BVI Finance CEO highlights global pressures affecting BVI

BVI Finance CEO Elise Donovan has warned that international financial centres, including the BVI, are entering a tougher and more unpredictable era, shaped by global market volatility, rising cyber threats and growing geopolitical tensions.

Speaking at the 1841 Foundation Tax Summit in Buenos Aires, she said that jurisdictions hoping to remain competitive must now prove they can offer genuine quality, strong regulation, and long-term stability.

Donovan told the audience that the challenges facing financial centres have changed sharply. Instead of dealing with issues one by one, jurisdictions must now meet overlapping global expectations, from tighter transparency rules to expanding sanctions regimes and new cybersecurity risks. She said staying connected to global markets now requires constant monitoring and the ability to respond quickly as threats move across borders.

Donovan noted that financial crime today is far more complex than in previous decades, with criminal networks using digital tools, multiple jurisdictions and new asset types. As a result, a jurisdiction’s credibility now depends not just on its laws but on its ability to detect and stop threats in real time.

Cybersecurity, she added, has quietly become one of the biggest risks in global finance. As more jurisdictions rely on digital registries and online verification systems, a single breach could damage confidence and create long-term harm. Financial centres must treat cyber resilience as a basic obligation, she said.

She also highlighted shifting global politics, describing a world moving away from broad globalisation and toward competing economic blocs. Financial centres must stay open to global investment while keeping alignment with key partners — a balance that is becoming more difficult.

Donovan said public perceptions of IFCs still suffer from media leaks and political debates, even though many centres, including the BVI, have some of the strongest compliance records worldwide.

Smaller jurisdictions, she noted, often adopt international standards faster than major economies but still face the toughest scrutiny.

She argued that global finance is now seeing a “flight to quality,” with investors favouring jurisdictions that blend strong regulation with efficiency, stable courts, experienced professionals and solid cyber protection. Competitiveness, she stressed, does not come from lowering standards.

Using the BVI as an example, Donovan said the territory’s four decades of success were built on trusted courts, respected regulators and a corporate framework used worldwide.

“An IFC is not a product,” she said. “It is an ecosystem — one that must be built, tested and refined over time.”

Her comments come at a time when the BVI’s own financial services industry has faced increased scrutiny from international bodies, particularly around anti-money laundering (AML) standards, beneficial ownership access and enforcement.

Following a series of assessments and recommendations in recent years, the territory has pushed through legislative updates, strengthened its supervisory systems and invested in technology to improve how information is shared and verified. Industry officials have repeatedly said these improvements are essential for protecting the BVI’s access to global markets.

The BVI has also been working to diversify its financial services sector to remain competitive. With global demand shifting, the territory has been building new frameworks to attract legitimate digital asset business while keeping strong safeguards in place.

This includes updated rules for virtual asset service providers and efforts to position the territory as a well-regulated hub for responsible crypto activity — part of a wider strategy to maintain relevance as traditional parts of the offshore industry face pressure from international tax and transparency reforms.