This Act was introduced in 2010 in order to comply with the BVI’s Financial Services Commissions’ (FSC) obligations to comply as a member of IOSCO (International Organisation of Securities Commissions). The BVI was welcomed as a member of the IOSCO in 2007 having complied with all of the standards outlined in the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding.
Persons carrying on ‘Investment Business’ as defined by SIBA are required to be licenced by the FSC to ensure that that investment brokers, broker-dealers, market makers and custodian are fully licenced and regulated.
SIBA may affect non-BVI persons or companies who provide investment services to BVI business companies unless they are fall under the exemptions set out in SIBA.
With the enactment of the Investment Business (Approved Managers) Regulations, 2012, the British Virgin Islands has introduced a "regulatory light" regulatory regime for BVI domiciled investment managers and investment advisors, which will sit alongside the more strictly regulated investment business licensing regime available under the Securities and Investment Business Act, 2010.