British Virgin Islands (BVI) has been an attractive place for incorporation a private company due to its high confidentiality. However, under regulation of BVI laws, there are some documents and information about a BVI company that a third party can obtain from public and third party sources.
In general, only the company, its registered agent, or any person authorised in writing by the company shall have access to the company’s registers.
A company’s registered agent is bound by a duty of confidentiality and, except under disclosure orders and foreign competent authorities, will not disclose to a third party any documents or information relating to the company held by it.
General information
A company is required to make very few filings under the Act. Therefore, only limited documents and information about the company can be obtained from a search of the records. A company research will generally reveal the following information as follows:
The name and address of its registered agent;
The certificate of incorporation and any certificate of change of name;
Its memorandum and articles of association and any amendment to, or restatement of, them;
Its location of its registered office;
The status of the company( which if it is in good standing);
If the company has paid its annual fee
Other information
Other information as follows may be disclosed in a company search:
Particulars of security over any of company’s assets;
Articles of arrangement if the company has entered into an arrangement;
Articles of merger if the company has merged, or proposed to merge, with another company or foreign body corporate;
Register of directors if the company make the copy filed with the Registrar publicly available
A notice of appointment filed by a liquidator or receiver.
Certificate of good standing
It is possible for any person to request the Registrar to issue a certificate of good standing in respect of a company.
The certificate will confirm the following matters in relation to the company:
its name is recorded in the Register of Companies (the Register) maintained by the Registrar
under the Act;
it has paid all fees and penalties due and payable under the Act;
it has filed with the Registrar a copy of its register of directors which is complete;
whether, at the date of the certificate:
◦ it has filed any articles of merger or consolidation, or articles of arrangement, that have not yet become effective;
◦ it is in voluntary (i.e. solvent) liquidation under the Act;
◦ it is in insolvent liquidation, or receivership, under the Insolvency Act, 2003 (as amended);
◦ it is in administrative receivership; or
◦ proceedings to strike the company's name off the Register have been instituted.
All information in this article is only for the purpose of information sharing, instead of professional suggestion. Kaizen will not assume any responsibility for loss or damage.
A British Virgin Islands company is required to renew its registration, registered agent and registered office in the year following the year of registration and each year thereafter (all together known as basic annual renewal). The amounts of basic annual renewal fees are USD950 and USD1,850 for companies with a capital of 50,000 shares and more than 50,000 share respectively.
British Virgin Islands (BVI) has been an attractive place for incorporation a private company due to its high confidentiality. However, under regulation of BVI laws, there are some documents and information about a BVI company that a third party can obtain from public and third party sources.
Politically the British Virgin Islands enjoy the best of both worlds, having the ideal combination of responsibility for its internal self-government and being a dependent territory of the United Kingdom. It must be emphasized however that the administration of BVI Offshore Companies and Trusts and any legal matters so arising, such as claims against island based entities by foreign tax authorities, is solely within the jurisdiction of the BVI courts.
BVI International Business Companies Act, 1984 ("IBC Act") provides for the incorporation and administration of the International Business Company ("IBC"). It is a requirement that IBC's have a registered office and registered agent in the British Virgin Islands where a copy of the share register and imprint of the corporate seal is kept.