A BVI Limited Company or Partnership can apply for a license from the BVI Financial Services Commission (FSC) to manage certain types of funds. The BVI Approved Manager regime was introduced to facilitate the registration and operation of smaller fund managers and investment advisors who wish to manage certain types of funds or portfolios, without needing the full license required under the SIBA.

Eligible Funds

BVI Approved Managers can manage the following
BVI Private Investment Funds (closed-ended closed-ended - ie no redemption on demand by investors),
BVI Private Funds (maximum 50 investors OR marketed to <250 prospective investors),
BVI Professional Funds (minimum investment $100,000; Professional Investors only ie ordinary business involves acquisition/disposal of the same kind of property as the fund invests in OR high net worth (jointly with a spouse) >US$1,000,000),
equivalent funds from recognized jurisdictions, investments of other persons approved by FSC (eg managed accounts - it is expected that the FSC will be likely to approve a BVI Approved Manager application to manage accounts with a minimum investment $100,000 at all times, held by Professional Investors ie whose ordinary business involves acquisition/disposal of same kind of property as managed account invests in OR accountholder’s net worth (jointly with a spouse) is >US$1,000,000).
BVI Approved Managers are subject to maximum assets under management of $400 million for open-ended funds or $1 billion for closed-ended funds.

Application requirements

Must have two directors, one of which has to be an individual. If one out of two directors is a corporate director, the corporate director(entity) must have at least an individual director.
Must have an authorized representative (typically, the BVI registered office provider acts as AR)
The application must contain, among other things, the certification that the directors and any 10% or more shareholders/UBOs are fit and proper, names of the investment funds/managed accounts to be managed, expected AUM, and a copy of the investment management agreement(s)`

FSC Timeline

After submission of the application, the FSC then has 7 days from the date of the submission of the application to reject the application and if not, then 31 days from the date of submission to approve the manager.

Renewal Requirements and Ongoing Obligation

Once approved there is no requirement to apply for renewal but a short return (including details of the funds/accounts managed and AUM), and unaudited financial statements, must be submitted annually. Below are the ongoing annual obligations for BVI approved investment manger entity:

File annual unaudited financial statements
File annual return (including names of investment funds/managed accounts to be managed, and AUM)
File Annual AML/CTF Return=
Notify BVI FSC of change to information in application/annual return

AML/CFT

Each BVI Approved Manager must appoint a Money Laundering Reporting Officer (typically a director ) and adopt BVI-compliant anti-money laundering policies and procedures in order to ensure compliance with the BVI AML Regulations. We can prepare these policies and procedures, if required, for an additional cost.

Investment Manager Agreement

Every Investment manager entity must have an investment manger agreement in place in order to apply for license from the FSC. The client can provide from their end or we can prepare the same with an additional cost.

FATCA/CRS

A BVI Approved Manager is classified as a non-reporting FI under FATCA (due to an exemption available under Annex II of the Model 1 IGA signed by both BVI and Cayman Islands) and as a reporting FI under CRS - Classified as FIs only on the basis of services it provides and is not considered to maintain financial accounts of its customers. The relevant requirements are therefore to:

Appoint a Principal Point of Contact
Appoint an Authorizing Person
Register with the relevant competent authority (British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority)
Implement AEOI policies and procedures
No requirement to submit reports

We can recommend a Principal Point of Contact and Authorizing Person, and provide FATCA/CRS compliance services, as needed. Please let us know if you would like more information about these services.