British Virgin Islands – Regulatory Update

On 11 February 2021, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (the "Commission") published the Financial Services (Prudential and Statistical Returns) (Amendment) Order 2021 (the "Order"). The Order came into effect on 15 February 2021. Pursuant to the provisions of the Order, the obligations of regulated persons under the Financial Services (Prudential and Statistical Returns) Order 2009 (the "Principal Order") to file statistical or prudential returns with the Commission have been amended significantly, creating additional reporting obligations for British Virgin Islands ("BVI") entities that are authorised, licensed, registered or recognised under relevant BVI financial services legislation. The Order has also introduced a new obligation on regulated persons to file an annual anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism return (the "AML Return") with the Commission.