BVI Continues To Introduce Positive Regulatory Developments

2016 was an incredibly hard year for the hedge fund industry. One industry statistic has suggested that new fund launches were 40% down on 2015, with the number of new funds launched in 2016 the lowest since the financial crisis. This has had an impact on all fund jurisdictions, including the BVI, but despite this, over the last 12 months there have been a number of positive developments for the jurisdiction's funds industry.

One is the creation of an AIFMD opt-in regime for the BVI, called the Securities and Investment Business (AIFMD) Regulations, which is significant for the BVI as it looks to seek approval from the European regulator, ESMA, for third country equivalence and introduces into the BVI an AIFMD equivalent regime. Once enforce, this will allow new or existing BVI funds to opt in as an "EU Qualified BVI AIF" and for new or existing BVI managers to opt-in as an "EU Qualified BVI AIFM".