Skip to main content

​
Company Identifiers

BVI companies are identified using the official Company Number from the BVI Financial Services Commission (FSC) Registry:
  • Company Number: Primary company identifier
  • Format: Typically numeric or alphanumeric
    • Numeric: 1378562, 18412, 1885939
    • Alphanumeric: L658 (for local companies)

​
Company Types

Type CodeDescription
1BVI Business Company (BC) - most common, incorporated under BCA 2004
5International Business Company (IBC) - legacy type, pre-BCA 2004
7Local Company - incorporated under old Companies Act

​
Available Features

Search for BVI companies by:
  • Company name: Fuzzy matching for company names
  • Company number: Direct lookup using the official registration number
Example: 
{
  "id": "1378562",
  "legalName": "BANKSIA GARDENS FINANCIAL CORP.",
  "countryCode": "VG",
  "address": {
    "countryCode": "VG"
  }
}

​
Onboarding Profile

Fast, lightweight company data optimized for onboarding flows:
  • Company basic information: Legal name, company number, entity type
  • Enriched legal form: AI-enhanced with ISO 20275 standardized codes
  • Status: Active/inactive status mapping
  • Previous company names: If applicable
Example: 
{
  "company": {
    "id": "1378562",
    "countryCode": "VG",
    "identifiers": {
      "companyNumber": "1378562",
      "entityType": "1"
    },
    "legalName": "BANKSIA GARDENS FINANCIAL CORP.",
    "status": {
      "localName": "Active",
      "active": true
    },
    "legalForm": {
      "localName": "BVI Business Company",
      "englishTranslation": "British Virgin Islands Business Company",
      "standardized": "Limited Liability Company"
    }
  }
}

​
Company Profile

Comprehensive company data extracted from the paid Trade Register Extract:
  • Company information: Legal name, registration dates, capital, status, legal form
  • Legal representatives: Directors, managing directors, secretaries (extracted via AI parsing)
  • Shareholders: When disclosed in the document (extracted via AI parsing)
  • Enriched data: Legal form (ISO 20275), role standardization
Important: Legal representatives and shareholders are only available in companyProfile, as they are extracted from the trade register extract document. They are not available in onboardingProfile. Processing Time: Company profile depends on manual document retrieval, which may take up to 7 days for the initial request. Once retrieved, documents are cached for 24 hours. Example: 
{
  "company": {
    "id": "1378562",
    "countryCode": "VG",
    "identifiers": {
      "companyNumber": "1378562"
    },
    "legalName": "BANKSIA GARDENS FINANCIAL CORP.",
    "registrationDate": "2015-03-20",
    "status": {
      "localName": "Active",
      "active": true
    },
    "legalForm": {
      "localName": "BVI Business Company",
      "englishTranslation": "British Virgin Islands Business Company",
      "standardized": "Limited Liability Company",
      "iso20275Code": "8888"
    },
    "legalAddress": {
      "addressLine1": "Registered Agent Office",
      "city": "Road Town",
      "countryCode": "VG"
    }
  },
  "legalRepresentatives": [
    {
      "type": "individual",
      "role": {
        "localName": "Director",
        "englishTranslation": "Director",
        "standardized": "Director"
      },
      "individual": {
        "name": {
          "fullName": "John Smith",
          "firstName": "John",
          "lastName": "Smith"
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "shareholders": [
    {
      "type": "company",
      "sharePercentage": 100,
      "company": {
        "legalName": "PARENT HOLDINGS LIMITED",
        "countryCode": "VG"
      }
    }
  ]
}

​
Trade Register Extract

Official document from the BVI Financial Services Commission:
  • Format: PDF
  • Content: Certificate of Good Standing or Company Search Report
  • Language: English
  • Processing Time: Manual retrieval required - may take up to 7 days for initial request
Note: The trade register extract is required for companyProfile and is retrieved via our manual document service. Documents are cached for 24 hours to avoid duplicate requests.

​
Data Source

BVI FSC Public Search The public search API provides basic company information. For comprehensive data (directors, shareholders, addresses), a paid Certificate of Good Standing must be purchased from the FSC portal.

​
Limitations

  • Privacy Jurisdiction: BVI is a privacy jurisdiction. Shareholder and director information may not always be publicly disclosed.
  • Manual Document Retrieval: Trade register extracts require manual retrieval and may take up to 7 days.
  • Limited Public Data: The public search API only provides basic company information (name, status, type). Detailed data requires purchasing official documents.
  • No Registration Date: Registration dates are not available in the public search API.
  • No Address: Registered addresses are not available in the public search API.

​
Company Status Codes

StatusDescription
ActiveCompany is in good standing
In PenaltyCompany has outstanding penalties
In LiquidationCompany is being wound up
Struck off - DissolvedCompany has been removed from register
DissolvedCompany has been formally dissolved

​
Wholly-Owned Subsidiary Pattern

BVI companies commonly use a wholly-owned subsidiary structure where:
  • The parent company owns 100% of the issued shares
  • This is typical for holding companies and corporate trustees
  • Many BVI companies use nominee shareholders for privacy
In these cases, we correctly interpret 1 shareholder with all shares as 100% ownership.