BVI Hosted Meeting of Winair, Air France and KLM

On January 9, 2017, Winair, Air France and KLM had a joint sales and marketing meeting in the British Virgin Islands, with the purpose to share the latest positive developments between Air France, KLM and Winair which will enhance the market. The companies shared their schedules, traffic patterns and growth of European customers with stakeholders in the BVI.

The participants also discussed the planned codeshare between Winair and KLM and will further enhance connections to the BVI. The code share agreement between Winair and Air France cause the 100% yearly increases of French market growth to the BVI, and the planned codeshare with KLM will unite the route structures of Air France, KLM and Winair and promote better connections to the BVI and other Caribbean countries at a lower price.

Winair (Windward Islands Airways International NV) is a government-owned regional airline, providing air transportation in the Caribbean region, having interline partners with 11 airlines from North and South America, Europe and the Caribbean, and a codeshare agreement with Air France.

BVI FSC Issues 44th Volume of Quarterly Statistical Bulletin

BVI Financial Services Commission has published the forty fourth volume of Quarterly Statistical Bulletin for the third quarter of the year ended September 2016. In the reported period there were 7,766 new companies, 24 Private Trust companies and 27 Limited Partnerships incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (6,767, 23 and 25 respectively in the second quarter of 2016). Cumulative number of BVI companies as at 30 September 2016 was 447,503, also there were 1,120 Private Trust companies and 751 Limited Partnerships in the jurisdiction.

In the third quarter of 2016, three Investment Business Licences were granted, according to Investment Business statistics; also, three professional and four private Mutual Funds licences. There were 26 fully licensed insolvency practitioners in the jurisdiction in this period. 

In the sphere of Legal and Enforcement and International Co-operation, there were 29 formal incoming and 47 outgoing requests for international co-operation, 63 enforcement matters and 17 enforcement investigation cases. Ongoing supervision matters referred to LSC in Q3 2016 included 130 related to Banking, Insolvency and Fiduciary services, 98 related to Investment Business, and 28 related to Insurance.

BVI on the List of Countries for AEOI Consultations with Switzerland

British Virgin Islands is included in the list of the countries with which the Swiss Federal Department of Finance has launched a consultation on the introduction of the automatic exchange of information in tax matters (AEOI). The consultation will be held until March 15, 2017, and the AEOI for the listed countries is expected to enter into force on January 1, 2018, with first exchanges to start in 2019.

According to the Federal Department of Finance, the introduction of the AEOI with the new countries will confirm international commitment of Switzerland to implement the AEOI standards. 

The FDF said that these countries, which along with the BVI include Andorra, Argentina, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Chile, India, Israel, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, the Seychelles, and some others, adhere to the principle of speciality and implement appropriate measures to safeguard the confidentiality of the data exchanged.

In 2017, Switzerland will introduce the AEOI with EU member states, Australia, Iceland, Norway, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man.