Arbitration, beneficial ownership, and the recently passed Legal Profession Act were among the topics discussed at the Business BVI London Forum last week at the Rosewood Hotel London.
A previous forum hosted by the magazine in May at Maria’s by the Sea focused largely on the territory’s efforts to become an international arbitration hub.
The London Forum touched on arbitration as well, but it also focused on several other topics, said Mr. Harrigan, who is also the chairman of the BVI Tourist Board.
Seminar
The event started with a seminar featuring Commercial Court Justice Barry Leon and his predecessor Edward Bannister, and continued with discussions about beneficial ownership.
The forum also touched on the changes the industry expects to see as a result of a $1.15 million government-funded study conducted by the firm McKinsey & Company.
Some of the changes recommended by the study were unveiled by government yesterday during a ceremony introducing the Financial Services Implementation Unit, a group charged with carrying out the suggested reforms.
Other changes to be made in the sector include enhancing customer service at the Financial Services Commission, reforming immigration and labour policies to support the sector, and investing in infrastructure.
While the recommendations of the McKinsey study have been laid out in a 27-page summary of the firm’s findings, the complete study has yet to be made public.
‘Well received’
Mr. Harrigan said the London conference was “well received” by the roughly 120 people in attendance.
Such events, he added, play an important role in promoting the financial services that the VI has to offer.
“Our broader strategy is to keep practitioners updated on what’s going on,” he said. “We try to move the conversation beyond the challenging topics to one where we talk about the critical services we offer that help facilitate global trade – changing conversation about what the BVI does.”
The London Forum came about a year after Business BVI hosted its first forum in Hong Kong.
The business magazine will host another forum in Hong Kong on Wednesday, and Mr. Harrigan said he hopes to branch out his events to other financial services jurisdictions.
“We’re looking to put on events in other centres in the future – both the well-known ones and also hopefully the up-and-comers,” he said. “The BVI has sufficient critical mass that we can put on events that will attract a number of practitioners across different sectors.”
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