British Virgin Island Trustee (Amendment) Act, 2024 Highlights

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) legislature has made several amendments to the Territory's Trustee Act (the Act). These were made by the Trustee (Amendment) Act, 2024 (the Amendment Act).

The relevant amendments have been made to reflect issues arising from the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force Mutual Evaluation Report (the Report) and a number other BVI statutes, such as the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004, have similarly been amended to reflect issues arising from the Report.

The recommendations arising from the Report insofar as they relate to trusts cover two basic issues: (a) the implementation of a requirement for trustees to keep accurate beneficial ownership information, and to update that information on a timely basis, and (b) imposing penalties for trustees which fail to provide information to competent authorities such as the BVI's Financial Services Commission.