September 15, 2009
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in the British Virgin Islands
Some members are telling me that the British Virgin Islands is growing fast as a place where entities are incorporated to facilitate deals and joint ventures. Other members note that BVI is to this decade what the Cayman Islands were to the last one – a sort of semi-shady tax haven that sells itself very hard as a jurisdiction of incorporation. Below is a poll for your input on this issue.
Regardless of your feelings on this topic, it is important to know what steps can be taken once you have successfully obtained a judgment against a BVI company in a foreign jurisdiction. One question often asked is whether the BVI Court has a general procedure for recognising foreign judgments other than where a bilateral treaty exists (the BVI legal system is based on English Law and therefore many of the statutes and applicable common law principals are similar). In our “International” Practice Area, we have posted memos to help you answer this question.