The British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission has announced an electronic reporting system for filing annual fund returns. The move will facilitate its regulation and monitoring of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) funds industry and will provide a more efficient and secure environment for filing annual returns, according to offshore legal firm Conyers Dill & Pearman.

The electronic reporting system supports submissions by segregated portfolio companies and umbrella structures with improved formatting. It has the ability to save entries for later submission. The information obtained from the filing is consolidated and used for statistical purposes.

The deadline for filing is October 15, 2009 for the reporting period ending December 31, 2008. Any fund that has already submitted a hard copy of the return is not required to re-file.

Funds may use the online application for the next reporting period ending December 31, 2009 with a filing deadline will be June 30, 2010.