Overview

The global financial crisis has sharpened the international focus on systems of corporate governance, not least in an effort to mitigate some of the systemic factors which may have contributed to the onset of the financial crisis. The governance of financial institutions and listed companies has been the subject of recent careful assessment both in the UK and internationally: new recommendations which flow from these reviews, and institutional investors' expectations arising out of such recommendations, merit close consideration by listed companies.

This article examines how companies which are incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and listed in London may take full advantage of the flexibility of BVI company legislation to meet the expectations of their institutional investors when it comes to complying with new UK corporate governance recommendations.