BVI Finance This Week 23/07/21

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26Jul

BVI Finance This Week 23/07/21

26 Jul, 2021 | View Counts (804) |Return|

FRIDAY 23 JULY 2021

TAXING TIMES - BVI FINANCE BRINGS EXPERTS TOGETHER FOR DISCUSSION ON THE IMPACT OF GLOBAL TAX PROPOSALS

Oliver Cooper

Lisa Penn-Lettsome

Mark Pragnell

Geoff Cook

On Friday 16 July, BVI Finance convened a panel of experts to discuss the implications of a proposed tax reforms including a Global Minimum Corporate Tax rate, as recently agreed upon by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), G7 and G20 countries, and what this could mean for International Finance Centres (IFCs) including the British Virgin Islands (BVI). A common theme of the discussion was the mis-interpretation and reporting of the new proposals, specifically the imposing of a global minimum corporate tax rate currently proposed at 15%.

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THE PROPOSED MINIMUM CORPORATE TAX RATE: WHAT BUSINESSES NEED TO KNOW

For years, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and G20 countries have prioritised the development of a standardised approach to international taxation, including how to tax the digital economy. A recent proposal may indicate consensus — along with a new international tax architecture — is coming.

In 2015, more than 130 countries collectively known as the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, or IF, partnered to create the BEPS program. The international collaboration is designed to “equip governments with domestic and international rules and instruments to address tax avoidance, ensuring that profits are taxed where economic activities generating the profits are performed and where value is created.”

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RECENT LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BVI - JULY 2021

Michael Killourhy

Simon Schilder

In this bi-annual briefing we review recent important BVI legal developments you need to be aware of. This includes information on the following recent laws that have passed in BVI:

· Application for interim relief in support of foreign proceedings put on a statutory footing -

7 January 2021

· Annual return reporting requirements for all fiduciary services licensees - 15 February 2021

· Extension of economic substance requirements to limited partnerships without a legal

personality - 29 June 2021

· Data protection - 9 July 2021

· Electronic filing, transactions and transfer of Funds - 9 July 2021

· New trust legislation - 9 July 2021

· New gaming and betting controls - 9 July 2021

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NEW NFT MARKETPLACE BOAX SUPPORTED BY BOA FINTECH ECOSYSTEM TO BE LAUNCHED IN JULY

The NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) market continues to heat up as new participants join the game, including global sports franchises, major fashion brands, famous artists and musicians etc. BOAX, a new premium NFT marketplace founded by Ian Wen and his BOA Financial Group team that allows users to trade rare digital assets online, will be soft-launched in July 2021. It will form part of the ecosystem supported by Bank of Asia, a digital assets friendly bank licensed and headquartered in the British Virgin Islands powered by FinTech. The first NFT artwork released will be Olympic Happiness originally created by Dr. Dominic Man-Kit Lam who is one of the most well-known international artists based in Hong Kong. This will be one of the very first Olympic themed NFT artworks in the world as well. The exclusive Olympic Happiness NFT will be available for bidding on the BOAX NFT Marketplace on 23 July 2021, in sync with the grand opening of the 2021 Olympic Games.

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POLICY PAPER ON BONA VACANTIA FOR COMPANIES PUBLISHED

Bona vacantia is the legal term used to describe property that has fallen into the ownership of the Crown because it has been abandoned or left unclaimed and ownerless.

Property will become bona vacantia if an individual dies in circumstances where either there is no Will and/or the list of heirs under succession law has been exhausted without finding a person entitled to the deceased individual’s estate. This policy does not deal with assets of individuals.

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BVI COSTS: FURTHER GUIDANCE FROM THE COURT OF APPLEAL

Eleanor Morgan

The Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal has provided further guidance on the recovery of costs in the BVI under the Legal Profession Act, 2015, prompting the BVI Commercial Court to question whether legislative change is needed.

Following the advent of the Legal Profession Act, 2015 (the LPA)1 in 2015, the BVI Commercial Court and the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal (the COA) have been grappling with the question of recoverable costs under the LPA and its impact on practice and procedure in the BVI.

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BVI ECONOMIC SUBSTANCE UPDATE – LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS AND INVESTMENT FUNDS

Phillip Graham

Joshua Mangeot

The Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act 2018 (the ESA) was updated on 29 June 2021, with consequential amendments being made to the Beneficial Ownership Secure Search System Act, 2017 (BOSS) on 16 July 2021 as well.

The key high–level points to note are the inclusion of limited partnerships without legal personality in the regime and an express carve-out clarifying that “investment fund business” is not a relevant activity requiring economic substance.

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