Cayman Islands Financial Services

On May 1, 2012, Bloomberg speaker, Patrick Schwerdtfeger, will present his signature program called “Social Media Victories” at the Cayman Islands Tourism Exchange (CITE).

The annual event will be held on Grand Cayman. The forum attracts leading tourism suppliers and travel wholesalers from around the world.

Part of the CITE forum will focus on social media and how tourism professionals can use it to promote destinations like the Cayman Islands.

The CITE is the only annual forum for leading suppliers of the Cayman Islands tourism industry to meet with travel wholesalers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Canada in a professionally organized business exchange. The event is organized by the Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA).

Captives are insurance companies that only insure the risks or part of the risks of its parents, or are wholly-owned insurance subsidiaries of organisations not in the insurance business. They are generally owned through a common interest which is not primarily in the insurance business. This interest may be a single-parent shareholder or a group of shareholders. A significant proportion of the risk written is ‘captive’, related in some way to the risks of shareholders, or third party risks which the shareholders control. So, a captive is an insurer that writes risks whose origins are restricted, or those risks to which it has unique access.

Captive insurance has a history of success in the Cayman Islands. During the 1970s, there was a major crisis in the professional liability market in the United States. Because of that, a prominent US medical college developed the first Cayman Islands captive insurance company to provide
coverage for its medical malpractice risks for physicians. Soon, others followed. As a result, a regulatory framework was developed and the Insurance Law introduced in 1979.

A Cayman Captive has the following benefits:
• Top domicile with track record of success and innovation
• Flexibility to tailor coverage
• Cost reductions
• Risk retention, risk management and loss control
• Cash flow benefits
• Tax minimisation or deferral
• Access to the reinsurance market
• Diversification into a profit
• ‘Unbundling’ of services
• Reduction of government regulations and restrictions
• Highly developed captive support industry with experienced professionals

Currently, the Cayman Islands is the second largest offshore captive insurance domicile, and the leading domicile for health care captives in the world. Business is made by a various of companies, from small private shareholders to large public corporations.

A.M. Best Co., the leading rating agency of captive insurers and the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source, has affirmed the financial strength rating of A+ (Superior) and issuer credit rating of “aa-” of Risk Reinsurance Limited (RRL), a company based in the Cayman Islands. The outlook for both ratings is stable.

It should be reminded that the Cayman Islands is one of the leading offshore captive domicile. The Cayman Islands is 2nd only to Bermuda, which is the largest captive insurance domicile in the world.

Fitch Ratings has assigned the following rating to the notes issued by Schahin II Finance Company (SPV) Limited (the Issuer) – USD 750 million senior secured notes ‘BBB-’; Outlook Stable.

The notes are backed by the flows related to the charter agreement signed with Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) for the use of the dynamically positioned ultradeepwater drillship called ‘Sertao’ for the term of 10 years. Schahin Petroleo e Gas S.A. (Schahin P&G), the oil and gas arm of Brazilian-based Schahin Group (Schahin), is the operator of the drillship and the main sponsor of the transaction. The Sertao vessel is the 7th oil rig expected to become online within Schahin’s fleet. The proceeds of the issuance have in large part been used to refinance a loan taken to pay the Samsung Heavy Industries Shipyard for constructing the vessel.

Schahin II Finance Company (SPV) Limited is a company based in the Cayman Islands.

Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) has officially signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) with a view to establish mutually beneficial trade opportunities between the two Freezones.

Following a visit from the CEC to Dubai, UAE, to strengthen trade relations between the United Arab Emirates and the Cayman Islands, CEC has officially signed the above-mantioned document. The agreement signed in November by CEC Chief Executive Officer, Jason Blick and His Excellency Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the Chairman of the DMCC, represents the first major step by CEC to establish the zone internationally through this strategic partnership.

Speaking on the Memorandum of Understanding, CEC Chief Executive Officer Jason Blick said, “The agreement with the DMCC creates a tremendous opportunity for both CEC and the DMCC. By enabling companies to establish in the DMCC and Cayman Enterprise City, we are creating a unique environment for the commodities sector in the Americas and the clients governed by DMCC that can allow the rapid opening of new markets and let companies manage those opportunities successfully.”

The signing of the memorandum of understanding represents the fulfillment of an early part of the CEC vision, to connect the Cayman Islands to established and emerging markets worldwide, and the selection of Dubai as a trade partner is an extension of the earlier trip to the UAE in March 2011 by CEC and a Cayman Islands delegation led by Honorable W. McKeeva Bush, Premier of the Cayman Islands.

Blick said that Dubai is well-known for the world’s most successful Freezones that have completely transformed the local economy and are populated by blue-chip companies from all over the world. So, connecting with Dubai was an integral part of our vision, to gain from their experience while also creating the flow of capital between the two jurisdictions. He added: “We are immensely pleased to realise this agreement, as it shows that the world is interested in what we are doing in Cayman, and brings the success from the Premier’s visit last year”.

Following the ratification of legislation and the establishment of the Cayman Special Economic Zone (SEZA), CEC has officially begun operations and has begun issuing Trade Certificates.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that it has established a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) as part of its long-term strategy to improve the oversight of regulated entities that operate across national borders.

SEC’s supervisory cooperation arrangement is meant to enhance its ability to share information about regulated entities, such as investment advisers, investment fund managers, broker-dealers and credit rating agencies. It establishes mechanisms for continuous and on-going consultation, cooperation and the exchange of supervisory information related to the oversight of globally active firms and markets.

The SEC attaches particular importance to the Cayman Islands as a major offshore financial centre and home to large numbers of hedge funds, investment advisers and investment managers that frequently access the US market, while ESMA fosters regulatory convergence among EU securities regulators.

The Cayman Islands has announced that it is expanding an airport with a view to allow direct flights from Cayman Brac to the United States.

According to Airport Authority marketing manager Caren Thompson-Palacio, the expansion of the Gerrar-Smith International Airport is expected to boost tourism on the island. The construction should start in the next couple of months but an estimated cost for the project is not known yet.

Currently, travelers going from Cayman Brac to Miami must stop first in Grand Cayman as the smaller airport lacks adequate passenger screening facilities.

The South African Revenue Service has disclosed that a protocol to facilitate the exchange of tax information within the tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) between South Africa and the Cayman Islands entered into force.

Signed last year, the TIEA between South Africa and the Cayman Islands was effective from February 23, 2012.

The new TIEA, incorporating the internationally-agreed OECD standard for the exchange of information for tax purposes, will apply to “taxes of every kind and description” imposed in all of the signing countries.

On March 7, 2012, AMP Electric Vehicles, an electric vehicle company specializing in truck conversions, signed a memorandum of understanding with U-Go Stations Cayman LTD. with a view to distribute all-electric SUVs to the Caribbean Islands. U-Go Stations Cayman will become AMP’s second international distributor.

In early January of 2012 at North American Auto Show AMP announced its first US dealership, AMP of Cincinnati.

Jim Taylor, AMP CEO, said that “the combination of the near perfect weather conditions of the Caribbean Islands, the high cost of gasoline, the inherent short commutes of an island community and the desire to reduce dependence on foreign oil makes for an outstanding scenario for our EV’s”.

The agreement gives U-Go Stations Cayman the exclusive retail and fleet distribution rights in the Cayman Islands as well as in the Bahamas, Bermuda, Jamaica, St John, St Thomas, St Kitt, and Barbados.

AMP plans to deliver its first Electric SUV to U-Go Stations Cayman for use in their EV auto show. The event is scheduled for the summer of 2012 in Grand Cayman.

Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) is the first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of its kind in the Caribbean region, is now open for business and welcoming its first clients.

The official launch of the Special Economic Zone was observed at a celebration attended by His Excellency the Governor of the Cayman Islands Mr. Duncan Taylor, Cayman Islands Premier, the Honorable McKeeva Bush, CEC executives and prominent business and community leaders.

It should be reminded that the Premier signed a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2011. The document allows the CEC Development company exclusive rights to develop and operate a SEZ with a view to attract internet, technology, commodities and derivatives, media, and biotechnology companies from around the globe.

At the launch event, Premier Bush commented on the expedited process that resulted in the timely launch. He said: “It is an incredible accomplishment when we consider how much the elected government, the civil service and Cayman Enterprise City have achieved together in 12 short months to make this project a reality”. Also, he added that the SEZ Law was passed by the Legislative Assembly in September 2011 and the Special Economic Zone Authority was established shortly after that. In December 2011, the newly-established Authority held its first meeting and is now licensing the first zone companies.

“The cooperation and pro-business attitude of the Cayman Islands government and the civil service has been outstanding,” noted Cayman Enterprise City CEO Jason Blick. He added: “They truly understand the positive effect the zone will have on Cayman, and their support has been incredible.”

Cayman Enterprise City is expected to develop into the third pillar of the Cayman economy, alongside financial services and tourism, by attracting new technology based industries and global brands into establishing a physical presence in the Cayman Islands.

It is worth noting that a February Moody’s Investors Service report stated that Cayman Enterprise City is an important and credit positive diversification opportunity for the economy of the small island jurisdiction.