Cayman Islands Financial Services

The Annual General Meeting of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands was recently held with a view to introduce the new Council and to announce its most recent achievements.

Now the National Trust holds about 2 700 acres of land in trust for future generations as during the past year it increased its land holdings by 177 acres. It has already entered into an agreement to buy a further 3 acres at the southern end of the Mastic Trail. Due to this acquisition of land a parking lot and restrooms will make the Mastic Trail experience more convenient.

As to fundraising highlights for the year, these included the 20th Anniversary Gala Dinner and Auction that raised over USD 40 000, and the Art Auction hosted by Governor Stuart Jack that raised over USD 50 000.

All in all, each of the National Trust’s programmes got a significant success over the past year.

The Cayman International Shipping Registry (CISR) had a promotional showcase at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show that was held from October 30 to November 3. The same show was held also the previous year.

To attend the event, an 8-strong team from the Cayman Islands joined up with 6 representatives from the local Florida office of CISR. It should be noted that boat-builders lined up to present their new models and customers lined up to buy them, so there was no evidence of the international credit crunch at the show. According to exhibitors, sales this year were well ahead of those last year.

This year annual show was the 49th and it featured more than USD 3 billion worth of yachts, super yachts, boats, engines electronics, and accessories from major marine manufacturers and builders.

A division of the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands (MACI), the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry (CISR) is planning to launch an initiative that will increase ship registrations from Asia.

The Asian operations of the CISR have been strengthened by the addition of 2 new regional representatives that should attract Asian ship owners and ship builders.

As it has already been discussed, Business and Technical Consultant for the Far East Region, Martin Chu, represents the CISR in Hong Kong, while Evelyn Soon is the CISR representative in Singapore.

The staff from the CISR is currently in Tokyo for presentations to business leaders in the Asian shipping industry. Japan is a country of focus for the CISR. The Cayman group includes Alfred Powery, Divisional Director of Registration; Exie Tomlinson-Panton, Head of Business Development and Client Relationships; and Kenrick Ebanks, Divisional Director of Finance & IT. In Tokyo, the Cayman delegation will meet with Mr Yoshinori Uno – the CISR representative in Japan.

In the context of the current international financial crisis the Cayman regulator, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA), has decided to reassure the public over their retail banks.

It should be also noted that CIMA meetings with local banks have increased because of the international financial crisis.

According to the Authority, retail banks are subject to robust and strict oversight from the regulator. In recent years, banks in Cayman stayed quite conservative in lending practices, which has led to minimal losses while the banks remained liquid and well-capitalised.

CIMA stated that the regulatory environment in which retail banks operate is very strong and that confidence in the banking system is reasonable.

There are 7 retail banks in the Cayman Islands:
Cayman National Bank Ltd.,
Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Ltd.,
Scotiabank & Trust (Cayman) Ltd.,
FirstCaribbean International Bank (Cayman) Ltd.,
Royal Bank of Canada,
Fidelity Bank (Cayman) Ltd.,
and HSBC Bank (Cayman) Ltd.

The Cayman Leader of Government Business, Kurt Tibbetts has warned that the Cayman Islands is not likely to escape the fall-out from the financial crisis in the US, particularly because the majority of the world’s hedge funds have registered in the jurisdiction. Many the world’s hedge funds are heavily exposed to the debt instruments.

On October 9, Tibbetts said that notwithstanding the interventions of the United States’ government, the financial markets are still far from back to normal. He noted that the economy of the jurisdiction does not operate in isolation.

While the retail banking sector in Cayman is functioning close to normally, hedge funds and structured finance are the areas that are expected to suffer most. According to Tibbetts, there could be a big decline in the number of new fund and business formations the next year. Some experts are predicting that the number of hedge funds in the world could decrease by 20-30%, which will by all means affect Cayman’s business.

The Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands (MACI) announced that year 2008 has witnessed a major global expansion effort on the part of its division – the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry (CISR).

CISR is the leading registrar of mega-yachts in the world. It is able to provide service for vessels of all types and sizes including private yachts, super-tankers, and submarines.

CISR was established in 1903. Currently, it has about 2 000 vessels on its Register.

According to MACI CEO Joel Walton, expansion during the past 6 months has been essential to strategically place itself for the convenience of its clients. Ti make an addition to its global network, CISR opened the 1st Mediterranean office in France. Also, it broadly covers Asia, where it is represented by Yoshinori Uno. Evelyn Soon now represents CISR in Singapore, and Martin Chu in Hong Kong.

Minister of Commerce for the Cayman Islands, Charles Clifford, has recently announced that a detailed environmental impact study will be carried out for a major redevelopment project in the George Town port. The company that will make the project will be chosen by the officials from Department of Environment (DoE).

DoE officials will choose the company from 3 names that were submitted by the investing company, Atlantic Star Limited.

Atlantic Star Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding with the Cayman government in order to develop the cruise dock and cargo port separately. Minister of Commerce, Minister Clifford gave updates on the new cruise and cargo facility.

In the end of September, the Cayman Islands Financial Services Association (CIFSA) announced that it has added Meridian Fund Services and Greenlight Reinsurance Ltd to as its members.

2008 has been a particularly important year for CIFSA in terms of activity. It has been discussed that CIFSA announced its highest recorded membership, as of April 2008, 43 member organizations - 37 private sector members and 6 association members – were registered by it.

Several important CIFSA members have been important in the campaign as they were monthly sponsors. These are Cayman National Bank, KPMG, Deloitte, the Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants, DMS Management Ltd, Julius Baer, Butterfield Bank, Scotia Bank, Aon Cayman National and the Cayman Islands Insurance Association.

Recently, the feature film has been shot in the Cayman Islands. Last week, the movie named Cayman Went was released at an invitation-only screening at Hollywood Cinema at Camana Bay, Grand Cayman.

According to IMDB, Cayman Went is the story of a fading Hollywood underwater action star whose life takes on new meaning when he’ gets forced to spend time with the eccentric inhabitants of Cayman Brac and their local dive community. Moses Kirkconnell, MLA, said: “This movie is not about money laundering or crooks. It is a family movie with a great environmental message. So it will be a very positive image for Cayman Brac.”

But what is important for the jurisdiction is the economic impact of this production which is estimated to be USD 500 000 over the 2 weeks the feature film was based on the Brac. This half a million is the result of production crew that was working in Cayman and needing a various range of services such as apartment rental, transportation, tourist guides, catering, etc.

It is also hoped that the release of the movie is likely to have a positive economic impact on cayman tourism industry as it will raise the awareness of the cayman Islands to a large audience. This is very timely because currently Cayman is expanding to more nature and family-oriented tourists.

Tanya Campbell has been appointed as its new chief operating officer in Cayman by Deutsche Bank.

She will manage all aspects of Cayman office operations and infrastructure, and will be specifically responsible for private wealth management operations. Tanya Campbell will establish part of the Offshore Group COO team that is headed up by Andreas Tautscher.

Ms Campbell has worked in the financial services industry in the Cayman Islands for 8 years. She joined Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited in December 2007. Before that, she was deputy chief financial officer at an offshore private bank in the Cayman Islands, and had financial reporting responsibility for structured investment and derivative products.

Janet Hislop, chief country officer at Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Ltd welcomed her to a senior position at Deutsche Bank in the Cayman Islands.