Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Privy Council: BVI shares are movables; s 245 fixes situs for title/jurisdiction only - succession follows domicile; no BVI-compliant will required for foreign shareholders (Al-Thani v Al Thani)

Published on: 21 November 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Private Client expert

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Article summary

Al-Thani and another v Al Thani and others (Virgin Islands) [2024] UKPC 35

What are the practical implications?

The Privy Council rejected an interpretation of section 245 which it considered would amount to a ‘radical change’ to the BVI’s private international law rules. Had the appellants succeeded, foreign‑domiciled owners of shares in BVI registered companies who wished to transfer those shares on death would have been obliged to execute a separate will compliant with the BVI Wills Act, rather than relying on a will valid under the law of their domicile. That interpretation would have required that step and created a ‘trap for the foreign investor’. The decision avoids that inconvenient result by confirming that, in the BVI, shares continue to be treated as movable property, with succession governed by the law of the owner’s domicile, thereby maintaining the existing approach as had previously applied there.

What was the background?

The parties were relatives of Sheikh Saoud Mohammed A A Al Thani, who died domiciled in Qatar in 2014. The dispute concerned shares in BVI registered companies which were said to hold substantial assets...

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