Virgin Islands lawmakers are getting ready to debate a law to regulate charitable organisations in the territory, and government officials are asking the public to give input by Oct. 1. The latest draft is the fourth to be released to the public since April, but the fundamental requirements of the law have stayed much the same.
First, the law would require all groups that raise and distribute funds as a charity or non-profit organisation to register with the government annually. Second, it would require non-profit organisations to keep records of their financial dealings, and to submit these records each year.
It would also make the Financial Investigation Agency “responsible for the supervision and monitoring of non-profit organisations,” and it would establish an NPO registration board.
Where earlier drafts had required the board to include one NPO representative, the latest, introduced in the HOA on Sept. 13, calls for two board members to be “active members of an existing non-profit organisation.”
See the Sept. 27, 2012 edition for full coverage.
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