Archive for June 26th, 2010
The other offshore disaster
(The New York Times): Canaries are small. Coal mines are big. Finding one in the other is never easy. There is little debate these days, though, that the implosion in the summer of 2007 of two Bear Stearns hedge funds — run by two bankers, Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin — was the first sign that significant trouble was brewing in the market for subprime-mortgage-related securities and for the Wall Street firms that manufactured and sold them.
… To understand one of the central reasons the hedge funds failed — aside from the obvious one that Cioffi and Tannin were terrible investors — it is necessary to take a trip to an island paradise: George Town on Grand Cayman Island …
Related reading: The Offshore Director: Risks, Responsibilities and Liabilities by Tim Ridley
Unemployed youngsters check out construction
(CNS): A Cayman construction company is urging other local businesses to get on board with the government’s employment programme and help get young people in work. The Phoenix Group has joined in with the National Employment Passport Program, called Passport2Success as one of the employers offering work experience to the students on the course. Barbara Anley, General Manager for Phoenix, said she believed a great deal of effort was put into the planning and organizing of this initiative, an excellent way to prepare young people to join the workforce. A group of fifteen students shown around the firm recently were surprised to learn the variety of careers available with the group.
As a local recruiter Anley said the two week job placements will help give entry-level applicants a better understanding of the day to day responsibilities associated with their industry of choice. As this programme is open to all industries, she encouraged more local business owners and managers to get on board. The firm believes the business community needs to throw its full weight behind these types of programmes at such a critical time for Cayman’s youth.
Hopes high that Alex will miss oil spill
(CNS): The Atlantic season’s first tropical storm which formed early on Saturday morning remains on a track to avoid the massive oil spill area in the Gulf. However experts are warning that this or any system can quickly change course and send cleanup efforts grinding to a halt. The logistics of containing the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico are difficult in ideal conditions. Things become even more complicated with the approach of a storm system like Alex, which has pelted Belize, northern Guatemala and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula with heavy rain.
Any system with winds over 46 mph could force BP PLC to abandon efforts to contain the flow for up to two weeks and delay the drilling of two relief wells that are the best hope of stopping it, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said. Alex has weakened to a tropical depression but Alex will cross over the Yucatan Peninsula back into the Gulf, where the warm waters could fuel it up to hurricane strength. It’s projected to hit Mexico again south of Texas and miss the spill, but officials are watching closely.
"We all know the weather is unpredictable and we could have a sudden, last-minute change," Allen said.
Jamaican helper ban could be lifted for PRs
(CNS): The immigration policy which prohibits permanent residents from hiring nannies and helpers from Jamaica could soon be lifted. The premier described the policy as a clear example of the kind of discrimination Jamaicans have experienced in Cayman over the years and that he was prepared to remove it. The policy was introduced by Cayman’s Immigration Board and not government and does not form part of the Immigration Law. Franz Manderson, the chief officer in the Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs, said it was put in place at a time when the boards were trying to introduce more balance in the nationalities coming to the country to work and when there were only a few permanent residents.