New Delhi, 25 August 2026: The Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) today hosted a high-level delegation from the British Virgin Islands (BVI) to explore opportunities for strengthening trade, investment and legal cooperation between India and the BVI. Honourable Dr Natalio D. Wheatley, Premier and Minister of Finance, British Virgin Islands, along with Honourable Lorna Smith, OBE, Minister for Financial Services, Economic Development and Digital Transformation, British Virgin Islands led a delegation of senior government and private-sector representatives.
The discussions focused on opportunities for enhancing trade and commerce, investment and cross-border legal cooperation, while also exploring emerging areas such as investment protection in the age of artificial intelligence, ESG and energy transition. The interaction provided a platform for the BVI Government delegation and SILF members to exchange perspectives on strengthening professional engagement while respecting the sovereign legal frameworks of both jurisdictions.
Speaking during the interaction, Honourable Dr Natalio D. Wheatley, Premier and Minister of Finance, British Virgin Islands, said, “This is the BVI’s first trade mission and dedicated roadshow to engage India’s financial services agencies and markets, reflecting our ambition to deepen cooperation between our financial services sectors. The India–BVI relationship extends back some 20 to 25 years, and BVI financial services have long supported India’s international investment efforts. As Indian businesses increasingly expand globally and investors look overseas to invest and raise capital, we believe the BVI can play an even greater role in supporting India’s financial architecture and cross-border trade. Our engagements here have reaffirmed that this is the right time to build a lasting and strategic partnership between the BVI and India.”
He further added, “With our flexible corporate framework, common law legal system and deep professional services ecosystem, the BVI can support Indian businesses in overseas expansion and fundraising, while facilitating global investment into India. We also want to bring more Indian legal practitioners into our global network and build partnerships with institutions including GIFT City, towards a dedicated BVI–India investment corridor and gateway. Our purpose is to refresh a decades-old friendship, strengthen existing ties and build new value together as India advances towards becoming a developed nation by 2047.”
Honourable Lorna Smith, OBE, Minister for Financial Services, Economic Development and Digital Transformation, British Virgin Islands, said, “The time is right for us to be in India. Our delegation brings together government and the private sector, with BVI-linked firms and professionals operating across jurisdictions including Switzerland, Dubai, Panama, Hong Kong and Mauritius, reflecting the truly global nature of the BVIs’ financial services ecosystem. Lawyers are an integral part of this ecosystem and play an important role in helping us understand and navigate financial services and globalisation. Our engagements with the Government of India have already opened discussions around areas for greater cooperation and capacity building.”
She further added, “FinTech is a vital sector for us and it has been an important part of our discussions. India’s UPI payment system is of great interest to the British Virgin Islands, and we are keen to learn more from India’s experience in building this ecosystem. The willingness we have seen to share knowledge and expertise demonstrates the opportunities that exist for deeper cooperation between our two jurisdictions. This certainly will not be our first and last visit to India; we look forward to continued engagement and to being part of India’s journey towards becoming a developed country by 2047.”
Highlighting the importance of building stronger legal and economic linkages, Dr Lalit Bhasin, President, SILF, said, “We have to build a legal architecture for a connected global economy. The visit of the delegation of the Government of the British Virgin Islands is a timely step towards this goal. The high-profile delegation led by the Hon’ble Premier and the Finance Minister of the British Virgin Islands highlights the need for mutual economic cooperation between India and the British Virgin Islands.”
He further added, “The interaction of the delegation with members of the Society of Indian Law Firms would showcase cooperation while preserving sovereign legal entities. Other areas of discussion would be investment, protection in an age of AI, ESG and energy transition.”
Senior government officials, financial services representatives, legal professionals and business leaders from the British Virgin Islands participated in the high-level interaction. Other prominent members of the delegation included Mr Kenneth Baker, CEO/Managing Director, BVI Financial Services Commission; Ms Ayana Glasgow, Director of Financial Services, BVI Government; Mr Rhodni Skelton, Director of Marketing and Business Development, BVI Finance; and Dr Ricardo Wheatley, Director, BVI Government, BVI Hong Kong Office. They were accompanied by representatives from leading legal, financial and professional services organisations.
Leading members of the SILF present at the interaction included Mr Rohit Kochhar, General Secretary; Mr Ravi Nath, Senior Vice-President; Anand S Pathak, Vice-President; Mr Rajesh Narain Gupta, Vice-President; Mr Sudhir Mishra, Vice-President and Ms. Nina Gupta, Advocate and Mediator, Member, Gender Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee of the Supreme Court of India among other senior members of the Indian legal fraternity.
The meeting marked another step in SILF’s efforts to deepen engagement with international legal and professional communities and facilitate greater cross-border cooperation. It is expected to contribute towards building stronger institutional linkages and identifying new avenues for legal and commercial collaboration between India and the BVI.
