As policymakers in Brussels continue to advance a harmonised approach to restructuring and insolvency, offshore jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands may appear, at first glance, to sit outside that development. In reality, the distance between Brussels and Road Town is far smaller than it seems. The question is not whether European harmonisation applies to the BVI – it plainly does not – but whether it should serve as a catalyst for change.
It should.
The European project, driven in part by the EU Restructuring Directive, is often described as harmonisation. That understates its significance. What it really represents is a clear market signal: modern restructurings require structured tools capable of preserving value across complex, multi-creditor capital structures. Cross-class cram down, debtor-in-possession models, and moratoria are not innovations for their own sake. They are responses to a simple commercial reality: consensual solutions are not always available, and
