The BVI Business Companies Act enacted on 21 December 2015, introduced a compulsory requirement for all BVI business companies to privately file a "Register of Directors" at the Registry of Corporate Affairs. The Act was brought into force on 1 January 2016.
The Act also creates an option of filing the company's register of members. The information on both registers will only made available to competent authorities in the execution of their duties - regulators, tax administrators or law enforcement agencies. Other persons will only have access by getting a court order.
BVI premier Orlando Smith said this would reassure practitioners and clients that the BVI's business sector will be safeguarded and its competitive advantage maintained. The changes, he said would provide mechanisms to ensure timely access by law enforcement and tax authorities, equivalent to those provided by a "central register" as requested by the UK. The BVI Financial Services Commission anticipates that the transition period for existing companies to file a register of directors will run from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017.
