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Sanctions:
None applicable
____________________________________________________
Offshore Jurisdiction Blacklists – Further Information:
As a recognised offshore finance jurisdiction this country may fall
under various country offshore jurisdiction blacklists.
____________________________________________________
US State Department Money Laundering Report - 2012:
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is a United Kingdom (UK) overseas
territory with a population of approximately 22,000. The economy
depends greatly on tourism and its offshore financial sector. BVI is
a well-established financial center offering accounting; banking
and legal services; captive insurance; company incorporations;
mutual funds administration; trust formation; and shipping
registration. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is the sole
supervisory authority responsible for the licensing and
supervision of financial institutions under the relevant statutes. As
of March 2011, there were 45,666 active companies, seven
licensed banks, 216 other fiduciary companies and 2,627
investment businesses registered with the FSC. The banking
sector has assets valued at $2.4 billion as of September 2011.
Exploitation of its offshore financial services, BVI’s unique share
structure that does not require a statement of authorized capital,
and the lack of mandatory filing of ownership information pose
significant money laundering risks.
Tourism accounts for 45% of the economy and employs the
majority of the workforce; however, financial services contribute
over half of government revenues. BVI’s proximity to the U.S.
Virgin Islands and the use of the U.S. dollar for its currency pose
additional risk factors for money laundering. The BVI are a major
target for drug traffickers, who use the area as a gateway to the
United States. Drug trafficking in general is a serious problem.
Do Financial Institutions engage in currency transactions related
to international narcotics trafficking that include significant
amounts of US currency; currency derived from illegal sales in the
U.S.; or that otherwise significantly affect the U.S.: YES
Criminalization of Money Laundering:
“All serious crimes” approach or “list” approach to predicate
crimes: All serious crimes
Legal persons covered: criminally: YES civilly: YES
Know-your-customer (KYC) rules:
Enhanced due diligence procedures for PEPs: Foreign: YES
Domestic: YES
KYC covered entities: Banks; currency exchanges; charities and
nonprofit associations; dealers in autos, yachts, and heavy
machinery; dealers in precious metals and stones; and leasing
companies
Suspicious Transaction Reporting (STR) Requirements:
Number of STRs received and time frame: 191 in 2010
Number of CTRs received and time frame: Not available
STR covered entities: Banks; currency exchanges; charities and
nonprofit associations; dealers in autos, yachts, and heavy
machinery; dealers in precious metals and stones; and leasing
companies
Money Laundering Criminal Prosecutions/Convictions:
Prosecutions: None in 2010
Convictions: None in 2010
Records exchange mechanism:
With U.S.: MLAT: YES Other mechanism: YES
With other governments/jurisdictions: YES
BVI is a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force,
(CFATF), a Financial Action Task Force-style regional body. Its
most recent mutual evaluation can be found here: http://www.cfatf-
gafic.org/downloadables/mer/Virgin_Islands_3rd_Round_MER_
(Final)_English.pdf
Enforcement and implementation issues and comments
The BVI has improved its international cooperation and
information exchange regime and has concluded and enforced
Tax Information Exchange Agreements with 20 countries,
including the U.S., which all contain provisions sufficient to allow
the BVI to exchange relevant information.
While BVI legislation has strengthened due diligence
requirements where a representative is acting on another person’
s behalf, or when the customer is resident in another country, and
has extended regulation to money value transfer service
operators, these laws are too recent to be evaluated. The FSC
has increased its staffing in order to meet the recommended
inspection and reporting requirements, especially in light of the
new entities covered under the law. The lack of prosecutions for
money laundering and a reported decline in number of
inspections suggests the FSC should work closely with law
enforcement and other authorities.
BVI needs to urgently clarify its publication of data - no data was
available for the number of STRs and prosecutions for 2011. In
addition, while real estate agents, lawyers, other independent
legal advisers, accountants, and dealers in precious metals and
stones are covered by the AML/CFT regulations, there appears to
be no effective mechanism (i.e., supervision) to ensure
compliance with AML/CFT requirements.
The British Virgin Islands is a United Kingdom (UK) Caribbean
overseas territory and cannot sign or ratify international
conventions in its own right. Rather, the UK is responsible for the
BVI’s international affairs and may arrange for the ratification of
any convention to be extended to the BVI. The 1988 Drug
Convention was extended to the BVI in 1995. The UN Convention
against Corruption was extended to the BVI in 2006. The
International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of
Terrorism and the UN Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime have not yet been extended to the BVI.
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Narcotics Report 2011 (introduction):
No Report available
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2011
(introduction):
No Report available
____________________________________________________
Links:
Worldwide AML Legislation (International Bar Association)
Financial Investigation Agency (FIA)
None applicable
____________________________________________________
Offshore Jurisdiction Blacklists – Further Information:
As a recognised offshore finance jurisdiction this country may fall
under various country offshore jurisdiction blacklists.
____________________________________________________
US State Department Money Laundering Report - 2012:
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is a United Kingdom (UK) overseas
territory with a population of approximately 22,000. The economy
depends greatly on tourism and its offshore financial sector. BVI is
a well-established financial center offering accounting; banking
and legal services; captive insurance; company incorporations;
mutual funds administration; trust formation; and shipping
registration. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is the sole
supervisory authority responsible for the licensing and
supervision of financial institutions under the relevant statutes. As
of March 2011, there were 45,666 active companies, seven
licensed banks, 216 other fiduciary companies and 2,627
investment businesses registered with the FSC. The banking
sector has assets valued at $2.4 billion as of September 2011.
Exploitation of its offshore financial services, BVI’s unique share
structure that does not require a statement of authorized capital,
and the lack of mandatory filing of ownership information pose
significant money laundering risks.
Tourism accounts for 45% of the economy and employs the
majority of the workforce; however, financial services contribute
over half of government revenues. BVI’s proximity to the U.S.
Virgin Islands and the use of the U.S. dollar for its currency pose
additional risk factors for money laundering. The BVI are a major
target for drug traffickers, who use the area as a gateway to the
United States. Drug trafficking in general is a serious problem.
Do Financial Institutions engage in currency transactions related
to international narcotics trafficking that include significant
amounts of US currency; currency derived from illegal sales in the
U.S.; or that otherwise significantly affect the U.S.: YES
Criminalization of Money Laundering:
“All serious crimes” approach or “list” approach to predicate
crimes: All serious crimes
Legal persons covered: criminally: YES civilly: YES
Know-your-customer (KYC) rules:
Enhanced due diligence procedures for PEPs: Foreign: YES
Domestic: YES
KYC covered entities: Banks; currency exchanges; charities and
nonprofit associations; dealers in autos, yachts, and heavy
machinery; dealers in precious metals and stones; and leasing
companies
Suspicious Transaction Reporting (STR) Requirements:
Number of STRs received and time frame: 191 in 2010
Number of CTRs received and time frame: Not available
STR covered entities: Banks; currency exchanges; charities and
nonprofit associations; dealers in autos, yachts, and heavy
machinery; dealers in precious metals and stones; and leasing
companies
Money Laundering Criminal Prosecutions/Convictions:
Prosecutions: None in 2010
Convictions: None in 2010
Records exchange mechanism:
With U.S.: MLAT: YES Other mechanism: YES
With other governments/jurisdictions: YES
BVI is a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force,
(CFATF), a Financial Action Task Force-style regional body. Its
most recent mutual evaluation can be found here: http://www.cfatf-
gafic.org/downloadables/mer/Virgin_Islands_3rd_Round_MER_
(Final)_English.pdf
Enforcement and implementation issues and comments
The BVI has improved its international cooperation and
information exchange regime and has concluded and enforced
Tax Information Exchange Agreements with 20 countries,
including the U.S., which all contain provisions sufficient to allow
the BVI to exchange relevant information.
While BVI legislation has strengthened due diligence
requirements where a representative is acting on another person’
s behalf, or when the customer is resident in another country, and
has extended regulation to money value transfer service
operators, these laws are too recent to be evaluated. The FSC
has increased its staffing in order to meet the recommended
inspection and reporting requirements, especially in light of the
new entities covered under the law. The lack of prosecutions for
money laundering and a reported decline in number of
inspections suggests the FSC should work closely with law
enforcement and other authorities.
BVI needs to urgently clarify its publication of data - no data was
available for the number of STRs and prosecutions for 2011. In
addition, while real estate agents, lawyers, other independent
legal advisers, accountants, and dealers in precious metals and
stones are covered by the AML/CFT regulations, there appears to
be no effective mechanism (i.e., supervision) to ensure
compliance with AML/CFT requirements.
The British Virgin Islands is a United Kingdom (UK) Caribbean
overseas territory and cannot sign or ratify international
conventions in its own right. Rather, the UK is responsible for the
BVI’s international affairs and may arrange for the ratification of
any convention to be extended to the BVI. The 1988 Drug
Convention was extended to the BVI in 1995. The UN Convention
against Corruption was extended to the BVI in 2006. The
International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of
Terrorism and the UN Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime have not yet been extended to the BVI.
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Narcotics Report 2011 (introduction):
No Report available
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2011
(introduction):
No Report available
____________________________________________________
Links:
Worldwide AML Legislation (International Bar Association)
Financial Investigation Agency (FIA)
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| Further Tables |
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*Please note that FATF deems that a country has significant aml deficiencies if any
of the 'Core' Recommendations, R1, R5, R10, R13, SRII, or SRIV are rated either
Partially of Non-Compliant. These are marked in red.
For FATF to remove a country from the regular follow-up process, it has to be rated
Compliant or Largely Compliant in the above mentioned Core Recommendations
and the following Key Recommendations: -
R3, R4, R23, R26, R35, R36, R40, SRI, SRIII, SRV
Please also note that any risk assessment should take into consideration all
follow-up reports.
of the 'Core' Recommendations, R1, R5, R10, R13, SRII, or SRIV are rated either
Partially of Non-Compliant. These are marked in red.
For FATF to remove a country from the regular follow-up process, it has to be rated
Compliant or Largely Compliant in the above mentioned Core Recommendations
and the following Key Recommendations: -
R3, R4, R23, R26, R35, R36, R40, SRI, SRIII, SRV
Please also note that any risk assessment should take into consideration all
follow-up reports.
| BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS |
| KnowYourCountry |
|
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| Last Updated: 16 April 2012 |