Regulatory Blog

On 28 October 2024, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission and Financial Investigation Agency jointly released new guidance to help financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions manage risks associated with third-party introducers. This guidance is aimed at strengthening compliance with anti-money laundering regulations and related local legislation by offering a structured, risk-based approach.

On 25 October 2024, the EU Commission released the final Delegated Regulation that supplements Regulation (EU) 2015/760 of the European Parliament and the Council, which pertains to regulatory technical standards known as the "ELTIF RTS." The regulation outlines critical requirements for European Long-Term Investment Funds, particularly concerning the matching of transfer requests, pricing, investor disclosures, and asset valuations.

The Financial Services Commission Act 2001 (the FSC Act) is the umbrella to the financial services legislation in the BVI. The FSC Act has recently been amended by the Financial Services Commission (Amendment) Act 2024 (the Amendment). The Amendment was assented by the Governor of the BVI on 29 October 2024 and Gazetted on 7 November 2024. The Amendment is not yet in force and will come into force on such a date as the Minster may by Notice publish in the Gazette.

On 6 November 2024, the Governor of the Virgin Islands issued a Notice under the Virgin Islands Sanctions Regulations, empowering certain officials and entities to manage and enforce sanctions.

On 7 November 2024, the UK unveiled its largest sanctions package against Russia since mid-2023, aiming to weaken Russia's military and curtail Russian-backed mercenary operations worldwide. With 56 new designations, the sanctions directly impact Russian supply chains essential for military equipment, specifically targeting companies in countries like China, Turkey, and Central Asia that provide critical goods such as microelectronics, machine tools, and drone components.

On 1 January 2025, fees for certain Cayman Islands legal entities will change. These entities include exempted limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, companies, and limited liability companies.

On 18 October 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) opened a survey to gather insights on potential alternatives to the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) for financial reporting and record-keeping. This initiative is part of ongoing discussions about introducing alternative identification methods for legal entities, particularly in light of recent opinions from European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs).

On 8 October 2024, the EU updated the list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, removing Antigua and Barbuda from Annex I (the blacklist) after a supplementary review by the Global Forum on Tax Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. However, the country remains on Annex II (a watchlist) pending further improvements in tax transparency.

Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the UK Government, alongside the member states of the European Union, the United States of America and other global stakeholders issued significant new sanctions. View a table of all the sanctions here