Twenty percent of about 50 businesses that responded to a November survey from the BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association reported an “extremely negative impact” from the Covid-19 pandemic …
US companies required to disclose owners
The United States Congress followed the lead of the United Kingdom, the European Union and other countries last month in taking aim at anonymous companies used to enable tax abuse, …
UK publishes draft order for public registers
The Virgin Islands government has “significant reservations” about a draft order in council on public registers of beneficial ownership, according to Premier Andrew Fahie. The draft, which was published on …
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BVIF praises paper on public registers
BVI Finance has praised a British think tank’s new paper about public registers of beneficial ownership, a topic which has put the Virgin Islands and other overseas territories at odds …
Events highlight changing financial industry
This year’s Financial Services Week, which wrapped up on Friday, featured the theme “Top of the List: Celebrating Longevity, Ingenuity, Substance and Transparency,” and highlighted the contributions of an industry …
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Pier Park to get valet parking, for charity
Parking may soon get easier for holiday shoppers at the Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park after the launch of a valet parking service as part of a partnership with …
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SPECIAL REPORT: Incorporations still falling after 20-year lows in 2019
Shortly before the Covid- 19 pandemic began to wreak havoc on the global economy, the Virgin Islands quietly reached its own troubling economic milestone: New company incorporations, long viewed as …
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Like CCT, FLOW suing over levy
Like CCT and BVI Cable TV, FLOW has filed a lawsuit challenging the levy that the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission recently decided to start collecting for the first time since the …
Regional tourism stats grim
Even as Caribbean countries including the Virgin Islands cautiously reopen their borders to tourists, new statistics from the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s November report illustrate the havoc the Covid- 19 pandemic …
Report blames VI for 3.81% of global tax loss
A recent report by the nonprofit Tax Justice Network alleged that the Virgin Islands is responsible for 3.81 percent of global tax losses amounting to $16.3 billion, a figure that …
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Resorts to start opening Tuesday
Some of the territory’s largest resorts announced last week that they plan to open their doors either on the same day or shortly after the territory as a whole does …
CCT sues over telecom levy
CCT and BVI Cable TV are challenging the telecommunications levy that regulators recently decided to start collecting for the first time since the Telecommunications Act took effect in 2006. In …
Furlough period extended until February
Amid demands from the business community, Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration Minister Vincent Wheatley has announced that the workforce furlough extension passed in the House of Assembly in June will …
Virgin Gorda airport project re-tendered
After announcing in September that two foreign contractors with local partners had bid for the rehabilitation of the existing sand-and-gravel runway at the Taddy Bay Airport in Virgin Gorda, the …
Chamber demands another furlough extension
The workforce furlough extension passed in the House of Assembly in June expired on Saturday, and now the BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association is demanding what it called …
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Return to the rock: Saba Rock eyes spring for reopening
At the North Sound outpost Saba Rock Resort, pandemic-related uncertainty hasn’t dampened the determination of the management team to finish re- building and finally reopen more than three years after …
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VI slips in Vistra report, but still ranks high
The Virgin Islands again ranked highest in importance among offshore financial centres in this year’s Vistra 2030 report, though it declined slightly when compared to onshore jurisdictions, achieving a rating …
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LIAT returns to skies
After dodging the threat of liquidation earlier this year, the troubled Antigua-based airline LIAT returned to the skies on Sunday in its first flight since restructuring began in June. The …
VG admin building, Tortola roads to get work
Two Virgin Islands companies received contracts for Hurricane Irma recovery projects amounting to about $2.3 million on Tortola and Virgin Gorda on Friday as the Recovery and Development Agency continued …
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D-5 to get ‘economic zone’
A piece of Huntums Ghut land originally intended to house a community centre will fulfill its original purpose and become a zone for Fifth District entrepreneurs to realise their visions …
VI drops in financial centre ranking
The Virgin Islands fell 12 spots to a ranking of 72nd out of 111 jurisdictions included in the Global Financial Centres Index 28, the latest edition of an index released …
BVITB funds tourism training
“Imagination is a factory that builds legends,” said newly confirmed H. Lavity Stoutt Community College President Dr. Richard Georges, quoting his favourite rapper, Jay Electronica, on Friday. “You have to …
BVI Finance responds to FinCEN leaks
Due to the territory’s Beneficial Ownership Secure Search system, the Virgin Islands is better prepared than most other jurisdictions to respond to the types of suspicious activity reports leaked in …
Chamber releases protocols government rejected
Rebuffed by government, a task force from the BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association released last week a comprehensive set of guidelines in an effort to help business owners …
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Premier softens position on public registers
Premier Andrew Fahie appears to have softened his government’s stance on the United Kingdom’s push for the overseas territories to enact public registers of beneficial owner- ship by 2023. For …
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