Government measures in key jurisdictions 5th edition - Flipbook - Page 25
British Virgin Islands
Litigation
•
Yes, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court remains open and fully operational.
Measures and practice directions have been put in place to ensure the continuation
of court proceedings while protecting the health and safety of the court employees
and other court users. These measures include provision for electronic service and
filing and remote hearings via video conferencing technology.
•
See legal update here.
Are the courts
operating?
Tax
•
No.
Has any new
legislation been
introduced in light
of Covid-19?
•
See below regarding economic substance.
Company
law matters
•
The BVI Registry of Corporate Affairs is operating as usual with some minor changes to
adapt to the Covid-19 pandemic.
•
Have any measures
•
been put in place
to accommodate
social distancing
(such as remote
general meetings)? •
There is no requirement for BVI companies to hold annual general meetings.
There is also no requirement for board meetings to take place in the BVI or for board
members to be in the same physical location. Meetings by telephone or video
conference are acceptable, provided that all of the directors participating in the
meeting can hear each other clearly.
The Covid-19 global pandemic has been declared an exceptional circumstance under
the Financial Services (Exceptional Circumstances) Act 2020, which provides a
framework for stability of financial services operations conducted in and from the BVI
during exceptional circumstances. The Act allows regulated persons to relocate outside
and elsewhere within the BVI during or after any period of occurrence of an exceptional
circumstance and outlines how outstanding regulatory obligations and liabilities are to
be applied or modified.
•
In relation to economic substance requirements, the BVI International Tax
Authority (ITA) has confirmed that only those board meetings relating to a BVI
company’s “core income generating activities” are required to be physically held in the
BVI. Alternate directors based in the BVI may be appointed to attend physical board
meetings whilst regular travel is restricted. All directors do not have to attend
board meetings in the BVI; only as many as required to make the meeting quorate.
Virtual meetings may be preferred to assist with social distancing. If it is still not
possible to have a board meeting in the BVI or to meet some other economic substance
requirement due to restrictions resulting from the Covid-19 outbreak, BVI entities
should retain documentary evidence for the applicable periods of time
affected. Individual requests should be made to the ITA for any extension of time within
which to comply with notices, along with any supporting evidence.
•
Please see our update on Overcoming barriers to completion of corporate
transactions amidst Covid-19 challenges and our Caribbean Regulatory Update.
•
All the most recent Mourant updates relating to Covid-19 are available at Mourant
Covid-19 Updates.
Government measures in key jurisdictions
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