Law firms Appleby, Carey Olsen, Mourant Ozannes, Ogier and Walkers, together with financial services companies Baker Tilly, PwC and Rawlinson and Hunter, are among those who have signed up to the Alliance of BVI Professional Services Businesses.
In a joint statement, they said: ‘This is a challenging situation for the BVI and its 30,000 residents and our priority continues to be the wellbeing of all residents who remain in the BVI and those who are affected by the damage caused.
‘We have a team of individuals from across our firms working around the clock to provide support, communications and practical help to ensure the people and the jurisdiction recover as quickly as possible.
‘Our respective businesses are supporting the BVI government and the enormous humanitarian relief effort required to support the people of the BVI at this time. As a group, we support the BVI Hurricane Irma Relief Fund.’
The statement added that the BVI Financial Services Commission and the jurisdiction’s beneficial ownership information portal, BOSSs, were both still operational.
Meanwhile, the Jersey Financial Services Commission said that it had issued one temporary licence to a Caribbean entity and was considering a second application.
JFSC director general John Harris said: ‘We are playing a role behind the scenes, on a case-by-case basis, offering to provide time-dependent licensing arrangements to companies that have no physical presence in the Island. However, the risk is that transactions could be done that we would not want on our soil.’
Mr Harris said that the Jersey regulators had been in contact with their counterparts in the BVI since the hurricane. ‘They do not have full operational capabilities and they are working in trying circumstances,’ he said.
