BVI Stats Report Shows Growth In Offshore Sector
The British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission statistical bulletin
for the first quarter of 2006 has shown little change in the composition of
the offshore banking sector, but encouraging growth in the number of professional
funds and business companies incorporating in the jurisdiction. According to the bulletin, published on the BVI FSC's website last week, during
the first quarter of 2006, one new general banking licence was granted and the
total assets for the banking industry stood at approximately US$2.44 billion.
Currently, there are only nine institutions which have been licensed to operate
in and from within the BVI. Meanwhile, the bulletin reported that the jurisdiction's trust sector has experienced
moderate growth and has been growing at a rate of 4% annually since 1995. Professional funds are the most popular funds constituted in the BVI, and the
number recognised in the BVI continues to grow. There was a 46% increase in
the number of professional funds recognised in the first quarter of 2006 compared
to the same quarter in 2005, and a 54% increase from the previous quarter. The number of private funds registered however, decreased by 11% compared to
the first quarter of 2005 and by 22%
compared to the fourth quarter of 2005. At the end of March, 2006, 58% of the active funds were professional funds,
33% were private funds and 9% were public funds. The Segregated Portfolio Companies
Regulations 2005 were gazetted on 22 December, 2005 and the first quarter of
2006 saw the first private fund re-registered as a Segregated Portfolio Company
(SPC), with a total of 189 segregated portfolios as at 31 March, 2006. This
SPC continues to grow the number of its segregated portfolios. In addition,
one professional fund SPC was incorporated during the first quarter. During the first quarter of 2006, six new captive insurance companies were
licensed by the Commission, however, no
domestic insurer or insurance manager licenses were issued. The majority of
new captive insurance licensing occurs in the
fourth quarter, with 43 licensed in the fourth quarter of 2005. From 1 January, 2006, all new incorporations were added to the Register of
Companies as BVI Business Companies (BVIBCs). This quarter represents the highest
number of incorporations since 2002. Approximately 18,000 BVIBCs were incorporated
in the first quarter of 2006, a 13% increase from the same period in 2005 and
a 46% increase from
the fourth quarter of 2005. The quarterly incorporation figures include IBCs
and local companies, and the 2005 and
2006 figures also include BVIBCs. .
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