McCarthy new CIMA Chair
(CNS): Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush has announced that Chief Secretary George McCarthy, who retires from his position as head of the Civil Service tomorrow, has been offered and accepted the chairmanship of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). Paying tribute to the First Official Member in the Legislative Assembly on Monday afternoon (29 June), Bush said that his talents were too great to lose and he had asked him to take on the role after a quick respite.
Bush said that there was too much need and too much work to be done to dispense with the kind of experience and sage advice that McCarthy could offer. The LoGB said he didn’t “like this 60 thing”, referring to the retirement age. He said McCarthy was not too old to continue helping to keep the good ship Cayman on course and there was too much to do for him to go away and rest.
He noted McCarthy’s contribution over the years to the Cayman Islands’ financial services, from his past role as financial secretary, his involvement in crafting the legislation that has helped keep Cayman competitive, and most recently as head of the new taskforce spearheading the work to get Cayman off the OECD grey list.
Bush said McCarthy had made a distinguished and invaluable contribution to the islands during his career in the civil service steering Cayman through turbulent financial waters and he looked forward to working with himin his new role.
Leader of the Opposition Kurt Tibbetts said that McCarthy had already played a significant role in the country’s success in financial services and the development of the civil service, and noted that his understanding of public service was because he had worked from the ground up starting as a clerk in the education department back in the late 1960s.
McCarthy, in his closing speech to the House, said he was humbled by the comments and he said the attorney general had told him not to cry. He said it had been a privilege to serve in the House since 1992.
Bush made no mention of the future role of the current chairman, Carlyle McLaughlin, who was appointed as the Chairman of the Board less than 12 months ago on 27 July 2008. McLaughlin’s appointment was met with considerable controversy when he replaced Tim Ridley, who had served as chair since 2004.
Category: Business
Does anyone know Mr McCarthys year of birth?
The question should be if anyone knows his year of birth…
This choice is equally as good as the Cabinet. Our new Premier knows that a strong deck requires thick planks and God has put in his path certain men who have such qualities and he will see to it that they are all given important positions.
"Our new Premier knows that a strong deck requires thick planks"
Is it a compliment to be called a "thick plank"? I couldn’t figure whether this post was ‘tongue in cheek’.
If George is the best choice we are in so much trouble! He is not a yes man…he does not know how to say yes! This is the man who brought in an Economist several years ago, paid him some $18k per month only to discover eighteen months later the Economist did not finish school!
Middle of the road civil servant, excuse me? Mr. McCarthy has not only been one of the finest public officers this island has ever seen but also one of the indispensable and key figures in our financial sector. Anyone with the minutest recollection of the history of the financial industry would know that.
Mr. McCarthy not only served as the official member in charge of the public finance but also the government’s main liaison with the industry. He was the founding chairman of the authority. Not to mention he chaired the Caribbean Development Bank, a Caribbean wide institution. He led us through negotiations with the FATF, OECD, UK and EU on countless different issues including the EU Tax Directive. And because of his personal relationships with important government officials around the world the current government was able accomplish a great deal in its few short weeks in power. Had the previous government utilized Mr. McCarthy as they should have, we would never find ourselves in the current predicament. To suggest that Mr. McCarthy is anything less the highest calibre of civil servant this Island has ever had is not only appalling but grossly ignorant.
Mr. McLaughlin is a fine gentleman with great deal of experience, but given the current circumstances (and the waste it would be to simply allow Mr. McCarthy to retire) the Cayman Islands is in a much stronger position having a more experienced hand (when it comes to international matters at least) steering the ship.
This is justMac’s way of regaining political control of CIMA, a regulatory agency which by its nature must operate autonomously otherwise we, as a jurisdiction, will lose credibility and BUSINESS !!!
This is going to further damage our already severely injured financial services industry. God help us.
The current Cabinet is a one man show and no other Minister has enough experience to understand what is happening and to challenge it.
George has always been a yes man for Mac and this move will cause international watchdogs to send even more challenging initiatives to our shores. Where are the financial services industry professionals ?? they know this is wrong……..have some courage and speak out for Christ sake…..or are you afraid that your work permit will suddenly be cancelled. You didnt have those fears under the PPM did you ?
"George has always been a yes man for Mac."
How odd! In the civil service we heard he was a yes man for Kurt. The truthis he was a civil servant and had to be a yes man plus a "perhaps, LOGB, you should think differently" man for whomever he served. Like many of the rest of us. George is straight and the poster who said that is either totally ignorant or politically motivated.
Unfortunately, there are very few of us posting who really are in the inside of the upper parts of the civil service and the political scene and those of us who are must remain anonymous.
Now where is the brilliance in changing Carlyle Mclaughlin, one of the finest business men on the island to a middle of the road civil servant who has no recent experience in private enterprise and Risk Management? And what is this nonsense about getting CIMA back on track. CIMA has never ever been side tracked. They have always had excellent management and after all the are regulatory agency. They are not a government ministry.
Those people that is trying to sully Mr. McLaughlin’ character should try to follow in his foot steps or atleast get to know him. Maybe you would not have to rely on the crumbs from the politician’s table.
"Now where is the brilliance".
Carlyle who? No one has heard a cheep from him since he was appointed so we have no idea how ‘brilliant" he is.
I’ll ignore the ignorant remarks about George McCarthy. No comment is necessary.
Mr McCarthy is one of the few people truly worthy of the designation "Honourable."
He is a true gentleman with ethical standards many should aspire to.
I wish that posters would remember his contributions to Cayman before making ill informed and insulting comments.
Perhaps the manner in which this was announced was not correctly done, but it is very true that Mr McCarthy’s knowledge shouldn’t go untapped merely because he has reached retirement age.
I doubt Cayman’s government finances would be in the state they are in if Mr McCarthy was still the Financial Secretary.
Congratulations Mr McCarthy.
Most excellent appointment.
Many of you forgot that Mr. McCarthy was the FIRST Chairman of CIMA and laid the foundations for others to follow.
Many of you can barely keep a job and want to player hate someone who has commited more than half their lives to this country.
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I thought Mr. McCarthy’s wife was Aliyah – who is Deborah?
This appointment is because Mr. McCarthy is a yes man to the UDP. What a shame!
How wrong you are. Mr. McCarthy is a "yes" man to NO ONE. Please do not insult this wonderful gentleman with insulting comments. He has served his country well and will continue to do so. CONGRATULATIONS George.
Excellent choice. Congrats Mr. McCarthy. You are a true Cayman Gentleman and Mac you did the right thing!!!
Finally! I wondered when Mac was going to get CIMA back on track. Good choice and congrats to Mr. McCarthy. Retirement isnot really what it’s cut out to be anyway.
Mr. McCarthy carries on a tradition of fine appointments to this post, including (hope my memory goes back far enough to be inclusive) Mike Austin, Tim Ridley, and Carlyle McLaughlin. Congratulations, Mr. McCarthy, both on your "retirement" as Chief Secretary and on your new career as Chairman of CIMA. Deborah must be a most-understanding wife. I’m sure she would prefer you to be at home!
Mr. McCarthy’s wife name is Deborah Alliyah McCarthy
Good choice. Hopefully the government will provide him with competent people to write his speeches and to assist in answering any questions that may come up though.
Congratulations Mr. McCarthy! Well Done.
Brilliant move from Mac