Following a public consultation, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) government has gazetted amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (Revised 2020).

The amendments are primarily aimed at maintaining compliance with the evolving Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards. As of 1 December 2022, they bring virtual assets service providers (VASPs) conducting virtual assets transactions above USD1,000 into the scope of the anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. This is considered essential in light of the jurisdiction increasingly being used as a domicile by persons engaged in blockchain and virtual assets businesses.

Until now, many types of crypto- and blockchain-related businesses have not been within the scope of existing BVI financial services regulatory legislation, so their operations were not strictly subject to the statutory due-diligence procedures and controls established by the AML regulations and code, says law firm Ogier. However, many did comply on a voluntary basis and this best practice is now being made compulsory for most service providers for the first time. More specific VASP regulatory legislation is expected to be released towards the end of 2022 in the Virtual Assets Service Providers Act, requiring registration and reporting by VASPs...