BVI's New Regulatory Regime: SIBA 2010

Kerri L. Lefebvre, Anton Goldstein • Posted 17/05/2010 • Under Articles

The Securities and Investment Business Act, 2010 (SIBA) was brought into force in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) on May 17, 2010 (other than Part II dealing with the public issue of securities), augmenting BVI's regulatory regime to ensure it complies with international best practice.

SIBA establishes four broad pillars of regulation, with the first three almost entirely new in BVI:

• investment business;
• the public issues of securities;
• market abuse; and
• mutual funds.

The fourth area of regulation (mutual funds) is already well established and SIBA brings about limited changes, described in a separate note.

This article provides a brief overview of the new legislation and some of the key changes which it introduces.