Company Registry Spotlight: British Virgin Islands (BVI)

The British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (FSC) is a regulatory body established in 1990. Its primary function is to regulate and supervise the financial services industry in the British Virgin Islands, including the banking, insurance, and securities sectors.

As part of its function, the FSC also oversees the BVI company registry. The regulator must ensure that the Companies Registry is operated in accordance with the BVI Business Companies Act (BCA), which is the main piece of legislation governing the incorporation and operation of companies in the BVI.

The Commission is also responsible for maintaining accurate and up-to-date information in the Companies Registry, and that all companies registered in the BVI are compliant with the BCA and other relevant laws and regulations.

The British Virgin Islands Company Registry can be accessed online through the official website of the FSC. You can search for information on companies registered in the BVI by using the company name or registration number. Sometimes, you may be required to pay a fee to access certain information.

Additionally, you can also contact the FSC directly to request information on BVI companies. It is important to note that some information in the BVI Company Registry may not be publicly available due to confidentiality requirements.

According to latest BVI FSC Statistical Bulletin available, as of the end of Q3 2022, there were a total of 374,890 companies registered in the country. In the twelve months prior to 30 September 2022, 31,200 newly incorporated companies were added to the BVI register.

This means that 8.3% of all companies currently present in the registry were new additions. As such, the likelihood of information on these companies being available in static entity databases that are only updated at intervals is very low. Click to learn about the far-reaching benefits of real-time registry access.

To access company registration information, you can submit an online form on the official website of the Registry of Corporate Affairs and submit payment. Once the request is complete, the turnaround time is usually 24 hours.

The standard report would usually include general information on the company, including the company’s registration number, registered office, incorporation date, status and authorised capital. However, not all documents are available for purchase, depending in part on the type and configuration of the registered company.

The fees charged by the FSC vary depending on the type of service being requested.
Some of the common fees charged by the registry include the following:

• Company search: USD 30
• Physical copy of any certificate: USD50
• Certified copy of a certificate of incorporation: USD75

On 1 January 2023, the BVI Financial Services Commission introduced a new report. Upon payment of a USD 75, registered users of its online system can now access the names of all directors of locally registered companies.

This change is part of the BVI’s commitment to the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) Recommendations on the availability of basic company information via a company registry that can be accessed by the public.

As a result of various historical factors, there is no lack of international companies that have chosen to have registered entities in the BVI.

While the country is making good progress in better aligning with international anti-money laundering standards, accessing their company registry to retrieve vital company information requires a multi-step registration and the set-up of an account to handle the required fees.

Through Know Your Customer, regulated organisations can streamline and automate their access to the BVI registry via one easy-to-use platform or single API. Our solution provides a standardised and user-centric experience across company registries in 127 countries worldwide, empowering compliance teams with the most accurate documentation and shareholder data available, sourced in real-time.

Additionally, our end-to-end digital compliance workflow helps teams manage and monitor compliance processes in line with local and international regulations, reducing the risk of onboarding international customers with complex shareholding structures.