"Our thoughts remain with all those who have been affected by Hurricane Irma across the region. This is a challenging situation for the BVI and its 30,000 residents, and our priority continues to be the well-being of all residents who remain in the BVI and those who are affected by the damage caused by Hurricane Irma. 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 of the BVI and the jurisdiction recover as quickly as possible.
"Our respective businesses are supporting the BVI Government and 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.
"As leading private sector businesses we are also committed to doing as much as we can to minimise the disruption caused to the BVI's business sector following the hurricane, which plays an important role in the global economy and helps facilitate international trade and finance. The BVI Government has already made significant progress in re-establishing critical business systems and facilities, which will be crucial in the sector's continued recovery.
"Both the BVI Government and BVI Finance have confirmed that the BVI Financial Services Commission, housing services such as the corporate registry and its online company registration portal VIRRGIN, are operational. In addition, the BVI's beneficial ownership information portal (BOSSs) was unaffected by the hurricane and is also operational. These are major components in getting services back up and running, business recovery and ensuring continuity of service. We will continue to update on progress.
"In the meantime, we would like to reassure our clients, partners and business contacts that we have implemented our respective business continuity plans and are able to facilitate transactions and provide advice for our BVI clients via our global offices and people around the world, until businesses can substantively return to the BVI.
"Many have temporarily relocated staff from the BVI to their offices in Asia, the Cayman Islands and Europe, and some are working alongside BVI qualified colleagues permanently based overseas. We are also working with local BVI businesses which do not have global offices, to support them in getting back up and running.
"We would like to extend our thanks for the many messages of support and offers of assistance we have all received from business partners across the world.
"Relatives looking for information on any of our employees currently in the BVI (from the firms listed below), please contact those firms through the contact methods listed on their respective websites. Clients, partners and business contacts looking for information, please visit the firms' websites for further details."
Firms in the Alliance of BVI Professional Services Businesses:
- Mourant Ozannes
- Appleby
- Baker Tilly
- Carey Olsen
- Forbes Hare
- Harneys
- Kalo
- Maples and Calder
- Nerine
- Ogier
- PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Rawlinson & Hunter
- Walkers
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.