Monday, January 01, 2007Public and private sector partnership

Humphrey LeueTeam BVI plays an important role in marketing the BVI�s cutting edge financial products.

Most industry analysts in the offshore arena will concede that the rise to prominence of the British Virgin Islands has been impressive. A decade ago, few would have considered the British Virgin Islands as a top tier offshore jurisdiction. Today, however, the Territory is not only the undisputed leader in corporate registrations, but now also number two in the world for hedge fund registrations and number four in captive insurance registrations, and is one of the first names on the shortlist in a number of financial services sectors.

The BVI has also attracted some of the biggest names in the hedge funds sector, further endorsing the maturity and attraction of the domicile on the world stage. Early in 2006, Fortis Prime Fund Solutions, one of the world’s foremost hedge fund administrators, made a firm commitment to the British Virgin Islands through the acquisition of Hedge Funds Services (HFS), one of the principal administrators operating in the Territory with approximately €2bn in assets under administration. Then, on October 7th, Jersey-based law firm Ogier, one of the largest and most renowned offshore law firms in the world, announced their entry into the BVI (pending Government approval) through a merger with WSmiths, a leading offshore law firm based in the BVI whose practice area focuses on investment funds and related securities business, particularly in Asia and Latin America.

However, a financial services industry can only thrive given the right supporting environment and in the BVI, a large part of this is due to the oft-praised regulatory and legislative framework within which they operate, encompassing internationally accepted and business-enabling regulatory standards and laws. As the regulatory authority – the Financial Services Commission -puts it: the BVI is known for its prudent regulatory regime, enforced with a light touch.
No success would be possible, however, without the wealth and support of experienced, knowledgeable professionals resident in the BVI. The BVI is the only Caribbean jurisdiction to boast the presence of all five, soon to be six, of the largest offshore law firms in the region and the legal profession in the Territory continues to expand and strengthen with a steady influx of lawyers, barristers and solicitors. The world’s top accounting and auditing practices are also present in the BVI and have been for quite some time. Their professional service offerings include the traditional accounting, audit and risk management practices, but increasingly specialist areas such as forensic accounting, corporate restructuring and insolvency management services. And then there are of course the many leading international trust and corporate service providers who, through their efficient systems, procedures and people, have helped build the BVI into the world’s corporate domicile capital.

All this growth and success has been supported by the British Virgin Islands International Finance Centre (BVI IFC), which has played a pivotal role in the promotion and marketing of the BVI as a leading financial centre. In particular, over the past 3 years the BVI IFC has implemented a world-wide programme of road shows to inform, educate, and discuss with the international professional and business communities the opportunities for growth in financial services on offer in the jurisdiction. Through this global programme, the success story of the BVI has been taken to many of the leading centres for international business, including London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Miami, Geneva, Zurich and Shanghai, keeping the image and branding of the Territory foremost in the minds of its stakeholders.

Established in 2002 as part of the Government’s commitment to support the financial services industry, the aim of the IFC is to give voice to all segments of the finance sector whilst making sure the Territory retains the unique balance of a sound regulatory framework, an entrepreneurial business community and innovative legislation. As such, the IFC’s ultimate objective is to protect and uphold the integrity, reputation and standing that the BVI has earned as a world-class jurisdiction for the conduct of international business.

With these aims in mind, the BVI IFC recently announced the official launch of ‘Team BVI’, which comprises a dynamic unit of ambassadors drawn from the public and private sectors, including regulators. The principal objective of Team BVI will be to create a competitive advantage by presenting the Territory as a modern and progressive jurisdiction to a global audience and hereby ensuring continued growth and success for decades to come.

The announcement of this ground-breaking initiative followed the inaugural meeting of the 15 founding members of Team BVI in October. The members are senior executives and key officials drawn from government, the Regulator’s office and the private sector, who will work together, to voice the competitive financial products and services and represent the BVI at select international conferences, media interviews and networking events, among others.

Our intention is to build a team of spokespeople that will represent the jurisdiction and elaborate on its successes on the international stage. In addition, the Financial Services Marketing Advisory Committee (MAC) will continue to assist and advise the IFC in the research and development of our marketing strategy, and several MAC members are also founding members of Team BVI.

Importantly Team BVI is not a closed shop, far from it in fact. Mark Chapman, Managing Partner at Deloitte and another Team BVI founding member enthusiastically added, “The BVI private sector is genuinely excited by the launch of Team BVI and looks forward to marketing and representing the jurisdiction collectively in close collaboration with the Government and Regulator. The BVI has a fantastic story of growth and cutting edge financial products and Team BVI will be a powerful means of continuing to tell this story on a global platform.”

With the current and growing popularity of the BVI’s financial services products, Team BVI and the BVI IFC will surely have much to talk about over the coming months.

Oyster Publications Inc, PO box 3369, Road Town Tortola, British Virgin Islands, VG1110