New regatta for British Virgin Islands

by Alastair Abrehart on 25 May 2005 The inaugural Financial Services Challenge for the International Finance Centre Cup is set to take place on the weekend of June 25/26, 2005, in the British Virgin Islands.

The event will be sailed in IC24s (modified J/24s) and is open to teams from any financial services company registered in the British Virgin Islands. Each team must be comprised of company staff or their spouses but may include staff from the company's non-BVI offices as well.

The regatta will be comprised of a qualifying round of three races to be held on Saturday morning that will result in a Gold Fleet and a Silver Fleet, which will then race in a round robin format. Boats will be rotated throughout the racing.

The IC24s are operated by Racing In Paradise and the regatta is open to teams of up to five people weighing a total of between 700 and 850 lbs. Registration, skippers' briefing and weigh-in will be held at the Royal BVI Yacht Club on Friday June 24 at 1730. The entry fee/boat rental for the regatta is $850.00 per team and includes five event t-shirts and a half-day rental on Friday, June 24, for practice.

The entry form for teams to register for the event can be downloaded from www.racinginparadise.com, or contact Alastair Abrehart, Broadsword Communications, Tel: 495 1090, E-mail: alastair@broadswordcommunications.com.

The Financial Services Challenge's primary sponsor and host for the weekend of sailing is the BVI International Finance Centre. The BVI International Finance Centre (IFC) is a dedicated unit within the BVI Government with the remit to enhance and promote the reputation of the BVI as a premier international finance centre to all current and future stakeholders and to provide assistance and advice to those seeking to utilise the facilities and capabilities of the BVI as an international centre for financial services. The launch of the IFC in 2003 marked the final stage in the BVI Government's plans to separate the marketing and regulatory functions for the industry.

‘It is not often that we get members of the financial services industry competing in a less formal setting so we are very pleased to be sponsoring this event and would like to encourage as many eligible firms as possible to participate in this inaugural Financial Services Challenge for the IFC Cup, in what we hope will become an annual event,’ said Humphry Leue, Chief Operating Officer of the BVI International Finance Centre. ‘It has always been said that healthy competition is a good thing and with our beautiful weather and pristine surroundings what better way to promote this idea than with two days of exciting racing competition among some of our premier financial services companies on the waters of the British Virgin Islands!’

During the past 20 years, the British Virgin Islands has become a leading international financial centre. Much of the Territory's success is a result of its International Business Companies (IBC) legislation, passed in 1984. Since the adoption of the IBC Act, more than 600,000 companies have registered in the Territory.

Over the years, the BVI has undertaken an extensive legislative and regulatory program to maintain and enhance its standing as a global leader in the financial services industry, including trust legislation, insurance legislation and regulations, as well as the introduction of Mutual Funds legislation, Ship Registration, Limited Life Companies (LLC) and Limited Partnerships - part of an ongoing commitment by the government and the industry to ensure that the BVI's legislative agenda and financial services offerings meet the changing needs of international financial markets. More recently, the enactment of modern insolvency regulations and the introduction of an innovative trust product - the VISTA trust - as well as the launch of a new Business Companies Act further strengthened the BVI's position as a world-class centre for international business.

The BVI's policies and legislation have been developed in close cooperation with the private sector and the regulatory Financial Services Commission. Through this partnership, the BVI Government has established a sophisticated and efficient mechanism of supervision and regulation to safeguard the integrity of the Territory. Today, the financial services sector is the largest revenue-generating industry in the BVI, contributing more than half of the BVI Government's annual budget.