Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.topograph.co/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Current limitation (April 2026)Document-based verification is temporarily deactivated for the British Virgin Islands. The BVI FSC payment gateway has been broken on their side since March 2026 (returns HTTP 400 for every document purchase request), and their fees are very high even when the gateway works.Only the public search API is exposed today, which means you can retrieve basic company data (name, status, legal form category, company number, previous names) in onboarding mode but not directors, shareholders, registered address, or capital. We will reactivate the full verification flow once the FSC restores document purchase.
Data Sources
BVI company data comes from the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (FSC), the autonomous regulatory authority that operates the Registry of Corporate Affairs.
- BVI FSC Public Search API (
publicsearch.bvifsc.vg). Free REST API providing basic company information: legal name, company number, entity type, status, and previous names. No authentication required. This is currently the only active source for BVI data and powers the onboarding profile.
Company Identifiers
Query Identifiers
BVI company numbers do not have a check digit or internal structure. The FSC has assigned identifiers across several historical registers, which is why two different formats coexist today.
| Format | Regex | Example | Applies To |
|---|
| Pure numeric | ^\d+$ | 18412, 1378562 | BVI Business Companies (type 1), International Business Companies (type 5) |
| Letter-prefixed | ^[A-Z]\d+$ | L658, L732, L7805 | Local Companies (type 7), pre-existing under the old Companies Act |
Identifiers in API Response
| Identifier Type | Format | Example | Notes |
|---|
companyNumber | Numeric or letter-prefixed | 1378562 or L658 | Official registration number assigned by the BVI FSC |
Search Capabilities
| Search Type | Pattern | Example | Match Type |
|---|
| By company number (numeric) | Digits only | 18412 | Exact |
| By company number (prefixed) | Letter + digits | L658 | Exact |
| By name | Text string (min 2 chars) | "BANKIM" | Fuzzy |
Company Status
The BVI FSC returns a free-text status string. We map known values deterministically and fall back to keyword inference for unrecognized values.
| Local Status | Standardized | Active |
|---|
| Active | Active | Yes |
| In Good Standing | Active | Yes |
| In Penalty - Non filing of Beneficial Ownership | Inactive | No |
| In Liquidation (insolvent) | Under Insolvency Proceeding | No |
| In Liquidation (solvent) | In Liquidation | No |
| Dissolved | Closed | No |
| Dissolved (10 year non-pmt) | Closed | No |
| Dissolved (7 year non-pmt) | Closed | No |
| Struck off - Dissolved | Closed | No |
| Struck off - Non Pmt A/Fee | Closed | No |
type code indicating one of 5 broad categories. Detailed BVI Business Companies Act 2004 subtypes (Company Limited by Shares, Company Limited by Guarantee, Unlimited Company, Restricted Purpose Company, Segregated Portfolio Company) only appear in the trade register extract document, which is not reachable today.
| Type Code | Local Name | Standardized | Notes |
|---|
1 | BVI Business Company | LimitedLiabilityCompany | Most common, incorporated under BCA 2004 |
3 | Limited Partnership | Partnership | Limited and general partners |
4 | Foreign Company | Other | Foreign entity registered in BVI |
5 | International Business Company | LimitedLiabilityCompany | Legacy type, pre-BCA 2004, grandfathered |
7 | Local Company | LimitedLiabilityCompany | Incorporated under the old Companies Act, uses letter-prefixed numbers |
Quirks & Gotchas
| Quirk | Details |
|---|
| Document purchase deactivated | The BVI FSC payment gateway is broken on their side. payment/to-web-checkout returns HTTP 400 for every request. We deactivated the document-based verification flow in March 2026 and will reactivate it once the FSC restores payment. |
| High document fees | Even when the gateway works, BVI document fees are among the highest of any jurisdiction we cover. |
| Residential proxy required | Datacenter IPs are blocked by the BVI FSC public search endpoint. All requests are routed through a residential proxy. |
| Privacy jurisdiction | BVI is a well-known privacy jurisdiction. Even when documents are accessible, directors and shareholders visible on them are frequently nominees rather than beneficial owners. |
| No UBO register | BVI does not have a public UBO register. Beneficial ownership data sits in the BOSS (Beneficial Ownership Secure Search) system, which is restricted to competent authorities. |
| No registration date in search | The public search API does not expose incorporation or registration dates. These only appear in the trade register extract document (currently unreachable). |
| No address in search | Registered addresses are not available in the public search API. |
| Coarse legal form | The type field gives only a broad category. Detailed BCA 2004 subtypes are not exposed by the search API. |
| No activity codes | BVI has no national industry classification system in its registry. Many holding companies and SPVs have no stated business description. |
Data Availability
| Data Type | Onboarding Profile | Verification Mode | Notes |
|---|
| Company Name | Available | Not available | |
| Company Number | Available | Not available | |
| Company Status | Available | Not available | Mapped from FSC free-text status |
| Legal Form (coarse) | Available | Not available | One of 5 type codes |
| Previous Company Names | Available | Not available | |
| Registration Date | Not available | Not available | Would come from document |
| Legal Address | Not available | Not available | Would come from document |
| Share Capital | Not available | Not available | Would come from document |
| Legal Representatives | Not available | Not available | Would come from document |
| Shareholders | Not available | Not available | Would come from document |
| Ultimate Beneficial Owners | Not available | Not available | BVI has no public UBO register |
| Activity Codes | Not available | Not available | BVI has no classification system |
Example API Response
Query: POST /v2/company with { "id": "1987245", "countryCode": "VG", "mode": "onboarding", "dataPoints": ["company"] }
{
"company": {
"id": "1987245",
"countryCode": "VG",
"identifiers": {
"companyNumber": "1987245"
},
"legalName": "PACIFIC VENTURES INC.",
"status": {
"localName": "Active",
"active": true,
"statusDetails": {
"status": "ACTIVE"
}
},
"legalForm": {
"localName": "BVI Business Company",
"englishTranslation": "BVI Business Company",
"standardized": "LimitedLiabilityCompany"
}
}
}
