By Derek Adler – Despite the downturn in the international fund industry stemming from the recent financial crisis, all the indications are that the British Virgin Islands have weathered the storm as well as if not better than its main competitor jurisdictions. In addition, the BVI has benefited from its diversified business model and a range of other successful financial activities including company incorporation and captive insurance. The BVI is the world’s second-ranking offshore fund domicile, but members of the industry do not see the islands’ goal as chasing rival jurisdictions or numerical targets. Instead it is to build on

By Ross Munro – Various recent cases have highlighted issues relating to the winding up of funds domiciled in the British Virgin Islands and the right or otherwise of investors to demand that control over the process be taken away from the directors and the funds’ managers and given to court-appointed liquidators. They also reflect apparent differences between the approach taken by courts in the BVI and those in the Cayman Islands. The case of Aris Multi-Strategy Lending Fund Ltd v Quantek Opportunity Fund, Ltd, decided by the Commercial Court of the British Virgin Islands in December 2010, was the

By Simon Gray – The outlook for the fund industry in the British Virgin Islands continues to brighten thanks to increasing investor confidence and reassurance that offshore funds are now unlikely to be shut out of European markets, as once seemed possible. However, BVI-based professionals believe that longer-term prospects might be improved by attracting a broader base of service providers to Tortola. Once the world’s largest domicile of offshore hedge funds, the BVI has trailed the Cayman Islands for around a decade, but today industry members are relaxed about the jurisdiction’s ability to thrive in the shadow of its Caribbean

Natixis’ EuroTitres department is the first client to use the new hedge fund services available on Euroclear Bank’s FundSettle platform.   An extension of its established portfolio of services for investment funds, FundSettle now provides automated cross-border order routing, settlement, asset servicing and reconciliation services for approximately 300 fund administrators active in hedge funds from all the major domiciles. Ivan Nicora, Director and Head of Investment Fund Product Management at Euroclear, says: “FundSettle is filling a gap in the processing of hedge fund transactions. Countless clients have been looking to transfer their entire fund portfolio to a single provider that

Independent global fund administration busines Apex Fund Services, has opened a Cayman Islands office. The opening of the Cayman Islands office is part of Apex’s strategy of giving fund managers access to all of the world’s financial centers and providing the full suite of Apex’s fund administration services via its network of global offices, including Apex’s ground breaking real time middle office service (MOOR) and range of fund platforms.   Apex has been granted a Companies Management Licence by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority and the Company now provides the following services: independent directors, local directors, Apex directors, corporate secretarial

STOXX Limited has introduced the STOXX Global Index family, more than 1,200 indices covering the global equity markets. Effective Monday 21 February, a new index classification system will also be used to further define the different levels of index services offered by STOXX.   STOXX has also introduced a new corporate design that visually reinforces these changes and reflects the firm’s prominence as a leading global index provider. "The launch of the STOXX Global Index family and new corporate design marks the next era for STOXX as we continue expanding our global business. The differentiating factor in our new global

Securis Investment Partners is planning to list a new closed ended investment company, Securis Income Fund Limited, on the London Stock Exchange. Securis Income Fund Limited will be a feeder fund of Securis I Master Fund, which invests in assets carrying exposure to insurance and reinsurance risk. Securis Income Fund Limited (the company) will be a closed-ended, Guernsey-incorporated investment company, with a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. The company will seek to deliver a target total return of 12% net per annum from which it intends to pay a 6% annual gross dividend (payable