British Virgin Islands Commercial Law - Unprecedented Global Interest Culminates With Hong Kong Launch Seminar

 

British Virgin Islands Commercial Law is currently the only book available that focuses exclusively on BVI Commercial Law. Having built up a high level of interest around the recent publication, both within Asia and internationally, Thomson Reuters was delighted to host a launch seminar at our Gloucester Tower facilities in Central on 17 January, 2012.

Reflecting the strong pre-publication interest in the book, the event was attended by well over 100 people. Those attending included a cross-section of legal and financial professionals many of whom are managing directors in their organizations. The attendance by such a high number of non-legal practitioners demonstrated that it's not just lawyers representing the growing demand for information and guidance on commercial, legal and business developments in this jurisdiction.

Why so much interest in a jurisdiction with less than 20,000 people?

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is an increasingly important finance centre for international investors, with 41 percent of the world's offshore structures based in BVI. Investors, private clients, hedge funds, entrepreneurs, financial institutions and corporates across the globe are attracted by the flexibility and maturity of the BVI's corporate statute, its strong reputation and familiarity, and the quality of professional service providers. Further, the territory is the second largest domicile of offshore funds in the world.

With this in mind, the moderator for the evening , Mr. Ian Mann, Partner at Harneys (and one of the General Editors) chaired a distinguished panel ready to share their thoughts and expertise on these subjects. Those joining as panelists were: Mr. Colin Riegels, Partner at Harneys and General Editor; Mr. Richard Peters, Managing Partner at Harneys; and Mr. Jonathon Culshaw, Partner at Harneys.

It was a lively and interactive event with attendees joining in the discussion and covering key topics of interest such as:

  • Shareholders' agreements and the corporate constitution
  • BVI shareholder disputes - the benefits of litigating in the BVI by PRC shareholders in BVI companies
  • Registration and priority of security interests
  • Freezing assets in the BVI pending HK litigation
  • Enforcing HK arbitral awards or foreign judgments in the BVI
  • Receivership over BVI shares


The reception before and following the seminar provided attendees a unique opportunity to meet and network with like-minded individuals.

The timely publication and global interest in the book underscored the successful synergies between the author team at Harneys and leveraging of Thomson Reuters expertise and global assets. It further attests to the importance and expertise of Hong Kong as a source of not just local or regional content but also as a centre of excellence in producing content that has global appeal and recognition.

Klaus Pfeifer, Managing Director, Thomson Reuters North Asia commented, "with the depth of experience possessed by the lawyers at Harneys, and the global reach of our Thomson Reuters teams, British Virgin Island Commercial Law will become the one and only book that practitioners, in-house counsel, and companies will turn to for the ins- and-outs of establishing a company structure in the BVI."

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