Cayman Islands Financial Services

On July 8, the largest management firm in the Cayman Islands – dms Management Ltd. (DMS) – published a press release to proud to announce that Don Ebanks has been appointed Director. This largest management firm in Cayman is focused on serving the hedge fund industry.

As one of the principals of DMS, Ebanks will serve as an independent director of hedge funds and other alternative investment vehicles. He is going to get use of his extensive experience in asset management, financial regulation and corporate restructuring in taking this position.

Before joining DMS, Ebanks served in a number of high-profile positions including the Managing Director of Ernst & Young, insolvency and restructuring practice group in the Cayman Islands. Also, he was the Head of Compliance of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) and created the Compliance Division there as well as was developing the compliance framework for the Authority.

The Prime Minister and the Minister of finance, tourism and development of the Cayman Islands, W. McKeeva Bush, is considering the proposal to make it easier for Jamaicans to visit the jurisdiction if they are already holders of a US visa.

Bush said that he believes the rigorous process to which applicants for United States’ visas are subjected should be satisfactory for entering the Cayman Islands, obviating the need for the granting of a Cayman visa. He said: “The US visa process is well scrutinised. If it serves the US, then it serves us. What I do believe needs to be done now is to consider allowing entry to persons with US- issued visas.”

He also stated that there are many business connections between Jamaica and Cayman, so legitimate business people need to move to and from the jurisdiction. Bush noted that “the Cayman Islands has had tremendous and historical connections and relations with Jamaica for many years”.

According to Bush, he could not commit to whether the visa waiver would be limited to business persons.

Recently, there have been several announcements from the companies registered in the Cayman Islands that they have shifted or are shifting their place of incorporation from the Cayman Islands to Ireland.

On July 2, United America Indemnity has completed the redomestication from the Cayman Islands to Ireland.

Also, it has been recently announced that another Cayman-registered company – Seagate Technology – having domiciled in the jurisdiction for 10 years, changes its jurisdiction of incorporation from the Cayman Islands to Ireland.

On July 1, XL Group plc. announced that it has shifted its place of incorporation to Ireland from Cayman Islands. The company is the Bermudan insurance and reinsurance organization that has had significant operations in the Cayman Islands. This transition was originally announced in January 2010, and it is not expected to have any material effect on the financial results of the company.

To conclude, many companies considered the Cayman Islands to be an attractive financial centre for offshore company incorporation because it provided tax benefits. So, they incorporated their businesses there. Unfortunately, the US and European lawmakers increased scrutiny in order to crack down on abuses and collecting more tax revenues from multinational operations. The dramatic consequence of that is that the jurisdiction became less attractive. Also, it should be noted that the recession has hurt revenues for islands in the British Caribbean, which could lead to higher taxes for companies based there.

Currently, Ireland is an attractive place for incorporation because of its sophisticated and well-developed corporate, legal and regulatory environment. It has a long history of international investment and commercial relationships, as well as trade agreements and tax treaties with the EU countries, the US and other countries around the world. Incorporation in Ireland is beneficial because of a protection of officers and directors from personal liability, asset protection, tax benefits and increased ability to effectively value and market the company.

Previously, it was discussed that United America Indemnity has completed the redomestication from the Cayman Islands to Ireland.

It was recently announced that another Cayman-registered company changes its jurisdiction of incorporation from the Cayman Islands to Ireland. After 10 years of incorporation in Cayman, Seagate Technology has redomiciled to Ireland in order to benefit from tax advantage.

According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission made on February 1, a multi-national company incorporated in Ireland, Seagate expected to minimize its tax burden and to benefit from the “extensive network of tax treaties.” Seagate’s shareholders approved the change of legal address. In 2009, the company reported sales of USD 9.8 billion and listed 47 000 employees.

On July 2, Global Indemnity plc announced that the redomestication transaction previously approved by the shareholders of United America Indemnity, Ltd. was completed.

United America Indemnity, Ltd., which is a Cayman Islands company, is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Global Indemnity plc, an Irish company. The former shareholders of United America Indemnity, Ltd. are now the shareholders of Global Indemnity plc, which will keep the registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and be subject to the SEC’s standard reporting requirements.

Global Indemnity plc is a company having several direct and indirect wholly-owned subsidiary insurance and reinsurance companies that provides both admitted and non-admitted specialty property and casualty insurance coverages in the US, as well as reinsurance throughout the world.

The government of the Cayman Islands has announced that a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) has been signed with the government of Canada.

To welcome the signing, Cayman Prime Minister McKeeva Bush said: “This is indeed an important day for as we have come together to mark a significant milestone in the long-standing relationship between the Cayman Islands and Canada through the tax information exchange agreement we have just signed.” He added that the signed documents provide for comprehensive tax information sharing arrangements, which reflects the jurisdiction’s commitment to upholding and implementing international standards in the global financial services sector.

According to Bush, the signing of the TIEA will have a positive effect on developing mutual cooperation between the Cayman Islands and Canada. As a result of favourable tax treatment for active business income earned by Cayman subsidiaries of Canadian companies, the document is expected to bolster economic flows.