British Virgin Islands Mutual Funds - Recognised Jurisdictions

January 2001

At a recent seminar held by the Registrar of Mutual Funds in the British Virgin Islands, a full list of the countries currently classified as ‘recognised jurisdictions’ under the Mutual Funds Act 1996 ("the Act") was disclosed. Malta has recently been officially added to this list, which brings the full list of jurisdictions recognised under the Act to 17. These are:

The British Virgin Islands
Belgium
Bermuda
France
Guernsey
Hong Kong
Ireland
Isle of Man
Jersey
Luxembourg
Malta
Singapore
Spain
Switzerland
The Netherlands
United Kingdom
United States of America

The Act requires any person who provides fund administration or fund management services "in, or from within, the British Virgin Islands" ("BVI") to be licenced under the Act. This section does not apply however, to persons who are not ordinarily resident or domiciled within the BVI, are licenced as a manager or administrator of mutual funds under the laws of a recognised jurisdiction, and have received written permission to carry on business as a fund administrator or fund manager. [s22]

Attendees at the seminar were also informed however, that jurisdictions other than those listed above would be considered on their individual merits as jurisdictions. The intention of ‘recognising jurisdictions’ is to ensure that only persons from within jurisdictions with ‘appropriate’ levels of regulation are permitted to carry on such services in, or from within, the BVI. While the list is intended to document those countries which are presently considered to fulfill this criteria, it is not intended that countries currently omitted from the list do not.