CIMA admitted into key organisation

(CNS): Updated 9:00 am Thursday – The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) has been formally admitted as a member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). The move is expected to be welcomed by the private sector owing to potential commercial advantage as well as affirming Cayman’s commitment to cross border information exchange. CIMA was admitted as the 189th today (10 June) during the meeting of the Presidents’ Committee at IOSCO’s 34th Annual Conference in Tel Aviv, Israel.

As a full member CIMA also officially becomes a party to the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Consultation, Cooperation and the Exchange of Information. CIMA signed the MMOU, which is the benchmark for international cooperation among securities regulators earlier this year on 24 March.

Speaking to the IOSCO President’s Committee CIMA Managing Director CindyScotland said the admission marked the culmination of a period of mutual engagement, dialogue and action by the two bodies.” It serves as a testament to the good faith of both sides in seeing the process through, and is an example of what can be accomplished when international standard setters engage jurisdictions as equal partners with a common objective, ” she added stating that the move was also a validation of Cayman’s willingness to engage other regulators to facilitate cross-border information exchange and assistance.

On hearing the news the Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush who is travelling in the US said it gave a boost to the jurisdiction’s reputation “This is yet another example of the Cayman Islands continued commitment to meeting and exceeding international standards,” he said. “As a major player in the hedge funds industry worldwide, it is fitting that the leading hedge funds domicile is now a full member of the international standards setting body for securities markets.  It is proof that not only does the Cayman Islands exceed commercially in this important area of the global financial services industry, but that we are also recognized as meeting the highest international regulatory standards.”

Following the admission Scotland said in a statement that the granting of membership was an accomplishment not just for CIMA but for the jurisdiction as a whole as the membership screening and jurisdictional assessment process had been rigorous.

CIMA’s Deputy Managing Director – General Counsel, Langston Sibblies who is also in Israel attending the conference, which ends on Thursday, explained that in addition to being an acknowledgement of the Cayman Islands regulatory system and international cooperation regime, IOSCO membership had significant commercial benefits.  “Some countries either do not allow investment vehicles from non-IOSCO member countries to be sold in their jurisdictions or will require greatly enhanced due diligence which makes it more difficult to do business with those jurisdictions,” he added.

“IOSCO membership will remove these impediments and open up these markets for Cayman-domiciled securities providers. This is a development our private sector has looked forward to for a long time. It will be welcomed by the private sector.”

IOSCO is the principal global standard setting body for the regulation of securities markets. Its objectives encompass cooperation and information exchange, standard setting and surveillance, and mutual assistance.