British Virgin Islands bankruptcy law

British Virgin Islands bankruptcy law is principally codified in the Insolvency Act, 2003, and to a lesser degree in the Insolvency Rules, 2005. Most of the emphasis of bankruptcy law in the British Virgin Islands relates to corporate insolvency rather than personal bankruptcy. As an offshore financial centre, the British Virgin Islands has many times more resident companies than citizens, and accordingly the courts spend more time dealing with corporate insolvency and reorganisation.

The Insolvency Act largely eschews the rescue culture and emphasises the protection of creditors' rights (and in particular secured creditors' rights) over other stakeholders in a bankruptcy and the rehabilitation and protection of businesses as a going concern. This reflects the large number of structured finance vehicles incorporated in the jurisdiction which employ leveraged finance, but do not otherwise trade or have any employees.

The bankruptcy of individuals is usually referred to as "personal bankruptcy" in the British Virgin Islands, whereas the bankruptcy of corporations is referred to as "corporate insolvency". The legislation largely deals with both separately, although there are some common provisions.