Cayman Islands Financial Services

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.

Offshore law firm Mourant du Feu & Jeune has announced a recent appointment of funds partner Neal Lomax as head of its Cayman office.

The newly-appointed Lomax is a specialist in corporate work with a particular emphasis on investment funds who is ranked by the Chambers Global, Legal500, IFLR1000 and PLC Which Lawyer international legal directories as one of the leading corporate and finance lawyers in this offshore jurisdiction. Lomax will remain the head of the Funds team in Cayman office. It is worth noting that Neal Lomax has been an attorney in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and an attorney of the High Court of South Africa. Before moving to Cayman, he had practice with Arps, Skadden, and Simmons & Simmons in London, and with Edward Nathan in Johannesburg.

KPMG in the Cayman Islands continues to see success in the number of candidates from Cayman who are interested in a career in the accounting profession. This year one of the leading audit companies announced that it will support 5 new local and overseas scholarship applicants.

These KMPG scholarships are awarded to young students from the Cayman Islands who have shown academic excellence and been willing to study accounting either locally or overseas. The local and overseas KMPG scholarships provide a number of benefits as well as practical work experience, acquaintance with different cultures and opportunities to study abroad.

This year’s overseas scholarship recipients are Daphnie Frederick and Tanja Scott, who will be studying through the completion of their Bachelors degree in Accounting in the United States, while Samantha Hennings will begin her studies overseas in 2009.

KPMG Partner Sheenah Hislop–DaCosta said that KMPG understand “the importance of education in developing the skills needed for tomorrow’s generation”.

Deadly hurricane Gustav following swamping Jamaica threatens to menace the Cayman Islands. This was what forecasters said on August 29, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall.

The hurricane has already left large damage to Jamaica – Gustav ripped off roofs, broke power lines and pounded rain that triggered landslides and floods into Jamaica.

The hurricane center said that the storm was centered 265 km east-southeast of Grand Cayman and that it was moving over water toward the west-northwest near 13 kph.

According to forecasters, if winds sustain about 100 kph and higher gusts, Gustav could strengthen back into a hurricane and slam into the Cayman Islands.