US VIRGIN ISLANDS LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Marjorie Roberts, Sean Foster, Renée Marie André, Lisa Wisehart, David Bornn, Duncan J. J. Kessler and Jessica McKenney, Marjorie Rawls Roberts PC
tion 1506 of the VI Code. However, the USVI Attorney General may not commence a prosecution against a person who is a defendant in a case filed by the United States under the provisions of the Federal Anti-Trust Statutes. Certain violations of the Virgin Islands Anti - monopoly Law are misdemeanours punishable with a fine of USD50,000.00 max and/or 6 months imprison - ment max. Under Title 11 Section 1507 (2) of the VI Code, any person whose property or business is injured or threat - ened to be injured by violation of the Virgin Islands Antimonopoly Law can bring an action for injunction and/or damages in the District Court of the Virgin Islands. The Attorney General of the USVI can bring an action for damages on behalf of the Government of the USVI (“GVI”) or any of its political subdivisions under section 1507 or comparable federal law. GVI and the US are considered persons under section 1507 (2). Also under Title 11 Section 1507 of the VI Code, if it is found that a domestic or foreign USVI corporation violated the Virgin Islands Antimonopoly Law or any related injunction, the Attorney General of the USVI can petition the District Court to forfeit, suspend or revoke the charter, certificate of authority or privileges, or franchise of any corporation operating under the laws of the USVI. The Attorney General of the USVI may also petition for the dissolution of these domestic or foreign USVI corporations. The USVI Attorney General may decide to bring an action on behalf of the people of the USVI against any agent, officer, manager, director, trustee or person of a domestic or foreign corporation, or against the corpo - ration itself, for recovery of a penalty of USD50,000.00 max for a violation of the Virgin Islands Antimonopoly Law done in the USVI. The USVI Attorney General can further bring civil actions for equitable relief, as discussed in section 6.3 Remedies and Commitments . The USVI Anti-Monopoly Law under title 11 section 1508 states that personal service for actions under this law can be made to any person outside of the USVI if that person engaged in conduct that violates
this law in the USVI, as that person will be deemed to have submitted themselves to the USVI courts’ juris - diction. The statute of limitations for prosecuting or bringing a civil case under the USVI Anti-Monopoly Law is four years. However, if an action for damages by a per - son is based on a matter in an action by the Attorney General of the USVI, then the statute of limitations is extended until 1 year after the pendency of the Attor - ney General’s case. 7. Foreign Investment/National Security 7.1 Applicable Regulator and Process Overview As a territory of the United States, the USVI is subject to the same national security review regime applicable in the United States. There is no jurisdiction-specific entity involved. Therefore, scrutiny would be sub - ject to either an interceding Executive Branch entity – for example, the US President through an Execu - tive Order – possibly on the advisement of a national security entity such as the National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, etc – or through Congress, namely through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). CFIUS is composed of a committee of members from across federal government agencies, such as the US Department of Defence, US Department of the Treasury and US Department of Homeland Security. CFIUS reviews certain foreign purchases – such as mergers or acquisitions – of US businesses for possi - ble national-security related issues. CFIUS maintains indefinite jurisdiction over transactions that are not reported to it. The USVI, as a US territory, is included in the definition of the United States in Title 50 Sec - tion 4565 of the United States Code, the statutory provision under which CFIUS falls. In addition, Title 31 Section 800.251 of the Code of Federal Regula - tions states that for purposes of the regulations and examples, entities organised under the laws of US territories are entities organised “in the United States.”
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