI government’s action plan includes the following key objectives:

  • Enhance Beneficial Ownership Regime: Complete a review and revision of the legislative framework for beneficial ownership by 2014.
    • Review existing laws and regulations related to beneficial ownership
    • Identify gaps and areas for improvement
    • Develop recommendations for revisions to the legislation
  • Training and Capacity Building: Provide training to enable the conduct of a proper national risk assessment on a periodic basis.
    • Develop training programs for relevant government agencies and private sector entities
    • Ensure that all stakeholders have the necessary skills and knowledge to conduct effective risk assessments
  • Strengthen Supervision and Inspection: Enhance the supervisory and inspection regime to ensure timely availability of beneficial ownership information to competent authorities.
    • Implement new supervision and inspection procedures
    • Ensure that all relevant entities are subject to regular reviews and audits
  • Support International Initiatives: Lend support to international initiatives for developing new or additional standards on company transparency, including measures to strengthen international cooperation on beneficial ownership.
    • Engage with international organizations and governments to promote the development of best practices
    • Collaborate with other jurisdictions to improve global understanding and implementation of AML/CFT standards

Consultation Objective

The objective of this consultation paper is to gather public opinion and receive opinions from members of the public, including the private sector, law enforcement agencies, and other key institutions and stakeholders in the AML/CFT field. The consultation period extends to 31st January, 2014.

Current Regime on Beneficial Ownership

The current regime defines beneficial ownership as “the natural person who ultimately owns or controls an applicant for business or a customer or on whose behalf a transaction or activity is being conducted.” This includes:

  • A natural person who owns or controls 10% or more of the shares or voting rights in a company.
  • A natural person who otherwise exercises control over the management of a legal person.

Key Considerations

The consultation paper highlights several key considerations, including:

  1. The role of the BVI as an international finance centre and its shared responsibility in shaping and promoting international standards relative to financial services matters.
  2. What role the BVI can and should play in ensuring the delivery of a fair, responsible, and effectively regulated global business environment.
  3. The need for creating a balance between compliance with established international standards and promoting and enhancing the interests of the BVI in relation to the attraction and promotion of financial services business.
  4. The nature and scope of trade transparency vis-à-vis the relevance of ensuring the sourcing and maintenance of adequate, accurate, and current information on beneficial ownership.
  5. The best mechanisms that can and should be employed by the BVI to achieve the objectives of ensuring the keeping of beneficial ownership information.

Call for Written Opinions

The consultation paper invites written opinions from members of the public, including the private sector, law enforcement agencies, and other key institutions and stakeholders in the AML/CFT field, on the issues and questions raised. The opinions should give due regard to the Government’s Action Plan issued on 5th July, 2013, and appended to this Consultation Paper.