Directors of British Virgin Islands companies and general partners of BVI limited partnerships should be aware of enhanced record-keeping requirements that have recently come into force, according to Maples & Calder, the law firm.

In a note, the firm said the requirements “are not burdensome” but pointed out that all BVI companies and limited partnerships should review their record/document keeping, retention and destruction policies to ensure they stay on the right side of regulations.

Since 2005, BVI business companies have been required under the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 to keep records that show and explain the company’s transactions and that enable the financial position of the company to be determined with reasonable accuracy at any time. These rules have been extended to limited partnerships, in a change that took effect in November 2012.

Records and underlying documents that BVI companies and limited partnerships must keep must now be kept for at least five years.