Cayman Islands Financial Services

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI) recently sent the largest ever delegation of Cayman aviation-related entities. The delegation attended the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) tradeshow that took place in Atlanta, US, on September 25-27, 2007. This was the 60th Anniversary of NBAA attended by about 32 000 attendees and 1152 exhibitors over the 3-day period.

Attending the NBAA was aimed at promoting the Cayman Islands Aircraft Registry and associated business services.

The CAACI delegation included representatives of local private firms Goldfield, Appleby, Island Air, Maples & Calder, and European legal firm Schaefer & Associates. It also included officials from the Cayman Islands Investment Bureau, Cayman Islands Shipping Registry. Also, representative materials from the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism were taken to the tradeshow.

Digicel , the largest telecommunications provider in the Caribbean, has announced that it is launching its next-generation, personal broadband service that employs standard based mobile WiMAX 802.16e technology to connect users anywhere they like. It is initially being rolled out in Cayman.

Digicel is the 1st telecommunications provider in the Cayman Islands which offers next-generation Mobile WiMAX based on 802.16e technology. Digicel entered the market in December 2005 providing corporate customers with fixed Wireless Broadband Voice, Data and Internet services in the Cayman Islands.

Digicel is planning to continue Personal Broadband Service roll outs in other markets in the near future.

According to Digicel Group CTO Mario Assaad, “Digicel is one of just a few mobile operators in the world to commercially launch an 802.16e ready network for personal broadband service. By choosing a standard-based technology, Digicel is driving innovation”. He said that, as devices go on evolving, the company will strive to ensure that its customers can access the best services using cutting-edge technology.

It has been described that on August 31, 2007 the Freedom of Information Bill was passed into law by the Legislative Assembly in the Cayman Islands.

Recently, in a wide-ranging pronouncement on the new legislation, the Human Rights Committee (HRC) said that the Freedom of Information Law should be accompanied by constitutional protections for the right to privacy.

The Freedom of Information Law, which will be effective from January 1, 2009, will give the public the right to access most (however, not all) records of government, including statutory authorities and government-owned companies.

The HRC has concerns about the law that may open up information that is to remain confidential. According to the HRC, “there are human rights concerns associated with legislation that provides for freedom of information, particularly where information sought is of a personal nature”; and “this has the potential to impact on the right to privacy and it is important therefore that sufficient guarantees are built into the Freedom of Information legislation”.

Nevertheless, the Human Rights Committee emphasized that it treats the Freedom of Information law as a “big step forward for Cayman and the protection of human rights”.

It has been discussed previously that the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) has launched a study aimed to choose the most appropriate options for implementing updated international standards aimed at determining banks’ capital adequacy.

Now, the Board of CIMA has approved the implementation of the new Basel II framework in Cayman between 2010 and 2012.

On September 24, 2007, CIMA informed that the implementation of Basel II will follow a preparation process. The preparation process will include such important processes as policy development, new reporting requirements and consultations with the banking industry in the Cayman Islands. The search for a Basel II Implementation Project Manager has already begun the preparation process.

Initially, Cayman incorporated banks will be required to implement the standardized approaches under Pillar 1 by the end of 2010, and Pillars 2 and 3 will be implemented between 2010 and 2012.

According to CIMA, the standardized approaches under Basel II will facilitate the banking industry’s risk profile and business mix as well as enhance its risk measurement and management practices.

It should be noted that Cayman’s banking industry currently includes 280 banks from more than 40 countries. About 100 of them will be directly influenced by the implementation of the Basel II framework.

In accordance with a report from China Daily, companies in the Cayman Islands are among the largest foreign investors into China in the 1st 8 months of the year. Cayman’s investment into China accounted for USD 1.51 billion.

Top-10 provided by the report looks the following way:
1.Hong Kong – USD 14.1 billion;
2.the British Virgin Islands – USD 9.91 billion;
3.the Republic of Korea – USD 2.46 billion;
4.Japan – USD 2.25 billion;
5.Singapore – USD 1.64 billion;
6.the United States – USD 1.63 billion;
7.the Cayman Islands – USD 1.51 billion;
8.the Samoan Islands – USD 1.12 billion;
9.Taiwan – USD 952 million;
10.Mauritius – USD 753 million.

The total foreign investments into China accounted for USD 41.95 billion. The 10 above-mentioned countries accounted for 86.55% of all foreign investment into China in the 8 months of 2007.

To conclude, the largest investors into China are some of the most successful offshore financial centres such as the including the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands.

Radical changes to the companies law of the Cayman Islands are being proposed by the government of the jurisdiction. These changes are aimed to simplify the legislation and to make the provisions more suitable to the needs of the Cayman financial services industry.

On September 3, 2007, a bill aimed to repeal and replace part 5 of the Companies Law wit a view to reform the legislation regarding the winding up of companies was published as Supplement No. 1 of Gazette No. 18. The bill was scheduled to be debated on September 17 in the Legislative Assembly.

The bill reflects the Law Reform Commission’s 2005 recommendations, following a 4-year private sector review of the Cayman Islands’ corporate insolvency law.

The Commission’s recommendations included the following:
- to repeal and replace the existing law relating to corporate insolvency as it was unduly complex and out of date;
- to establish an Insolvency Rules Committee for formulating insolvency rules to meet the needs of the Cayman financial services industry;
- codify and incorporate into a new part of the Principal Law international cooperation with respect to insolvency matters, taking into consideration that the basis of cross-border cooperation relative to insolvency matters to a great extent depends on judicial practice.

On September 20, Scotiabank & Trust (Cayman) Ltd. launched Scotia Private Client Group in the Cayman Islands. This leveraged Scotiabank’s global operations offering private banking, investment advice, trust services and insurance.

The expansion of Scotiabank reflects its retail footprint in the region. The Bank has already launched Scotia Private Client Group services in the Bahamas. The announcement about the expansion in the Cayman Islands is the most recent in a set of Private Client Group launches planned by Scotiabank.

Farried Sulliman, managing director of Scotiabank & Trust (Cayman) Ltd., said that Scotiabank has served the customers’ needs in Cayman since 1968, and it is important for the Bank to provide services for more complex financial needs on an international level. Now this is possible.

Scotiabank is Canada’s most international bank and one of the premier financial institutions of North America. It serves approximately 12 million customers in some 50 countries all over the world.