CCP Financial Consultants Ltd, British Virgin Islands

The British Virgin Islands

Political System
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) are a group of about 50 islands and cays situated in the Eastern Caribbean 60 miles east of Puerto Rico and 180 miles north of Antigua.

The main island is Tortola where the capital Road Town is situated. The population of the BVI is approximately 20,000 of which about 14,000 live on Tortola.

The British Virgin Islands are a British Overseas Territory with a locally elected government headed by a Chief Minister and three other Ministers who make up the Executive Council, and are responsible for the Territory's internal management. The British Government and the Crown are represented through a Governor who is appointed by the British Government. He is responsible for external affairs, defense and civil service.

Legal and Tax System
The legal system is primary English based. However the Tax system is totally separate from the English system. There are no capital gains, wealth, death duties or capital transfer taxes.

The Economy
Tourism has been the mainstay of the economy for many years but in recent years a burgeoning financial services industry has been supplanting tourism as the territory's major money earner. In fact the BVI is now considered to be the world's preeminent offshore corporate domicile.

The islands have been experiencing steady growth for many years and there is practically full employment.

Legal Tender
The United States Dollar is the legal tender in the BVI and as such there are no exchange controls or restrictions on the movements of funds into and out of the Territory.

Communications
The islands enjoy excellent communications with state of the art fibre optics telephone services provided by Cable & Wireless WI Ltd.

Access to territory is easy; there are no international flights but there are frequent daily links with the gateways of Puerto Rico, Antigua and US Virgin Islands.

Federal Express, DHL and UPS courier services all have a presence in the BVI, with next day service to major business centers in the USA and Europe.

Banking
There are four commercial banks represented in the BVI, namely

Barclays Bank PLC
The Bank Of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)
Chase Manhattan Bank
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

These provide the full range of banking services to both local and overseas clients. The latter two, being US banks are part of the Federal Reserve clearing system making it easy for cheques drawn on these banks to be cleared on the US mainland without incurring extra charges.


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