CINICO CEO back at CIMA
(CNS): Gordon Rowell, the former CEO at the Cayman Islands National Insurance Company (CINICO) who was involved in a controversy last year regarding his plans to give the CINICO overseas contract to the struggling Florida based company CareGuide, is returning to the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority to take over Insurance Supervision. Last summer questions were raised regarding due diligence before the CINICO board overturned the plans and Rowell resigned. CIMA said today that in his new post he will be responsible for administering and monitoring the system of supervisory regulation of the insurance industry and managing the Insurance Division’s staff of 18 people.
While the full details of the controversy have never been revealed, it is understood that Rowell asked Florida-based CareGuide to take over the contract to provide overseas medical care to 12,730 CINICO clients after the expiration of the agreement with Ontario-based Canadian Medical Network (CMN). CareGuide had reportedly held the CINICO contract in the past but had lost it, and as the firm was in financial trouble questions arose at the time about what due diligence had been done. The auditor general was asked by the CINICO board to investigate the financial viability of CareGuide and he found the company was in trouble. In his summary, Dan Duguay warned that while he had not conducted an official audit of the firm, “it is clear that recent financial results at CareGuide have weakened the company significantly,” he said.
The board then announced its decision to drop Rowell’s plans to use CareGuide following a meeting at which Rowell also announced his decision to resign from his post as CEO but denied it was related. Despite the evidence that CareGuide was suffering financially at the time, Rowell indicated he still believed the deal offered CINICO better value than CMN.
“We had a publicly traded company that had more connections to Florida, they were offering more services at a third of the cost, with savings of over $1.5 million at absolutely no financial risk to CINICO,” he had said. Speaking to the Legislative Assembly’s Finance Committee in June last year, Rowell said he was resigning because he hadn’t done the best he could for CINICO and was looking for a more peaceful life.
Rowell will take up his new appointment on 15 April, which will be the second time he has worked at CIMA having started there in 1997 and held the position of Head of Insurance from 1997 to 2003. “I am looking forward to working with my old colleagues and the insurance industry again. I have very much enjoyed the last six years but a part of me has always remained with CIMA and I am strongly motivated by the new challenges,” Rowell said.
Since his departure from CIMA, Rowell has worked with various insurance and mutual fund companies and served first as a consultant with Ernst & Young in Cayman before he served as a consultant with CINICO. He became CEO there in 2006 before his controversial resignation in the summer of 2008.
Aside from his time at CIMA and CINICO, Rowell has also worked with BDC Advisors LLC, a San Francisco company, as a healthcare system consultant to the Turks and Caicos Islands government. In the past, Rowell has also been a technical assistant to the International Monetary Fund, participating in IMF missions in Belize and Vanuatu and assisting in the design of insurance templates used by the IMF for reviewing offshore jurisdictions. He was a member of the Cayman team that dealt with the British government during its review of the British Overseas Dependent Territories by KPMG in 2000, and was a member of the delegation dealing with the FATF to secure Cayman’s removal from the FATF’s Money Laundering Blacklist. He has also spoken extensively on insurance matters at local, regional and international conferences.
Managing Director of CIMA, Cindy Scotland, said Rowell has wide experience in insurance practice and regulation. She said as he has represented both CIMA and the Cayman Islands internationally, and he is well known and respected in regulatory circles as well as in the private sector. “I am pleased to have him back on board,” she added.
Category: Business
The anonymous poster’s comments on the various esoteric distinctions between different levels of "Caymanianness" shows how flawed the laws on these issues are. Discrimination between indigenous and non-indigenous status holders shows the continuation of subtle, but real, discrimination which is a breach of the UK’s wider international obligations. These will eventually all have to be reformed, be that through local legislation or revision at the national (i.e. UK) level. For example, the bar on running for office is a breach of the UK’s human rights obligations. Any status holder is entitled to participate in the democratic process as a right regardless of birthplace.
Point taken – however please note that the whole issue of BOT Citizenship arises under the British Nationality Act which is not a Cayman law. It is a British Law – and it is the British government that has at times denied it to persons who have the Right to be Caymanian, a Caymanian passport.
I admit it is an extreme example but imagine a Pakistani individual who has come to Birmingham and obtained Naturalisation as a British person. He is legally British but cannot speak English, does not eat cucumber sandwiches, protests that the village pub sells beer, and does not think women should go to university. Ask the "traditional" Englishman down the street if his neighbour is British and he will answer (perhaps reluctantly) yes. Ask the same Englishman if his British neighbour is also an Englishman, and he will almost certainly answer no.
Now bring it down a level. Suppose Madonna is now British due to her residence and marriage. Would anyone ever call her an Englishwoman?
Cayman is no different and why should it be – of course Madonna’s children will be English – and so will the Pakistani’s – but it may take that generation to get there. Now what is so terribly wrong with that?
If you are Caymanian through grant and don’t want to wait a generation before you are accepted as a Caymanian, here’s a tip. Sail a catboat one Saturday, clean a conch (and eat it raw), treat the simple folk no differently from the rich, say "good morning" when you pass a stranger on the street, stop referring to some other country as "home"and have a little respect for the generally wonderful, industrious, God-fearing people who struggled for survival on these three small Islands for 10 generations and built it into something special before you turned up and told them they were doing it wrong. You may have a pleasant surprise.
Why do we keep recycling the same old people and wonder why we come up with the same results. The guy is now hired and we cant do a single thing about it. Is this not the way things usually go in Cayman. The only thing achieved here is some of high societies people have discovered that they are not as popular and loved as they thought they were. end ofstory
Not end of story, Anotha. This piece has brought a mega-f–k ton of response because people are tired of being victims. If you check the website you know who bears the responsiblity (it’s in a cool flow chart with 2 individuals in the tong of responsibility.) Now quit acting like a victim and do something about it! And to you, Anonomous; I have to follow the foreign press to have any clarity about what’s happening on the island!
This is crazy. Political appointment. I hope UDP win. He is going to mess CIMA THE HELL UP!!!!!!
I don’t usually post on these sites, but due to the totally uninformed, unintelligent posts this article has generated I feel compelled torespond.
Gordon Rowell is a man of un-impeached ethics and is an asset to this Island. The amount of comments that people have posted about his character and honesty is in my opinion slanderous. If I was Mr. Rowell I would do what I could to find the authors of these posts and sue them!
Mr. Rowell is married to a professional Caymanian and the two of them have worked hard to provide for their family. How dare people who know nothing about them and nothing about the facts relating to his employment have to nerve to comment.
Shame on you!!
Maybe you could have a buddy get into the office of CNS…..
There are lot of inaccuracies in the negative comments below. As someone who used to work with Mr Rowell I can state that he is qualified for the position. And yes I am Caymanian but I am ashamed that there are still those that would make such remarks without knowing the facts. You all know how it goes in Cayman sometimes – rumors can be made up out of thin air.
Isn’t it time to give the benefit of the doubt and support to those who have made our beloved Island their home and who have contributed to the growth of our industries?
Can you tell me…What is the different between a Caymanian and a BDTC(British dependent Territories Citizen) with a caymanian status.Can somebody with common sense answer me this and what the law say about it.Because we have some ignorants,angry PPM supporters here…i recall couple of years ago when the minister of education said"That caymanians will vote for a broom stick if you put some clothes on it". and his favorite quote"Caymanians don’t like xpats"Vote the PPM out……..
Anonymous has asked the difference between a Caymanian and a British Overseas Territories Citizen with Caymanian Status – and the answer is that there is virtually none in Law – they are usually one and the same – but a slight distinction can be drawn in some circumstances. Status and BDTC are no longer the correct legal terms. The descriptions in the Law today are today are "The Right to be Caymanian" which has replaced status, and BOTC (the "Dependent" having been replaced with the more accurate and politically correct term "Overseas").
All "indigenous" Caymanians possess both the Right to be Caymanian and BOTC. However, many newer Caymanians do not yet possess BOTC – which must be applied for under the British Nationality Act 1981 – if you do not already possess it ie. from birth. The process is commonly known as Naturalization. Whether or not BOTC is conferred on an applicant is discretionary – and for example depends on whether a "good character" and residency test can be met.
Likewise, there are many persons who are BOTC’s (by virtue of a connection to the Cayman Islands) who do not possess the Right to be Caymanian. Such persons are likely to, for example, hold a Cayman Islands Passport but are not Caymanian, and must, for example, hold a work permit (or other relevant permission) if they are to work in Cayman in the private sector.
An indigenous Caymanian cannot be generally stripped of their "Right to be Caymanian" or of their BOTC citizenship – however any person who holds the same by grant (including by the Board or by Cabinet) can lose the Right to be Caymanian if (for example) they lied or misled on their application or have committed an offence that was made possible by, or was facilitated by, the grant to them. Similarly, a person who is Caymanian by virtue of obtaining such right through an individual who obtained it fraudulently, is liable to themselves be stripped of that status in appropriate circumstances and to be deemed never to have been a Caymanian themselves.
A previous poster has suggested that there is no difference between types of Caymanians. This is generally true although there are exceptions including re. ability to run for office. A very subtle distinction may however arise in an employment context. Whilst neither needs a permit – a business which has trained an indigenous Caymanian into senior management will get immigration credit for this advancement, whilst a business who hasa senior manager who subsequently becomes Caymanian may not receive the same credit.
Culturally (rather than legally) there is often a significant difference between traditional Caymanians and many of what were formerly known as status holders (a misnomer because all Caymanians were always status holders). As many Caymanians have started to feel outnumbered, and culturally diluted in their own Islands – and some perceive that they are not participating in the economy tothe extent which they feel fairly entitled, some divisions are regrettably showing. With sensitivity, mutual respect, understanding and fairplay by all sides, these can be overcome.
Turn over at CIMA is high? Oh Lord there must be something suspicious going on there! Honestly, did you stop for even on second to think before you type?
CIMA is filled with young Caymanians who hold qualifications from solid educational institutions in fields like banking and finance. Obviously, in an island filled with…BANKS, some of them may just want to hire the young analysts out of CIMA, who are qualified, trained and experts in regulatory procedure. And this shouldn’t be any surprise: people get high salaries in the private sector than in government (even at an independent authority). There isn’t anything funny about CIMA’s “high turnover rate”, people have families to feed and they’re doing what they think is best for them. Stop and think for second, just one.
And yeah, the number responses to this story are way over top relative to the far more important possible-kidnappings and commissioner candidate. But peddling rumors doesn’t help the situation, shame on you.
"The fact of the matter is that you can have Caymanian Status and therefore need no work permit to work but also not be a BOTC (Caymanian as you would call it). Unless and until we stop this foolishness of Caymanians versus Status we will not progress……"
Yes the PPM is good at spreading these rumours "All Caymanians hate foreigners" Caymanians do not hate expats they just want their rightful place in their society.
So PPM stop the hating and start forgiving – we are all on the same ship and need to start paddling together for the Hurricane called PPM is right on us and we need to MOVE NOW.
UDP people Gordon is a nice man. If he was hired by CIMA it was not by the PPM government ‘cos they know nothing about hiring anything other than family. Gordon is well disserving and most likely he took crap for the PPM in the CINICO deal not the other way round. God Bless Gordon – welcome back.
Gordon my the good lord be with you. You are a wonderful man and an excellent human being. Please do not let the asses of our society get to you.
Gordon is just as much a Caymanian than most of you. His heart is in the right place. Please do not let him hate this country and its people because of a few.
"He screws up CINICO…" Actually, he did a hell of a job at Cinico. If anyone knows anything about the good work Mr. Rowell has done in the past all of this mud would not be thrown his way.
Does anyone writing this want to stop and think about another thing? This is a PERSON who has a FAMILY, a wife and children! All of whom contribute to this island! How do you think they feel reading this crap written by people who know nothing of them or him?
Also, funny how ex-pats are so evil …..
This poor guy is just trying to feed his family and pay his bills but i think with the current economic situation and level of unfairness happening to Caymanians it is very bad timing during and election year but on a serious note. If he is as good and recognised as they have said and outlined in the above article why has he not been picked up by private companies and why has he been unemployed for so long. It is a reasonable enough question. With this amount of lambasting he has taken he will have to perform a virtual miracle now. Would not want to be in his shoes.
And not a very good status holder at that! Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame CINDY SCOTLAND.
You have done us all an injustice here. I used to work in banking and the turnover of qualified Caymanians there often made me wonder why no one was looking at this high turnover rate. FOI request needed on this one. Check out the stats and see what they have done to push young Caymanians out of CIMA. Then she hires him.
HIs record is beyond spotless. He has a lot of issues and the public has no idea. His behavior at CIMA during the first round was not becoming at all for a so-called professional. HIs fiasco at CINICO illustrates his propensity towards dishonesty. It’s a shame he was allowed to "resign" and no one pushed for further details. There is definitely much more to that story. The board members are well aware of many of his antics that include mistreatment of staff etc. This attempts to givethe contract to this company that was BROKE – what was he going to get out of it?
Now we put him back into a regulatory position? The IMF needs to come in and stop this mess as no one in Cayman has the balls to do it.
Funny – this generated more reader responses in such a short time than even the missing girls and the crazy cop up for the cop job. This is not a high profile position in Cayman, but this Rowell guy really seems to have raised a lot of eyebrows and has many people talking. I hear he left CIMA a few years back under less than ideal conditions (many rumours circulating about that) and he left CINICO in a mess with some unexplained shady deals…
I also keep hearing rumours that he just built a massive house… it all seems pretty odd to me – and this guy really seems to have a lot of people that dont like him. I think this will be interesting, I just hope Cayman doesnt get another black eye.
OK he broke under the pressure of CIMA in the past, then returned consulting for CINICO which was a mess up from the on-set, later got the head position at CINCO, did not fix anything and now this! I don’t care if he is married to Caymanian, it’s a matter of having the right person for the job and actually doing a job!! Times are changing and Cayman needs to step up to the plate and put our best forward.
Could we PLEASE cut through all of the crap and get to the issue at hand? Who is the responsible person for hiring this loser? I don’t care about party politics- WHO put this guy back in?
The stupidity of most these anonymous posters never cease to amaze.
People are so quick to comment on the fly without any facts or even bothering to inquire before – just run off at the mouth without accurate information – just careless and scandalous.
CIMA is a statutory authority (not Government) and is not on a hiring freeze. CIMA regulates the financial industry, which is our main bread and butter, including the insurance industry. To do this effectively (especially in the economic climate and OECD/G20 attack on tax havens) CIMA needs professional, experienced regulators. The CIMA Board – not Cindy Scotland – approves the hiring of Gordon Rowell (a Caymanian) for that division.
What possible political gain would Cindy Scotland gain (she is not running for office) from hiring a Caymanian to head up one of the divisions in CIMA – instead of the expat Consultant they had temporarily?
To attack her personally – and then translate that to her husband who is running for election opposing the incumbent government – is indicative of the stupidity of the Caymanian voting public – who follow the biggest mouth (Ellio, McKeeva, Arden) and act on impulse rather than accurate information to select the proper candidates.
Having made such stupid decisions when voting for MLAs, they complain about the incompetent Government ! Caymanians vote for friends based on hear-so instead of qualifications and then get bitter about government corruption, cronyism and bad decisions made by the same uneducated, poorly qualified MLAs they put in power!
Asseess Mark Scotland – and ALL the election candidates on their education, relevant experience and qualifications ONLY. Not hear-say and whether she/he is a nice guy (Mike Adam), buys you a fridge (McKeeva) or goes to church (Choppy). Those are not qualifications to represent Cayman in a global arena with Obama, Brown or CARICOM.
Vote SMART Cayman!
It’s amazing how little people seem to know of the facts.
Fact 1: CIMA is not government and is therefore not on a recruitment freeze.
Fact 2: If he is being appointed Head of Insurance, it means that he is replacing someone who was previously there anyway.
Fact 3: Gordon Rowell is Caymanian
Fact 4: The previous Head of Insurance at CIMA was not Caymanian
Fact 5: If Mr Rowell had previously spent six years at CIMA and only the last two of them were as the Head, he must have been good enough at his job to get promoted in the first place.
The CIMA is not the civil service but is an authority and it DOES fall under the hiring freeze put in place by the government for the civil service and all authorities.
He is a "Status Holder" not a "Caymanian", there is a difference.
Only if you are a small minded, ignorant BIGOT!!!!
What is the difference?
In the hiring process there is NO differerence between a Caymanian and a Status Holder. The fact is in the hiring process you either need a permit or you dont need a permit. If you dont need a permit then you dont need a permit and therefore whether you are a Caymanian or status holder is irrelevant. Furthermore there is no such thing as a Caymanian and we need to stop using this term. You are either a BOTC (British Overseas Territories Citizen) or not. The fact of the matter is that you can have Caymanian Status and therefore need no work permit to work but also not be a BOTC (Caymanian as you would call it). Unless and until we stop this foolishness of Caymanians versus Status we will not progress.
So, let me see if I have this right. The hiring of this individual is a plot by the PPMto get votes from … I don’t know ….. his wife, maybe. It is also the fault of Mrs Scotland who is married to a UDP candidate. You are all fools. Clearly this has all been cunningly manipulated by that nefarious group who call themselves "independents" to turn party followers against each other. I don’t know how they did it. Damn clever, if you ask me.
Once again we see or own doing right by or own Caymanians This is why things are in the current state of affairs on May 20th 2009 I encourage all caymanians to vote for people who put Cayman first and to elect Caymanians who will protect and create jobs for qualified Caymanians. People of Bodden Town pay attention.
Government looking for votes didn’t they say they had a hiring freeze obviously it does not apply to the chosen few. Everybody should not be surprise as these little social gathering networks that exist at various places on Cayman are the real job fairs where employment is gain and people are hired and how many Caymanians attend those.
"Cindy Scotland does not run the Civil Service"
Quite correct! CIMA which she heads up is NOT part of the Civil Service. Like CINICO, it is a Statutory Authority. As such, Mrs Scotland can hire whoever she pleases and pay them whatever salary she pleases. So the stuff about her having little say in who is employed at CIMA is monumentally wrong! Sorry!
Fire this government and then fire its cronies
CIMA is a statutory authority (see the Monetary Authority Law) and is not part of the civil service. The appointment of senior officers (such as heads of division) at CIMA is a matter for the Board of Directors (appointed by Cabinet), typically following the recommendation of the Managing Director of CIMA (appointed by Cabinet) and the Management Committee (senior officers of CIMA).
Thank you, Mr. Ridley. Now how about names; we need names…
The names of the Board Members, staff, organisation chart and Management Committee names – is all on CIMAs website: http://www.cimoney.com.ky. Do a little independent research and fact-checking – and stop waiting or expecting other people to find accurate information for you! Typical. Lazy and ignorant is a bad combination.
Congrats Gordon!
Ignorant, but not lazy. Thank you. You are actually the first to give some useful factual information. You should share more often.
Any one ever wonder how this government thrives on failure and drunken behavior Once again we see another non caymanian employed while others can’t make ends meet. Come see where he lives
CareGuide, Inc. has announced that it has filed a Form 15 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to voluntarily deregister its common stock under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The par value of the company’s common stock was $0.01 per share.
Is this a political appoinment by Mr Alden Mclaughlin before he leave office????Who else he plan to hire before the election next month?And remember about the fiasco in university college with DR Fraud……That was a mess..Shame on the PPM i voting UDP soon come……
Here Here! And I’ll think you’ll find that he is internationally regarded as an excellent regulator which is probably why CIMA wanted him.
Point well taken, Pale Rider. Is there anybody out there who accepts responsibility for the hiring of this guy? Anybody want to bite the bullet, step up to the plate, strap on a pair?
For the benefit of everyone who posted before me, Cindy Scotland does not run the Civil Service!!! She has very little control over who gets hired into positions within her department other to say wether she approves or not…she does not have the final say so in that regard…If no one more qualifed applied then what is she to do.??? Also, for all of you who like to rag on the "Foreigner" bandwagon….Gordon is married to a Caymanian..and is Caymanian..like it or not!!! Get your facts straight and learn to spell and your arguments might carry a little more weight…..DUH!!!
I’m not saying that this is a wise move, but you people need to start coming up with better arguments then "He’s a foreigner" or "Only in Cayman could this happen…"
Yes, I did think Cindy Scotland was alot smarter…..but hey, I guess she proved me wrong! Thanks Cindy! You just helped me make up my mind about wether or not to vote for your husband in the up coming election! I was on the wall about him but your great sense of judgement has showed me that neither of you should be trusted. So I guess we’ll just sit back and wait for Mr. Rowell to screw up royally at CIMA then you can act as if you didn’t know this was coming!!
Actually, to be fair, didn’t CINICO losses go from $7mm to $200,000 under his tenure? Not bad by anyone’s standards in healthcare.
DAM! the Cayman Islands Really Like to Hire Foriegners as they Do No Wrong & of Course ARe aBit Smarter that Us Caymanians.
Shame Shame on Cindy!
Well, this would never happen if he were a Caymanian! That’s for sure.
great due dligence cima…can we finf any past employees who demonstrate poor performance and re hire them too?
It is yet another sign that the government does not really care about good governance in their institutions.; at the least they should care about "percieved" good governance.
this needs to be reversed immediately is cayman is to have any reputation in this area
What is happening on My Island!!!!!
Again I am asking the question who is doing the Hiring??????
The Cayman Islands have to be the joke of the whole Caribbean,
The come here and do as they want ! When they are found out they quickly leave ,then return to a new position!!!
This is like finding the domestic helper stealing! Then in a couple of months you re-hire them again! What !You think they learnt that is something they should not have done! because you fired them ! Please
Caymanians wake up , Please let’s stop the madness!!!!!!!!!
april fools day is past already..right?
this surely cannot be a true announcement. ….no it cannot. anyone who read about how the cinioc contracts were dealt with would know that this is a bad move for cima.
failed cinico ceo now joins cima..great headline..typical and only in cayman can this happen
this really is very very bad…someone proven to be be imcompetent and left cima in not so great circumstances is now returning?
I do not understansd how this can happen. what is going on over there at cima ….seriously guys!
OMG!! This is so unreal!! I want to know which minister does he have in his pocket. He screws up CINICO and is allowed back at CIMA. Cindy Scotland just lost my vote of confidence!!!