Cayman’s omission from the EU White List was one of the pressing concerns that the Cayman Islands Financial Services Association (CIFSA) raised with the recent delegation of MPs from the UK last month, including Michael Fallon (left .) “The evening was very beneficial in exploring the rationale behind the ‘White List’ in excluding a jurisdiction like Cayman which scored very highly in the FATF standards, while including many jurisdictions such as Switzerland, Singapore and Australia that scored very poorly,” said David Roberts, a director of CIFSA.
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Cayman Islands was led by Ian Davidson, (Labour), and included Michael Fallon (Conservative), who is also a member of the UK treasury select committee. “Such visits are useful in expanding our knowledge of the high regulatory standards in the Cayman Islands, and it enables those involved to deal with any UK Government issues impacting the Cayman Islands from a first hand position,” said Fallon.
CIFSA said the visit provided an excellent opportunity for it and other senior level representatives involved in the financial sector to enter into personal dialogue on issues of mutual interest and concern for the Cayman Islands financial industry.
“CIFSA continually looks for opportunities to better share information with organisations and individuals both locally and overseas who may have an interest in our financial services industry. We believe that this type of dialogue is important in ensuring our members stay abreast of current issues as well as providing an update on developments within our sector to organisations and individuals based overseas,” added Andrew Johnson, a CIFSA director.
Roberts noted that in the same week as the delegation’s visit Cayman received favourable news from the United States with the release of the independent GAO report on the Cayman Islands that was quite positive when describing the regulatory environment in Cayman.
“We must still remain vigilant and steadfast in our efforts to spread the truth about our industry, particularly in jurisdictions whereit is politically expedient right now to exploit negative stereotypes that have little or no basis in reality today. But this week has been a very positive step in that process,” he said.
