BVI 2023 UK Financial Services Roundtable
17/11/2023
The 2023 UK Financial Services Round Table took place on Monday this week at BVI House in London. Hosted by the British Virgin Islands (BVI) Premier, Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley and the Deputy Premier, the Honourable Lorna Smith, OBE, the event attracted a full house with close to 30 representatives from the UK and European financial and professional services sector and led to a lively, constructive, and engaging conversation.
The Premier welcomed guests with his introductory remarks gave an overview of the delegation’s packed schedule for the week, which included the annual Joint Ministerial Council meeting and several engagements with representatives from both sides of the UK government. This included former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who was only announced as the new UK Foreign Secretary at the beginning of the FS roundtable.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Financial Services Lorna Smith, OBE followed the Premier’s remarks by underlining the importance of the Financial Services industry to the BVI and the continued successful collaboration between the Government and private sector.
BVI Financial Services Commission Managing Director and CEO Kenneth Baker and Director of Policy Research and Statistics, Cherno Jallow, KC then gave a detailed overview of the key issues relevant to the FS regulatory and legislative landscape, expertly moderated by BVI Financial Secretary, Jeremiah Frett.
The discussion centred on the scenarios around the outcome of the PARBO legislation, the Fourth Round Mutual Evaluation of the BVI by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) and the timing for publication of the report following the plenary meeting later this month. The BVI’s position as a leading virtual assets jurisdiction was discussed with updates on the 60+ applications under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2022 (VASP Act).
The meeting was drawn to a close by the Deputy Premier who reminded the audience that despite the current challenges of a fast changing regulatory, political and economic landscape, the BVI Government remains steadfast in maintaining its reputation as one of the world’s leading international finance and business centres.