BVI Companies and M&A
Economic Substance: Practical Advice 3 Years On …
10 Things Lawyers Should Know About BVI Transactions
The BVI is a preferred international jurisdiction for fintech businesses as it is a well-established investment centre with a comprehensive, commercial virtual assets regime, which provides businesses with legal certainty. ...more
This guide explores the latest legislative, regulatory and enforcement developments in the British Virgin Islands and provides expert analysis on industry-wide topics including the local legal framework, the main stages of a...more
The new guides provide the latest legal information on litigation funding, initiating a lawsuit, pre-trial proceedings, discovery, injunctive relief, trials and hearings, settlement, damages and judgment, appeals, costs,...more
In an article for STEP Journal, Carey Olsen partner Helen Wang TEP looks at a recent case assessing the treatment BVI company shares as property and which governing law should apply for succession purposes. In Al Thani v Al...more
Setting up a tokenized investment fund with an approved manager in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) offers many strategic advantages by combining the innovative benefits of blockchain technology with cost-effectiveness and...more
Jurisdiction clauses in trust deeds are critical in determining the forum for resolving disputes. These clauses can be either exclusive, conferring jurisdiction to a specific court, or non-exclusive, allowing for flexibility...more
Feb 2025 Following the success of the 1984 international Business Companies Act, the BVI’s financial services industry continued a trajectory of rapid development. As part and parcel of that development, commercial disputes...more
Carey Olsen has contributed to The Legal 500 Country Comparative Guide 2024 for Blockchain. The aim of this guide is to provide its readers with a pragmatic overview of the law and practice of blockchain law across a variety...more
The British Virgin Islands has, as of 18 September 2024, extended the list of ‘Relevant Foreign Countries’ for the purposes of Part XIX of the BVI Insolvency Act, which governs Orders in Aid of Foreign Proceedings. These...more
The British Virgin Islands (the BVI), along with most other major offshore jurisdictions, has introduced “economic substance” requirements for entities carrying on certain specified activities. This economic substance regime...more
The recent decision of the BVI Commercial Court (the "Court") (the Hon. Justice Ingrid Mangatal (Ag.)) in Kenworth Industrial Limited v Xin Gang Power Investments Limited BVIHCOM 2023/0006 has provided clarity on the...more
In a recent judgment, which was heavily critical of the claimant bank, the BVI Commercial Court has set aside an order obtained ex parte permitting service on non-BVI resident defendants of a fraud claim out of the...more
In its recent decision in BVIHC(COM) 2022/0169 Qu Haiping v Window of Trade International Limited and Ors, the BVI Court considered the question of the burden of proof and defences that a defendant can invoke when resisting...more
In this review of taxation and the British Virgin Islands, Conyers Corporate Counsel Nicholas Kuria discusses some of the most commonly misunderstood notions relating to the use of offshore jurisdictions, with a focus on the...more
In the crypto world, does it really matter where you are? Is there a sunny offshore paradise perspective on the click of a button and a fintech trade? The answer lies as usual in how to unravel a problem should it arise. Both...more
For businesses that are family-owned and run in jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Mainland China and Taiwan, it is common for beneficial ownership and control of the business enterprise to be vested in the shareholders of a...more
It is standard practice for lenders in financing transactions to request legal opinions from counsel in each jurisdiction in which a transaction entity is established or under which law transaction documents are governed. Set...more
As the use of arbitration as a means of dispute resolution has grown in popularity, there has been a marked increase in the need for arbitral awards to be recognised and enforced in offshore jurisdictions. The...more
On 22 September 2022, the Law Commission published a consultation paper (the “Consultation Paper”) on the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the “English Arbitration Act”) which included a number of significant provisional...more
“…the law on illegality is not entirely clear in this jurisdiction.” This was the position expressed by BVI Commercial Court Judge, Justice Adrian Jack in his judgments of 17 June 2021 and 15 February 2022 in Briefline...more
In recent years there have been a number of cases in the BVI in which the Court has been asked to reopen judgments or orders prior to their sealing. In those cases, the BVI Court has consistently found - adopting the...more
According to a report by data platform Magnitt, the total funding secured by startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) amounted to approximately US$864 million in the first quarter of 2022. Startups in the UAE...more
In Convoy Collateral Ltd v Broad Idea International Ltd and Cho Kwai Chee [2021] UKPC 24, the majority judgment of Lord Leggatt in the Privy Council upheld the decision in Black Swan, overruling the Eastern Caribbean Court of...more
Welcome to the sixth edition of our Private Client Bulletin, bringing you the latest private client and trust news and insights from Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, BVI and Asia. This edition features articles on offshore...more
A recent decision in a British Virgin Islands court case has raised a number of questions regarding the enforcement of foreign judgments in offshore jurisdictions that have implemented firewall legislation, and highlights...more