BVI’s financial services products are well established and widely used all over the world, particularly in the areas of trust and succession planning.
“The BVI has rich experience and knowledge...the BVI is well positioned and prepared to serve [clients globally],” said Lisa Lou, President of Bank of Asia.
Ms. Lou made these comments while serving as moderator of the panel discussion “Fiduciary Products and Solutions Update in the BVI”, session five of the China Offshore-Spring Edition Virtual Summit.
The popularity and benefits of the BVI’s product offerings were discussed by panelists Vanessa King, Managing Partner & Head of Banking & Finance, O’Neal Webster; Simon Gray, Head of Business Development & Marketing, BVI Finance; Lodewijk Van Setten, Senior Counsel, Walkers (BVI) and Annie Peliwan, Partner, Rawlinson & Hunter (BVI).
VISTA, a Perfect Succession Planning Tool
Vanessa King says that in Asia, the BVI is associated with a business company, and noted that the use of the BVI company for estate and succession planning is increasing.
She says that the BVI is definitely becoming the jurisdiction of choice for PTC’s [private trust companies], which is how the VISTA trust works. A PTC is set up that holds those assets, which can then be transferred to a trustee.
“A trust is a perfect vehicle for succession planning, as it allows assets to be held to succeeding generations, and avoids the issues and costs commonly associated with probates.”
She further explains that a trust circumvents any issues that client or settler may encounter if they have assets in different parts of the world. Typically, a settler would have to deal with probates and inheritance laws in different jurisdictions, which can not only be time consuming, but can also be very expensive.
“We have seen that our bespoke regime, the VISTA, is a perfect succession planning tool for the
Asian market, as it combines the business company, which the market knows and is comfortable with, with the benefit of a trust.”
Ms. King highlights the various benefits of a VISTA trust, which allows a settler to have more control of the assets, be involved in the management and direction of the company, be a director of the company, and the assets can be held for the benefit for a number of generations, as a trust can last up to 360 years.
“We find that settlers are more comfortable with putting assets in a BVI company which is the underlying company of the trust, and in turn are more comfortable transferring that share to a trustee.”
Protecting Assets for Future Generations
Annie Peliwan says that the VISTA trust is an excellent tool for protecting assets for future generations, and that clients will take comfort in knowing the legal framework and trust structure is specifically set up to do just that.
Within the BVI, professional trust companies are licensed by the regulatory body, the BVI Financial Services Commission, and in turn must adhere to the FSC’s requirements. In addition, companies are guided by clients’ requirements in “letters of wishes”, which specify the professional trustee and outline how assets are assigned after his or her passing. Ms. Peliwan explains that the letter can be updated or “refreshed” during the course of a client’s lifetime, and says that a client can also appoint a ‘protector’ to the trust, usually a trusted advisor or family friend, who will work with the trustee to ensure that assets are distributed in a way that most benefits the family.
“Clients can be comfortable that their wishes will be followed and the overriding principle is to protect the trust capital, and to use it in a way the client intended when he set the trust up.”
Rapid Expansion of Digital Banking
In speaking about digital banking, Simon Gray remarked that finance and banking are two of the most important supporting mechanisms for the BVI’s trust and succession planning products, to ensure there is no holdup of any of those deliverables. To that end, Mr. Gray said there has been the rapid expansion of digital banking, over the past 10 to 15 years, and “made even more worthwhile during the pandemic at almost 22nd Century acceleration”.
BVI’s Efficiency
Lodewijk Van Setten asserts that the BVI is incredibly efficient when it comes to execution.
“What we see on a day to day basis is the speed and ease in which you can do business here. The BVI is really at the forefront of remote business execution.”
Mr. Van Setten referenced the pandemic while noting, “What we’ve seen actually is that in the BVI, the pandemic hasn’t slowed business down, but stimulated the development of all sorts of tools and execution processes that make remote business and doing remote business and managing your company and your assets remotely, very easy, all of which supported by the statutory framework, and a Government that is quite keen in ensuring all that works.”
The senior counsel said that the Government of the Virgin Islands has been particularly keen to support the legal framework around doing business with the digitisation and electronic transactions.
FinTech
“Here you can see the BVI’s strength being on display,” commented Mr. Van Setten regarding BVI’s FinTech developments.
He continued, “What we’re seeing is BVI’s ability to respond to a fast moving sector...BVI has been right in the middle of the ‘sweet spot’ of crypto and other sectors.”
Mr. Van Setten said he is “delighted” as a service provider to be able to witness the “most innovative” and “most amazing clever people” who are able to come up with new ideas to create an even more robust product.
“People are coming here because they can set up easily, do it remotely and have the speed of execution and reliability.”
Mr. Van Setten also charged that BVI’s rapid response to changes is unlike other jurisdictions, adding, “If you go around the world, not everyone likes what they don’t know, but in the BVI, that’s a problem you won’t have.”
BVI is an established sponsor of the China Offshore Summit 2021, which first launched in 2010. The event is one of the largest offshore finance and wealth management events in Asia. This year the summit was held virtually and attracted hundreds of business executives and high net worth individuals from China and abroad.
Watch the entire discussion on the BVI Finance YouTube channel, via this link: https://youtu.be/ibsSgnWygjg.