BVI Government Confirmed its commitment to Public Register of Beneficial Ownership

The government of the British Virgin Islands has approved the commitment to introduce public registers of beneficial ownership for BVI-incorporated companies. Andrew Fahie, the Premier and Minister of Finance of the jurisdiction, informed the House of Assembly that the government would work towards a publicly accessible register of beneficial ownership for companies.

The Premier also emphasized that the progress of this issue would be “in line with international standards and best practices as they develop globally” and would aspire to match the EU’s most recent anti-money-laundering directive. He also said: “In advancing this commitment, we will be informed at all times by global best practice at the time within a timeframe that we consider deliverable.”

According to the Foreign Office Minister for the Overseas Territories and Sustainable Development, the BVI would be adopting public registers by 2023.

BVI FSC Issued Statistical Bulletin for Q3 2018

Last week the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission has published the fifty-second volume of Quarterly Statistical Bulletin, where provided analysis and statistics on the financial services industry in the third quarter of 2018.

According to the information provided by the Registry of Corporate Affairs, which is responsible for maintaining the required Registers of Companies, in the three months ended on September 30, 2019 there were 9,575 Business Companies incorporated in the jurisdiction, which is an increase as compared to 9,126 BC’s registered in the second quarter of 2018, and a 25.34% increase compared to 7,639 companies incorporated in the third quarter of 2017. Total number of BCs on the BVI Register as at 30 Sept 2018 was 422,594. 99.86% of Business Companies registered in the BVI are Companies Limited by Shares.

There were 114 new Limited Partnerships formed in Q3 2019 - compared to 38 in the previous quarter of 2018 and 23 in the third quarter of 2017. As at 30 September there were 917 active Limited Partnerships as a result of the steady increase of their number. 

In Banking, Insolvency and Fiduciary services, there was 1 Restricted Banking License and 6 General Banking Licenses issued in the third quarter of 2018. Total Deposits rose by US$467,284 (27.92%) in Q3 2018 when compared to total deposits in Q3 2017 and by US$119,544(5.91%) when compared to Q2 2018. For BVI licensed commercial banks, net interest income was US$68,648 - this is 4.81% increase when compared to Q3 2017, and 46.97% increase when compared to Q2 2018. Also, in Q3 2018 3 new Investment Business Licences were issued, making total number to reach 411 at 30 September 2018.

According to the statistics of the Enforcement Committee, there were 53 enforcement actions levied; 1 administrative penalty, 4 public statement, 1 licence revocation and 2 strongly worded letters against licensees. More information and details can be found on the home page of the Financial Services Commission.

BVI FSC Published New Amendment Order to BVI Business Companies Act

The BVI Financial Services Commission has published BVI Business Companies Act Amendment Order, which came into force on 1 September 2018, and which reduced maximum penalty for late filing of Registers of Directors from US$8,000 to US$5,000. Also, the Order provided for the issue of refund in cases where penalty over US$5,000 was previously applied, and the refund process was already started.

BVI Business Companies that were incorporated before 1 April 2016 were given time until 31 March 2017 to file Registers of Directors at the Registry of Corporate Affairs, and prior to the amendment BVI BCs that failed to file them were subjected to escalating penalty fees.

The registrar is authorized by this Amendment Order to strike existing companies from the Register if they fail to file RODs by the deadline of 31 December 2018, and the companies will need to pay all penalties and fees in order to be restored.

BVI Government Appoints Legal Council to Advise on Public Register

In the press briefing held on May 30, BVI Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr Orlando Smith, announced that the government has appointed legal counsel to advise on potential legal issues related to the public register of beneficial ownership imposed by Britain. This appointment followed the UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill which requires Overseas Territories, including the BVI, to make public beneficial ownership of all registered companies. With this Bill, the UK receives the right to implement sanctions on individuals, companies and states, and address money-laundering after the Brexit.

BVI Premier said that the legal team “is confident that the imposition of a public register would raise serious constitutional and human rights issues and would be subject to constitutional challenge.” 

A week earlier, BVI diplomat Benito Wheatley has informed the British government that the UK decision to force public registers of beneficial ownership will negatively impact the jurisdiction’s financial services sector that makes more than 60 percent of government revenue.

BVI Premier and Opposition Speak about UK Amendments

After the discussions with the UK parliamentarians concerning the controversial amendments to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill, BVI Premier Dr Orlando Smith made the statement where he said: “Be in no doubt, that if the UK Parliament proceeds with seeking to impose public registers on the British Virgin Islands, this could fundamentally alter our relationship with the UK and we will take all necessary steps to protect our constitutional rights.”

In his turn, the Opposition Leader Andrew Fahie agreed that this is a “constitutional overreach”, and said that the Opposition and Premier “stand united on protecting the constitutional rights of the British Virgin Islands.” 

The UK amendments impose the requirement for its Overseas Territories including the British Virgin Islands to make public the names of beneficial owners of offshore companies incorporated in the jurisdictions. This could bring harm to the financial services sector which is so important to the BVI, comprising about 60 percent of its annual revenue.

In another press release, the BVI Premier noted that the BVI will not impose public registers unless they are a global standard.

British House of Lords Voting Against Public Beneficial Owners Register

The amendment proposal for the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and four other British Overseas Territories to implement public register of beneficial owners behind offshore companies registered in these jurisdiction was rejected in British House of Lords, by 211 to 201. The peers voted during the debate on the proposed Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill; the public register requirement was for the purposes of “preventing money-laundering”.

The amendment, if accepted, would allow the UK government to demand the offshore countries to provide details of companies’ owners. It was already the fourth time when the idea of public registers was discussed in the House of Lords.

In the opinion of the Conservative member of the Lords who argued against the proposal the law enforcement agencies do not support public registers as they actually don’t help law enforcement. He also noted that the UK overseas countries already shown themselves“extremely efficient in responding to the requests of policing and other agencies”.

Other concerns expressed included the potential identity theft that can be facilitated by the public register of beneficial ownership, as well as possible loss of business in favour of competitors. There were also warnings against legislating for self-governing overseas territories.

BVI FSC Issued Statistical Bulletin for Q3 2017

In the end of November, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission issued the forty-eighth volume of Quarterly Statistical Bulletin, providing information on financial services activities in the territory for the third quarter of 2017. Statistics of the Registry of Corporate Affairs shows that 7,639 new business companies were incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in this period, as compared to 7,621 companies registered in the second quarter of 2017, and 7,766 companies registered in the third quarter of the previous year. Cumulative number of BVI BCs was 413,273 as at 30 September 2017. The Registry also published information about 24 Private Trust Companies and 23 Limited Partnerships incorporated in Q3 2017, cumulative number as at 30 September 2017 was 1,121 and 758, respectively.

According to Investment Business statistics, 14 new licences were granted to Approved Investment Managers, 3 licences granted to Professional Mutual Funds, and 2 licences to Private Mutual Funds. In total, 11 funds were registered/recognized in the third quarter of the year. 

In the reported period, there were 28 Insolvency Practitioners in the BVI in Q3 2017 (27 in Q2 2017, and 26 in Q3 2016). Cumulative number of Insurance Licensees and Functionaries as at 30 September of this year remained the same as by the end of the previous quarter. 

In the sphere of International Co-operation, in the third quarter of 2017 there were 49 Formal Incoming Requests, 1 Formal Request, 1 Formal Outgoing Request, 153 Enforcement Matters and 17 Enforcement Investigations. Of Ongoing Supervision Matters referred to the Licensing and Supervisory Committee, 79 referred to Banking, Insolvency and Fiduciary services, 110 referred to Investment Business, and 114 to Insurance. Other relevant information and statistics can be found on the website of BVI FSC.

Quarterly Statistical Bulletin Issued by BVI FSC

The BVI Financial Services Commission published the forty-seventh volume of Quarterly Statistical Bulletin, which analyses financial services activities in the jurisdiction in the second quarter of 2017. In this period, 7,621 new business companies were incorporated in the BVI, compared to 8,695 incorporations in the previous quarter and 6,767 incorporations in the second quarter of 2016. By the end of the second quarter of 2017, cumulative number of companies in the jurisdiction made 395,684. Also, there were 29 Private Trust Companies and 22 Limited Partnerships registered in the period; their cumulative number as at 30 June, 2017 was 1,094 and 712, respectively.

According to Investment Business statistics, 6 new licences were granted to approved investment managers, and 13 Mutual funds were registered/recognised in the second quarter. In Insolvency services, total number of insolvency practitioners reached 27 (26 in the first quarter, 24 in the second quarter of 2016). In Insurance, there were 3 newly issued insurance licences, cumulative number being 175. 

International Co-operation matters in the reported quarter included 19 formal and 4 informal incoming requests, 1 formal outgoing request, 147 enforcement matters and 26 enforcement investigations. 132 ongoing supervision matters were referred to LSC (the Licensing and Supervisory Committee) in the sphere of Banking, Insolvency and Fiduciary services, 38 in Investment Business, and 45 in Insurance. Further and complete information about the financial services statistics in the BVI territory can be found on the website of the Commission.

BVI FSC Published Statistical Bulletin for Q1 2016

The BVI Financial Services Commission has published the forty-second volume of its Quarterly Statistical Bulletin, providing figures and information on financial services industry in the jurisdiction in Q1 2016. According to the statistics published by the Registry of Corporate Affairs, in the announced period there were 9,456 new companies incorporated, along with 27 Private Trust Companies and 20 Limited Partnerships. The number of company incorporations is higher than in the previous quarter (Q4 2015) but lower than in the first quarter of 2015. Cumulative number of companies incorporated as at 31 March 2016 was 466,081. At that moment, there were also 1,112 Private Trust Companies and 780 Limited Partnerships registered in the BVI.

In Investment Business, 5 new Investment Business Licences were granted in the first quarter of 2016, and cumulative number of Investment Business Licences achieved 467 as at 31 March 2016. Also, 8 Professional Mutual Fund and 4 Private Mutual Fund Licences were granted in the reported period. In the first quarter of 2016, there were 23 fully licences Insolvency Practitioners in the jurisdiction.

According to Legal and Enforcement and International Cooperation statistics, there were 52 formal and 5 informal requests in the first quarter of the year, 47 Enforcement Matters and 21 Enforcement Investigations. 

In 2016, seven Trade Marks Agents were registered in the British Virgin Islands, of them 3 Individual and 4 Partnership Agents. In the first quarter of 2016, 78 new Trade Marks applications were registered in the jurisdiction.

BVI Faces Consequences of ‘Panama Papers’ Leak

BVI authorities said that the leak of confidential data from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca specializing in offshore financial services, which included about 11 million documents, prompted them to look for any breaches of financial regulations in the Caribbean territory. BVI-registered companies play the most important role in the leaked records, the same way as BVI takes its prominent place in the global offshore financial industry.

BVI financial regulating services have issued a statement where they say that they will ‘pursue a thorough investigation through the BVI's competent authorities, and further action will be taken, where necessary’.

Last year, there were 9,388 company incorporations in the BVI, down from 11,436 the previous year. The BVI is said to have ‘rigorous’ regulatory oversight of its financial sector and adhere to international standards.

BVI FSC Issued 40th Volume of Statistical Bulletin

The BVI Financial Services Commission has published the fortieth volume of the Quarterly Statistical Bulletin, providing statistics on financial services activities in the jurisdiction in the third quarter of 2015. According to the statistics of the Registry of Corporate Affairs, in this period 11,951 new companies were incorporated in BVI, as compared to 11,059 companies registered in the second quarter of the year, and 11,376 companies registered in the third quarter of 2014. As at 30 September 2015, cumulative number of Business Companies registered in the British Virgin Islands was 475,309.

In Investment Business sector, 1 Investment Business licence was granted in the third quarter of 2015, as well as 23 Professional and 3 Private Mutual Fund licences. As at 30 September 2015, 483 Investment Business licences, and 1,463 Professional, 484 Private and 77 Public Mutual Fund licences were granted in the British Virgin Islands.

In the third quarter of 2015, there were 25 Licenced Insolvency Practitioners functioning in the jurisdiction. According to the Legal and Enforcement and Co-operation Statistics, there were 64 International Co-operation Matters with formal requests, 6 Co-operation Matters with informal requests, 13 Enforcement Matters and 23 Enforcement Investigations. Other information, key figures and statistics on the financial services in the British Virgin Islands in the third quarter of 2015 can be found on the home page of BVI Financial Services Commission.

Annual BVI Asia 2015 Business Conference Held Backed by BVI House Asia

The Business BVI ASIA 2015 annual regional conference which took place on September 23 attracted more than 100 offshore industry experts and leaders from the most progressive businesses in Asia and British Virgin Islands. The conference named "Pivoting to Asia - A View Beyond the Horizon" was sponsored by BVI House Asia already for the second year.

The conference presentations included "China's One Belt One Road Regional Development Strategy: Long Term Opportunities for the Offshore Sector," made by Dr Qian Liu, director of Economics Unit, The Economist Group, Beijing; "Future Disruption in the Offshore Space: Where will the next 'Uber' come from?"; and "Emerging Wealth in China: Millionaire Households and Ultra High-Net Worth Households."

It was stated by Dr.Qian Liu that, with outbound direct investment from China having increased 35% since 2005, "Chinese companies investing in international markets want the certainty that BVI structures, backed by BVI courts and English common law, provide, rather than relying on the courts of countries in emerging markets. Second, China's fast-rising middle class will want trust funds, private wealth management and other services that the BVI can arrange. Finally, the Chinese middle class wants to spend more on tourism, a trend that began in Southeast Asia and continues in Hawaii, Tahiti and the Caribbean. As a tourist destination, the BVI sits on the rising demand for tourism."

UK Opposition Leader Issued Letter to UK Overseas Territories

The leader of the UK Opposition Ed Miliband issued a letter to the leaders of British overseas territories, including the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and others, where he said they would have six months to make a public register of offshore companies, in order not to be put on an international blacklist of countries that refused to take measures against tax avoidance.

Mr. Miliband said: "If any Overseas Territory or Crown Dependency does not meet this deadline, we will ask the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to put them on the OECD's tax haven blacklist."

The plan of the leader of the Labour Party was criticised by Conservative Treasury minister David Gauke who said: "the UK is the only country in the OECD committed to a public central register. He wants the OECD to blacklist countries if they don't do the same as us. But that would mean blacklisting every single country in the OECD apart from the UK – countries like the US, France and Germany.”

BVI FSC Issued Statistical Bulletin for the Fourth Quarter of 2013

In the beginning of this week, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission published the thirty-third volume of Quarterly Statistical Bulletin, providing information on financial services industry in the jurisdiction during the last quarter of 2013. According to the statistics of incorporations and registrations, 11,376 new companies (as compared to 12,809 in the third quarter of 2013 and 14,783 in the fourth quarter of the previous year), as well as 24 limited partnerships and 48 private trust companies were registered in this period. Cumulative number of business companies in BVI as at 31 December 2013 was 459,882.

According to the bar graph included in the Statistical Bulletin and reflecting dynamics of business company incorporations in the jurisdiction during the years 2009-2013, there is a decline in the number of new companies in 2013, especially as compared to the years 2011 and 2012, when the peak amount of incorporations could be observed. In 2013, the number of newly incorporated companies is still higher than in 2009. 

By the Banking and Fiduciary Services statistics, four entities were licensed in the fourth quarter of 2013, and total number of licensed entities achieved 235 as at 31 December 2013. In Investment Business, 43 new licenses were granted in the reported period, of which 33 were issued to professional mutual funds, and 8 were investment business licenses. Four licenses were granted in Insurance industry sector.

In the sphere of Legal and Enforcement and International Cooperation, there were 16 international cooperation matters with formal requests, requiring the disclosure of non-public information, and 35 enforcement matters. Also, in the fourth quarter of 2013, 132 ongoing supervision matters were registered in Banking and Fiduciary Services sector, 161 in Investment Business, and 32 in Insurance.

Further information, statistics and analysis of BVI financial services industry in Q4 2013 can be found on the home page of the Commission.

New Cybercrime Legislation Act Introduced in BVI

Last week, a bill was introduced in the British Virgin Islands House of Assembly named The Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act. This legislation document provides for fines of up to US$1 million or prison sentences of up to 20 years for individuals that illegally leak confidential information, and sentences of up to 15 years and/or fines of US$500,000 for anyone publishing such data, and applies to any person of any nationality. Actually, the law followed the global leak of information in the last year, published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and revealing private information on BVI companies contained in the secret files.

According to the survey of the industry, conducted by Offshore Incorporations Limited, the ICIJ’s reports had caused a “crisis of confidence” in the offshore industry and decline in offshore company incorporations, and particularly in the British Virgin Islands jurisdiction. Most offshore professionals stated that the disclosures have reduced demand for offshore financial vehicles or, in other cases, prompted clients to move their business from one financial centre to another. 

Press freedom manager of the International Press Institute (IPI) Barbara Trionfi said that "It is vital that the House of Assembly amend the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Bill to include a clear exception for information in the public interest, as journalists must be free to report on issues that affect democratic accountability." She added: "We are also concerned that the disproportionately harsh punishments foreseen by this bill, as well as a lack of specificity as to which information is protected, will contribute to a dangerous chilling effect on the media."

Thirty-Second Volume of Quarterly Statistical Bulletin Published by BVI FSC

BVI Financial Services Commission has published the thirty-second volume of its Quarterly Statistical Bulletin, comprising statistics and other important information on financial services industry in the British Virgin Islands during the three months period ended September 2013. In the reported period, 12,809 Business Companies were incorporated in the jurisdiction, an increase if compared to 12,478 companies in the second quarter of 2013, and less than 16,251 companies incorporated in the same quarter of 2012. Cumulative number of companies registered in the BVI as at 30 September 2013 was 480,072. Also, there were 16 Limited Partnerships and 23 Private Trust Companies registered in BVI in Q3 2013, as compared to 33 and 16, respectively, in the previous quarter of this year. There were 908 Limited Partnerships and 556 Private Trust Companies registered in the jurisdiction at the end of this quarter.

In the sector of Banking and Fiduciary Services, there were 2 entities (trusts) licensed in the third quarter of 2013. In Investment Business, 39 new licenses were granted, as compared to 30 in the second quarter of 2013, and 29 in the third quarter of 2012. In Insolvency Services industry, there were 25 Insolvency Practitioners. 

In the sphere of Legal and Enforcement and International Cooperation, there were 16 Formal and 4 Informal Requests for International Co-operation, and 44 Enforcement Matters registered. There were also 94 Ongoing Supervision Matters referred to the Licensing and Supervisory Committee and related to Banking and Fiduciary Services; also, 299 related to Investment Business, 47 related to Insurance, and 2 related to Insolvency Services. There were 3 Onsite Inspections in Q3 2013, all of them related to Trust Companies.

BVI Presents on China Offshore Summit

Martin Crawford, chief executive of Offshore Incorporations Ltd, has referred to the status of the British Virgin Islands jurisdiction as the leading one for Chinese investors and entrepreneurs, during the China Offshore Summit recently held in Shanghai and attended by more than 350 Chinese wealth planners, bankers, lawyers, and offshore professionals.

In his presentation he named the reasons why the BVI is the most complete jurisdiction for the needs of Chinese investors, among them opportunities for non tax-driven structures such as asset protection, wealth management, funds management, investment holdings, trading, special purpose vehicles, and listing vehicles for IPOs. It was stated by him as an example that 60 per cent of the multi-million dollar London properties, owned by Chinese citizens, were purchased through BVI entities.

The chief executive of one of offshore industry leaders made his presentation on behalf of the BVI International Finance Centre (BVI IFC), platinum sponsor of the summit. Christopher McKenzie, representative of BVI law firm O'Neal Webster, promoted BVI trusts on a panel discussion titled Strategies for Family Business Succession, while Janice Skelton of Newhaven Corporate Services described the benefits of the BVI on a panel on Selecting Jurisdictions for Chinese Private Wealth Management. Barry Mitchell and Charlie Sparrow of law firm Maples and Calder presented on the benefits of BVI Trusts for Asian IPOs. On the second day, there was a two-hour special feature on the BVI jurisdiction, which included presentations and panel discussions under the theme BVI: The Complete Offshore Solution. There was also an update on BVI House Asia, established in Hong Kong this year.

BVI Dominates by Volume of New Offshore Company Incorporations

According to a report from Appleby Global, one of the world’s largest providers of offshore legal, fiduciary and administration services. the British Virgin Islands jurisdiction “continues to dominate” by the volume of new offshore company registrations, with a six-fold lead over the Cayman Islands, which is the nearest comparator of the BVI.

The Group’s latest On the Register Report is devoted to the analysis of company incorporations in the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, the Crown Dependencies, Mauritius and Seychelles, and how activity in these offshore jurisdictions compares to financial centres such as the UK and Hong Kong. 

Appleby stated in the release that the number of new offshore company registrations decreased both in the BVI and the Cayman Islands in the second half of 2012, with a 12% drop to 29,225 new company registrations in the British Virgin Islands, and 13% drop to 4,176 new registrations in the Cayman Islands. Appleby reported an overall decrease of 3.6% in company incorporation activity in the major offshore markets in the second half of 2012, indicating the impact of uncertain global economic conditions on the majority of the offshore markets.

By words of Farah Ballands, the partner and global head of fiduciary & administration services at Appleby, “There are signs that 2013 will be a watershed year in terms of seeing a universal return to pre-2009 activity levels across the offshore jurisdictions.”

BVI FSC Issued 29th Volume of Quarterly Statistical Bulletin

Twenty-ninth volume of Quarterly Statistical Bulletin was issued by the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, providing statistics and information on the financial services activities in the territory in the fourth quarter of 2012. According to the statistics of the Registry of Corporate Affairs, 14,783 new companies were incorporated in BVI during this period, as compared to 16,251 companies in the third quarter of 2012, and 12,974 in the fourth quarter of 2011. Cumulative number of companies newly registered in the BVI was 459,005 as at 31 December 2012. In the fourth quarter of 2012, 36 Limited Partnerships and 21 Private Trust Companies were registered.

According to Banking and Fiduciary services statistics, total assets of BVI-registered commercial banks in the fourth quarter of 2012 were $2,472,3mln; deposits were $1,827mln; total shareholders’ equity $400,7mln; net interest income was $44,3mln.

In Investment Business sector, 6 new Investment Business Licences were granted in the reported period. In Mutual Funds sector, 27 new licences were issued, of which 19 are professional and 8 are private licences. The Bulletin includes year-by-year statistics, from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the fourth quarter of 2012, showing the dynamics of how cumulative number of Active Mutual Funds was changing in this period. From Q4 2009 to Q4 2012, the number of Active Public Funds decreased from 216 to 151; the number of private funds decreased from 816 to 577; and the number of professional funds fell from 1,905 to 1,590.
There were 23 Insolvency Practitioners in the British Virgin Islands by the end of the fourth quarter of 2012.

Also, in the fourth quarter of 2012 there were 55 Enforcement Matters in the sector of Legal and Enforcement and International Co-operation. Ongoing Supervision Matters Referred to LSC included 103 matters in Banking and Fiduciary Services, 259 in Investment Business, 139 in Insurance and 10 in Insolvency Services.

BVI FSC Issued Statistical Bulletin for Second Quarter of 2012

Last week, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission published Quarterly Statistical Bulletin, providing information and analysis of financial services activities in the BVI jurisdiction. The newly issued Volume 27 includes statistics for the second quarter of 2012.

According to the information of the Registry of Corporate Affairs, in the second quarter of the year 15,200 International Business Companies and 15 limited partnerships were incorporated in the BVI, as compared to 17,865 companies and 18 limited partnerships registered in the first quarter of 2012. Cumulative number of companies incorporated in the BVI as at 30 June 2012 was 447,801, and the number of limited partnerships was 442.

In the Banking and Fiduciary Services sector, one Money Services/Financial Business licence was issued in Q2 2012. The Banking sector statistics for commercial banks showed the following: total assets – $2, 39 million, deposits - $1, 73 million, net income - $11, 6 million, profit margin – 38,57%.

In Investment Business Sector, 10 new Investment Business Licences, 17 professional and 5 private licences for Mutual Funds were granted in the second quarter of the year. Cumulative number of investment business licences as at 30 June 2012 was 532; total number of professional mutual funds was 1621. Cumulative number of active mutual funds was lower in the reported second quarter of 2012, as compared to the same periods of 2011, 2010 and 2009.

In Q2 2012, total number of insolvency practitioners was 24 (25 in Q2 2011, 20 in Q2 2010). According to insurance statistics, one captive insurance licence was granted in this period.

According to Legal and Enforcement and International Cooperation statistics, total number of international cooperation matters in the second quarter of 2012 was 42 (42 in Q1 2012, and 44 in Q2 2011). Among ongoing Supervision Matters reviewed by the Licensing and Supervisory Committee, 110 referred to Banking and Fiduciary Services sector, 446 referred to Investment Business sector, and 60 referred to Insurance sector.