BVI files evidence to UK Offshore Inquiry

In the beginning of July, the BVI government has submitted evidence to the United Kingdom's parliamentary committee's offshore inquiry. With this move, the jurisdiction became the latest offshore financial center in a growing list to have this done.

With the submission, the territory's government made an attempt to convey the message that the British Virgin Islands is widely recognized as a jurisdiction operating a robust regulatory and supervisory regime in financial services, and that it has a well-established system of international cooperation. Its system of international cooperation has been recognized by such international organizations as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to Lorna Smith, Executive Director of the BVI International Finance Centre, this is the strong message to have been processed to the Inquiry into Offshore Financial Centres by the UK Parliament's Treasury Select Committee. She also explained that BVI has proved that “it is up to the task of maintaining a high quality of regulation as it grows and develops".

Besides BVI, evidence has been submitted to the inquiry by the authorities in the Cayman Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and Bermuda.