The BVI Business Companies (Amendment) Act now in force
The BVI Business Companies (Amendment) Act has introduced changes to the strike off regime and restoration process that may impact your BVI company. Specifically, these changes affect BVI companies that were struck off after 1 July 2016 and before 1 January 2023, and that have not yet been dissolved (referred to as “existing struck off companies”).
Recap on the New Strike off Regime
As outlined previously, the new legislation has abolished the seven (7) year strike off period and introduced a new process that dissolves all newly struck off companies from 1 January 2023 onwards immediately upon publication of the striking off notice by the Registrar of Corporate Affairs.
Impact on Existing Struck off Companies
Under the old regime, struck off companies had a seven (7) year period before they were dissolved. However, following the amendment, all existing struck off companies will be dissolved on 1 July 2023, regardless of how long they have been struck off. To mitigate the impact of this change, a transitional period of six (6) months – from 1 January 2023 until 30 June 2023 – was introduced to allow these companies to be restored to the Register via a simplified procedure.
Note: If the end date of the seven (7) year struck off period for a company falls within this transitional period, then the company must apply for restoration before such end date to be processed via the simplified procedure.
Any company that is currently struck off but has assets or ongoing operations, should take immediate action to be restored to the register of companies before 1 July 2023.
Therefore, if you have any existing struck off companies that you may need to restore, it is recommended that you take action now to avoid the costly, complicated, and potentially lengthy process of restoration through a Court application.
Contact us about restoring your BVI Companies quickly
If you have struck off companies that you might need to restore, or for further information about the implications of the new legislation, please contact your regular Marbury advisor or info@marburys.com.
Don’t risk missing the opportunity to restore your company in a simple and efficient way.
Related article: Striking off in the British Virgin Islands