As companies around the world increasingly turn to financings involving British Virgin Islands-based law firms and vehicles, O’Neal Webster has promoted corporate counsel Christopher Simpson to the firm’s partnership.
Simpson, who has been with the firm since 2010, has advised clients on many IPOs and financings. His recent deals include advising Luminex Corporation on the restructuring of its operations in December 2013, following its $50 million acquisition of molecular diagnostics firm GenturaDX earlier in the year, and advising FBN Capital on BVI tax law issues in a $315 million financing for NG Power-HPS. The latter financing was pivotal in the acquisition of a majority interest in one of Nigeria’s biggest power-generation facilities.
“There is a large global market for BVI companies and the jurisdiction is one of the major players in Asia. Aviation finance is a growing area and the ability for aircraft registration to occur in the BVI makes it even more appealing,” Simpson told IFLR1000.
In Simpson’s analysis, most investment fund clients do still originate from the U.S. Recent legislation in the BVI, such as the approved managers regime, which Simpson describes as a “lighter-touch” regulation for managers desiring to oversee an investment fund or funds through a BVI entity, is an encouraging trend.
“I think that as the markets pick up generally, we are seeing more funds being formed whether it be in the private equity or hedge funds space. The BVI, in particular, is popular because of its inherent corporate flexibility and recognized regulation. People are comfortable using BVI entities to conduct cross-border transactions and so despite the international pressures, the BVI is still holding its own,” Simpson said.
Regulators in the jurisdiction are always looking at existing laws and thinking about how to enhance them, Simpson said.
“In terms of the securities investment business regime which came into effect in 2010, there might be some changes in that area to facilitate clients a bit more. Also, with respect to investment funds, the industry and regulators are exploring two new products and I would expect to see those materialize fairly soon,” he added.
Simpson holds an LLM from the University of London, and is also a graduate of the Norman Manley Law School and the University of the West Indies.