Archive for September 27th, 2011
Mac calls for more power
(CNS): The country’s premier has said that the elected officials don’t have enough power when it comes to dealing with crime. Two and a half years after the people of the Cayman Islands voted narrowly in favour of the new constitution, McKeeva Bush was still attacking it and those who voted for it at a West Bay meeting last week. Bush told his constituents that the document did not give enough power over security to the elected officials. He said it was not that much different from the old one and people should not have voted for it. “Your elected representatives should have more say on these matters,” Bush added as he spoke about the limited power the elected government had to address the rise in violent crime.(Photo Dennie WarrenJr)
The premier stated that the new constitution restricted the elected government from getting involved in operational aspects of law enforcement and security. “The governor himself has said publicly, when it comes to matters of crime and security, the buck stops with him,” Bush said. “I cannot give any direction to the police commissioner or the governor for that matter … and for those of you who voted for the constitution, let that message be loud and clear.”
Although elected officials can raise their concerns and they voted millions of dollars for the police budget, they did not have the power to demand that it is spent correctly, Bush lamented. “They are the ones that have the authority to say where it’s going to be spent, how it’s going to be spent and when it’s going to be spent,” he said. “I rue the day that those of you that voted for the constitution did so.”
One of the things that he said he felt was totally wrong was the limited power the politicians had. While they should never be able to have a say over prisoners or who goes to court, “since people feel that way,” he said, the politicians should have more power and he insisted that the elected arm of government had done everything within its power to deal with the current spiralling crime situation.
He also told the West Bay audience that things were going to get worse with the advent of the Bill of Rights, which he said was already costing the country millions of dollars even before the law suits against government started.
“Don’t say I didn’t tell you about this constitution,” he warned, saying that even the police were limited under the constitution because of human rights. The premier stated that when the Bill of Rights is implemented next year, that would be when the problems really started. “You haven’t seen anything yet,” he added. Bush said government would be spending around $12 million, some of it on buildings, even before it spent money on the claims he seemed to think would be made against it.
The buildings Bush referred to are those being built to create a juvenile or young offenders institution, which Cayman has never had. The criminal justice system currently houses children who break the law with adult offenders, a situation that most experts agree increases the risk of those young people re-offending.
The premier said that people were criticising and vilifying him instead of criticising the people with the constitutional powers that “you voted for and you gave them”, as he attacked the constitutional situation. He told people to look at who has the authority and ask why, as the premier, he had to defer to those powers. He complained that while the elected officials voted around $37 million in total now for the police this financial year, they could not direct how any of it was spent. Bush said that government would be watching very closely over the short term how the police tackled the current crime situation.
Asked by former West Bay candidate Woody DaCosta if the commissioner would be given a performance standard, time line or some level of accountability for the money, Bush said he could not force the commissioner to be accountable and the governor does not have to listen to anything the elected representatives have to say. DaCosta asked how it was that government could continue to throw money at the police but no one was being held to account. Regardless of the constitution, DaCosta said, the premier was in a position to apply pressure on behalf of the public because the constitution says that the governor has to act in the interests of the Caymanian people.
Bush said it didn’t matter what pressure he applied; if the governor did not like it, he simply went to the UK and told them he disagreed with the elected officials. With a constitution that he said he believed was no different from what the country had before, at the end of the day the governor could still do what he wanted.
Property sales up over 200% CIREBA reports
(CNS): The real estate market is showing signs of real improvement, according to the local real estate brokers body, which says that property sales up to the end of August this year show a 203% increase over the same period of 2010. There has been a total of CI$422 million transfers for 2011, compared to CI$207 million for the same period last year, CI$255m in 2009 and CI$403 million in the last boom year of 2008. The Cayman Islands Real Estate Brokers Association (CIREBA) President Jeremy Hurst said in the latest market report that this was positive news, but he warned that while value was up, transaction numbers were down ten percent on last year.
He added that there were only 1006 transfers in 2011, compared to 1173, 1350 and 1,602 in 2010, 2009 and 2008 respectively. This averages about 15% per annum drop in property transactions over the four year period, which Hurst said was a clear indication that whilst sales at the top end of the market remain solid, the number of sales at the mid to lower end have declined annually since 2008.
This indicates that significantly less people are buying lower to mid-priced condominiums and development lots, Hurst stated in the CIREBA report. Statistics which analyze sales by property type support this, showing a significant 50% drop in the number of home lots sold and 25% drop in the number of condominiums sold since the last boom year of 2008.
Pointing to the population decline due to staff cutbacks and immigration policies, including rollover, as an explanation, Hurst said that the recent announcements of changes to that policy was good news for the sector.
“The other good news is that a number of the major projects on the cards appear to be moving forward, with one, the West Bay Road bypass, even breaking ground. If we can keep up the momentum with the Shetty Hospital, the Airport and Port projects and the Enterprise City we should still be in good shape during the years to come,” he said.
The real estate body president also pointed to what Hurst said appeared to be two significant residential and resort projects for the Bodden Town area working their way through the due diligence processes. Hurst did not spell out what these were and stated that they were still “some way off” but said they were a sign of confidence in the economy.
He pointed to the need to keep “crime in check” as he added that the recent outbreak would make it difficult to sell property. In general though, Hurst heralded the progress over the last quarter and, not surprisingly, gave a positive outlook for the market‘s winter season and beyond.
The full market report and previous versions are available on the CIREBA website
Standing up for Cayman
(CNS): Former Cayman Islands Monetary Authority Chairman Tim Ridley today (Wednesday) joins a group of eminent trust law and tax practitioners from the UK and Canada who will be speaking to a group of UK journalists, politicians and trust professionals at an event in Londonheld to highlight the importance of Cayman as a worldwide financial centre. Presented by the Cayman Islands branch of the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the event called ‘Cayman Uncovered Live and Uncut!’, will be moderated by well-known BBC presenter John Humphrys and will feature speakers familiar with Cayman’s financial services practices but not necessarily located in the Islands.
Maples and Calder partner Justin Appleyard, who is also a past STEP Cayman chairman and a member of STEP’s steering committee organising the event, anticipates a lively and candid no-holds-barred panel session with tough questioning by the audience of a panel which will include Ridley, plus journalists, following presentations by the trust law and tax professionals.
Appleyard says that the speakers are the top in their field and will be speaking on a range of topics. He anticipates Christopher McCall, QC, a leading trust barrister in the UK who has frequently appeared in Cayman Courts, will speak about the quality of the Cayman Courts and legal system in general, while solicitor Mark Bridges, whose clients include the Queen, will discuss the importance of Cayman’s stable legal system for clients domiciled in countries in relatively unstable parts of the world.
Frances Stephens, a partner at PwC will underline the importance of Cayman’s legal system for philanthropy and Richard Hay is slated to discuss Cayman’s role with regard to international tax and regulatory arbitrage.
The event has plenty of time for networking, which Appleyard believes will play a crucial part in the overall goal to convert those in the UK who are unconvinced of Cayman’s important role within the global economy.
Ridley states: “STEP Cayman is to be congratulated on organising this timely event in London. It is an excellent opportunity to showcase Cayman’s private client strengths to London based professional advisors to global high net worth families. And, in this highly competitive era, it underscores how important this business is to Cayman and how vital it is to promote Cayman to key people in key locations.”
Prisoners spend day focusing on ‘sentences’
(CNS): Inmates at HMP Northward were focusing on a different kind of sentence on Friday when they spent the day involved in a reading marathon. Government officials, volunteers from Cayman Islands reading aides and other guests joined the prisoners in a day celebrating literacy. Not being able to tackle written sentences has played a significant part in the reason why many inmates are currently serving sentences in the prison. However, despite the fundamental importance of literacy to getting out of a life of crime the prison still has to depend on volunteers to provide literacy classes to prisoners. Speaking at the read-a-thon the prison director Dwight Scott said no one should be ashamed about not being able to read and write but what is shameful, he said, is doing nothing about it.
Dwight Scott said the prison was currently seeking to secure some form of assessment tool with which proper and accurate statistics relating to literacy in the prison could be measured. At the moment the Cayman Islands Prison Service does not have an exact figure of the levels and standards of literacy among inmates.
“There is absolutely no way we can move forward unless we have these facts,” he said. “Literacy is a bridge from misery and a tool for daily life.”
Speaking at the day-long reading event under the theme ‘Literacy heals’ Scott said that irrespective of being in prison inmates needed to develop a thirst for learning as he said it would help them to not return to the institution. He said learning and literacy helped people to make rational decisions and think about their actions. The prison director said it was important for those inmates who were developing a taste for learning to spread it among their fellow prisoners.
CIRA which provides two hour classes twice per week for inmates who can’t read has estimated that more than 80% of inmates are functionally illiterate– the term used to describe literacy skills that are inadequate to manage daily living and employment tasks requiring reading skills beyond a basic level and many of those inmates are unable to read at all.
With such a limited about of time given each week to tackling the literacy problems volunteers from CIRA have been working with the prison training inmates who can read to teach their fellow prisoners who can’t which offers some opportunity for the inmates who are learning to read outside of the designated four hours taught by volunteers. It also helps to address the shame felt by some prisoners as well as the stigma others attach to those who cannot read.
The governor who was also present at the event and who joined in the read-a-thon told the prisoners that improvements inmates made in literacy and numeracy during their time in prison was an important consideration to the parole board for consideration of early release and was a tool that can help prisoners to get out of jail.
“When recommendations come to me to release someone early it is always one of the things I look at,” Duncan Taylor told the inmates, adding that wherever he sees a prisoner who has made an effort to improve it always counts as a really good sign of someone who is committed to making a better life.
“I am a very strong supporter of bringing literacy in to the prison and trying to encourage people and to give inmates the opportunity to enjoy reading,” the governor said, as he thanked all those involved in helping with prisoner literacy.
Close Brothers profits fall 78% following offshore sale
(Bloomberg):Close Brothers Group Plc (CBG) the British investment bank founded in 1878, said profit for the year declined 78 percent as it sold its U.K. offshore and Cayman Islands units. Full-year net income fell to 14.6 million pounds ($22.8 million) from 65.9 million pounds in the year-earlier period, the London-based lender said in a statement today. It posted an exceptional charge of 46.9 million pounds and a loss from discontinued operations of 28.1 million pounds. Close Brothers is restructuring its asset management business and sold the UK offshore and Cayman Islands operations to focus on its banking, securities and asset management divisions.
Adjusted operating profit at the banking unit climbed 34 percent in the period.
“Economic and market conditions are uncertain, but we have a strong financial position, continue to see good prospects for our businesses, and are well placed to continue delivering solid results,” the bank said in the statement.
A failed society
We are in the midst of a major social crisis in this country at the moment – as I write we have had the 5th murder of a young man within eight days in Grand Cayman. First let me sympathize with loved ones and parents, because regardless of what the circumstances are, these young men are still our sons, nephews, cousins, and family and friends will love and miss them.
Some people take the dim view of these reportedly gang related killings that “ooooh, let them kill themselves – they will soon all be gone.” I cannot share that sentiment unfortunately, because we are losing what should have been productive men and women of our society, Caymanians we should all have been proud of instead of mourning their loss. Also, there is no one in their right mind that could believe that what is going on is good for Cayman in way, shape or form. We are a tourist and financial destination and this is very, very serious to both of these pillars of our economy. Local businesses are hurting because people have started to stay home and hide behind their walls and the stress of living and being afraid is killing people. Need I say more? This is unacceptable – pure and simple.
The police can only do so much, although their role in trying to curtail this violence is critical and they must perform at the highest level and with proper resources. At the end of the day, they are all we have as security. We have no armed forces or any other protection. The government must support the police and provide these resources and we must ensure our judicial system sends a stern message that these acts are intolerable. We have an overflowing prison, and it’s also time to look carefully at whom we imprison and who we don’t in this country – there are alternatives for lesser crimes and we need to utilize them. With limited space, we need to reserve much of that for the criminal element wehave fostered and nurtured in this country, and this brings me to a very important point that I wish to make in this forum at this time.
I grew up at a time that was peaceful and good in this country (in the 60s & 70s) and when family values meant something and respect was the order of the day. But it was also a time when those who led this country, because of who they were and the status they and their families held, could get away with just about anything. We were backward and undeveloped, and it was easy to rule and keep the people ignorant and beholding unto to you, to continue to lead them as if you were Moses leading the Israelites to the Promised Land.
Education ministers who were in charge at the time refused or were unable to develop a system for all the people, through the creation of a full-fledged trade school as an example, or sadly with use of restricted scholarships to the chosen few because of the “elite” status they held, or the relationships with their parents. Unless we forget, or for those that don’t know, we had a technical unit in JGHS up until 1980, when I left there from 6th Form. This contained Woodworks, Metal Works, Auto Mechanics and Technical Drawing. This was put there by the pre 1976 administration under the Comprehensive School System. It was dis-banded for no good reason, or for reasons only known to the Unity Team Administration post 1976.
These two main factors (lack of scholarship availability and graduating or releasing ill prepared students) resulted in many leaving school without being equipped and ready to take their rightful place in our society. Back then, of course, everyone got jobs because Cayman was taking off in the 70s and 80s and the bounty was much, but it was always to be crumbs from the table and not to sit at the table, except for the chosen few.
Our people were dis-enfranchised from ownership and expanding their horizons because of these poor education policies. These people went on to become parents (many also ill equipped for such an important role or, because of their economic standing, they were forced to work two jobs and kids were left alone with inadequate supervision and guidance) and their kids are the same ones that are now caught up in this mess.
When Mr Truman Bodden (Education Minister for 12 of 16 years between 1976 – 1992) was told he had gangs in the schools, he denied their existence and said we only had groups. He was also the recipient of a study at the time that pointed out the juvenile delinquency problem Cayman was starting to have and said that it would lead to criminality at an early age, and he refused to accept this as well, saying the lady who did the report must have been studying Jamaica, and not Cayman. I wonder how he feels now when he is sitting there writing and criticizing current and recent administrations and pretending he has all the answers to Cayman’s problems, when he can be credited in large part for not arresting the major social problem we have today.
Many know this and speak of it in whispers, but it’s time we call a spade a spade, and I am not a hypocrite! People like Mr Truman and others of his time have helped to create the mess we find ourselves in, and although he will likely rant that I am wrong and find every reason as to why, in his heart he will know it’s the cold hard truth. This is said not just to lay blame, but for us to analyze as a people and not ever again make the same mistake or allow it to be made.
Now to the parents out there, your role is the primary one and most important of all. First and foremost you have to be parents. Remember you reap what you sow. You have to know what your children are doing, who they are with and where they are. It’s OK to say “no”, folks! The community cannot parent your child, although they can and should assist as the village we are. You have to set the rules and guidelines – no parent should be saying “I have no control over him or her”. It simply means you failed in the beginning (early ages) and spoilt them. If that’s the case then turn them in – report them – or suffer the consequences of their actions. That’s the reality.
Folks, no one is safe when society runs amuck, not even those in authority. Our citizens deserve to live in peace and our visitors and investors expect no less. Now we have a mess to clean up and something that has taken 20 years to create because of visionless leaders will unfortunately take another 20 years to fix. There is no quick fix and you can bring in all the security you want, pray all you want, have many meetings, and change laws etc. (all good things), but we have a serious social issue and the chickens have come home to roost.
Some of the things that must be addressed post haste is making sure we get a proper education system in this country. It must be available to all, must be affordable to all, must be a comprehensive one, where no child falls through the proverbial “crack” anymore. Each one must be given full attention and given every chance to succeed. Technical and vocational studies are a must. We should be producing our own plumbers, carpenters, electricians, painters, masons, mechanics, artisans, and the list goes on. We will always have a need for foreign workers in this country, but it should be after full employment of our own qualified Caymanians.
Special abilities and needs must both be identified from early in a child’s development and taken care of accordingly. One is to push a child along in his naturally gifted direction and the other is to address needs and concerns early and correct them. Our social programs must identify delinquent parenting, and it must be dealt with, and the children put under proper supervision or in proper homes. Too many kids have to look to their peers for guidance and this is a “no, no”. Many times this type of guidance is the wrong one leading to major problems down the road.
Businesses must also play their role and allow mothers, in particular, more time with their children. Fathers need to step up to the plate and be fathers as well. Too many fathers are making kids and just moving on to make some more with another partner, boasting at the end of day how many he owns. How many you are a “dad” to is what’s really important, guys, not how many you made.
Young people need more outlets – today we have many sporting facilities, but we still lack real wholesome family activities. Organized outdoor activities that burn a lot of energy up are what is needed. For example, sports parks, outdoor theme parks and race parks and others will keep them busy, entertain them and be great energy outlets. This will help to avoid negative distractions. Fitness requires commitment and dedication and that’s why sports are so important. You have to be fit to be good. Also, areas for the community to socialize and inter-act with each other in a wholesome way are very important. This strengthens communities.
These ideas above are in no way exhaustive but just some of the things we should be looking at. Our churches have to be more pro-active in their approach and leave the sanctuary and take it to the people. The church is important whatever the denomination, as everyone needs a moral compass and they play a big role in its development.
The problem as I see it, and I have always said, is that we have developed our country and forgot its people, except for the lucky ones. We cannot proceed in this manner as the “have nots” will look one day and crave what you and I have. They don’t care that you worked hard, all they know is that they want it and don’t have time to get it, or are not equipped to get it the right way — through hard work and commitment. So their answer is simply to take it from you or me by whatever means, usually through violent acts.
The loss of these five young men should not be in vain. It should be a wake-up call to families, leaders and this country as a whole that we are going about things the wrong way. In our haste to chase the almighty dollar we have forgotten or put aside what made these islands wonderful in the first place — good honest principles, hospitable ways, and a deep and abiding faith in the good Lord and his teachings. It’s not too late to act, but we must act fast as a community, as each day the water gets deeper, and soon many will drown.
May God bless us all and may God bless the Cayman Islands.
Murder victims buried during quiet weekend
(CNS): As police spent the weekend re-visiting the various crime scenes of Grand Cayman’s recent shocking killing spree, two of the victims of the gang shootings were laid to rest in West Bay. With no new murders over the weekend, breaking the cycle of a killing on every other night for more than a week, the police were able to concentrate on hunting for the killers. Meanwhile, Cayamn27 reports that the families and friends mourned the deaths of Robert Mackford Bush, (28) and Andrew Baptist (27), the first two victims of the year. Bush was buried on Saturday at the Church of God in Mount Pleasant, West Bay, while Baptist was laid to rest at the Boatswains Bay Presbyterian Church on Sunday.
Bush was killed by at least two masked gunmen when he was lured to the junction of Captain Joe and Osbert Road and Birch Tree Hill Road on 13 September. He was shot multiple times and at least once in the head with a shotgun. Baptist was shot and killed on Sand Hole Road just two days later on 15 September in what police believe was a tit-for-tat response to the killing of Bush.
Baptist was also the victim of more than one shooter and was also shot several times. His death was followed two days later by Preston Rivers in Anderson Road in West Bay, who was also shot multiple times by at least two armed gunmen, one of whom was described by police as about 5”10” tall and dressed in a blue polo shirt with white stripes and a blue shirt covering his face.
Another two days later and the gang shootings moved out of West Bay into George Town, when 18-year-old Jason Christian was shot and killed while he sat at the while of a van in Cranbrook Drive, along with Keith Montague, who was also shot several times but managed to survive and crawl to a nearby police patrol car that rushed him to the hospital. He was later airlifted to Miami.
The most recent killing was that of Asher McGaw (21), who was gunned down in East End as he walked along John McLean Drive behind the East End health clinic. He appeared to have been shot at from a car.
Police officers were in force on the streets of West Bay throughout the weekend and established road blocks along Seven Mile Beach but there has been no news of any arrests made over the weekend in relation to the murders. It appears that no one has yet been arrested directly in connection with any of the killings but police said last week that they had rounded up several known gang members under the gang legislation.
Police have not circulated any new information about the killings since a media briefing was held one week ago in the wake of the shooting of Christian and Montague. CNS has contacted the RCIPS for an update on the current situation.
In the meantime, anyone with information is asked to contact the crime hotline on 949-7777, George Town Police Stationon 949 4222 or crime stoppers on 800 TIPS which is now offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction of gun related crime.
See Cayman 27 video here
‘Key’ not working
(CNS): Following the announcement of a temporary suspension of rollover, the chair of the Immigration Review Team (IRT) has said it is the ‘key employee’ aspect of the law that has failed. One of the main architects of the original 2004 immigration law that introduced the policy, Sherri Bodden -Cowan said the basics of the term limit policy won’t change completely but it will be the key employee designation, in particular, that the new review team will examine during the suspension. She said it was generally agreed that key employee was not working for anyone as employers claim not enough people are being granted key and some locals feel too many people have been granted key and are blocking Caymanian progression.
The suspension of rollover, announced by the premier in the Legislative Assembly earlier this month, will give government breathing space in which to “tweak” the law, said Sherri Bodden-Cowan, who has been asked to chair the newly formed teamof immigration experts who are looking into the issue. But it is unlikely that the law will fundamentally change in the long run. since the key employee aspect of the law is not working, this is where the focus will be. Bodden-Cowan said the controversial seven year term limit, or the rollover provision, was a sound one which should have introduced a system of progressive rights to permit those individuals felt most needed to build the country to reside permanently in the Islands.
“But what we could not have predicted when we passed the law was that within ten months we would have a Category 5 hurricane destroy the island and cause our workforce to jump from around 12,000 to 24 to 25,000,” the IRT chair explained. “Nor could we have anticipated the economic crisis which caused companies to have to tighten their belts in terms of hiring two people to do a job, i.e. an understudy, so that their long term planning to replace these persons after seven years was hampered by their economic ability to do so.”
Bodden-Cowan said these issues, plus the coming on line of Cayman’s first five-star hotel – the Ritz Carlton Grand — which employed over 500 people initially, meant that even though they had anticipated steady growth, which would have allowed them to rollover the majority of workers and keep the few that achieved key employee, businesses, both large and small, have found it a real challenge to keep up with the succession planning exercise.
There was no choice but to suspend the rollover before the review had taken place, she said. The statistics suggested that a considerable amount of people face rollover in the next two years, potentially causing huge economic hardship to the Islands.
According to the figures from the Department of Immigration, there will be 745 individuals up for rollover this year, 2,350 in 2012, and 1,593 up to and including September 2013, making a total of 4,688. Added to this is the figure of 998 individuals currently on appeal, making 5,686 people potentially rolled over by the end of 2012.
Applying the term limit policy across the boardwas a fundamental issue, Bodden-Cowan believed, but it is how key employee has been enforced that needs to be examined. “As with any law, the issue is how a person or a board applies their mind to it,” she said. “We have heard previous chairman of immigration boards say that key employee should only be a ‘rare bird’.”
Immigration boards are comprised of voluntary members who might not always have the expertise in all fields of occupation, she noted, not necessarily appreciating the need for a specific type of occupation globally and therefore in Cayman also. A human resources authority, which had been recommended at the time the law was first introduced, would have assisted in this critical area, she said.
“The law, as we drafted it, could have only worked if we had moved it to a full human resources authority,” she confirmed “The costs and staffing of such an authority has been the challenge.”
Bodden-Cowan said that it was generally agreed across the political spectrum that key employee was not working, on the one side there was the view that not enough people had been granted key and on the other there were some Caymanians who felt key was not working because too many people had been granted key and were blocking positions for Caymanians.
By suspending the rollover, the team will now have time to assess five years’ worth of rollover data as that policy came into effect in 2006. The team will assess how many people took the 12 month break provided for in the policy before people can reapply for a work permit, and returned to the islands. They will look at how many unskilled and professional workers returned, how many received permanent residency, and so on.
“I believe we are going to find that rollover is working for the unskilled workers,”Bodden Cowan said. “In the professional category I think we will find that they have not returned and the question is whether we can afford to apply the policy across all job categories.”
One option will be to grant all professionals a nine year term limit, giving them the option to apply for permanent residency at year eight. At the same time they would also be looking to set the points system in such a way that those who achieve PR before they reach their term limit are the professionals the Islands need to keep long term, and those where Cayman professionals are available.
“The middle category or skilled semi-skilled category is going to be the hardest category because it is where we have Caymanians unemployed. How we encourage businesses to ensure they recruit and train Caymanians is where the real challenge lies,” she confirmed. The onus ought to be placed back on the employer to ensure they train and recruit Caymanians, but how the Islands go about policing this was the real question.
Distrust between boards and businesses has grown and been another factor in causing key employee not to work, Bodden-Cowan said, which could have been alleviated by much more effective communication between the two, another function that could have been carried out by a human resources authority.
Bodden-Cowan said the current review will look at the entire system at a micro level and will be encouraging wider input from businesses as to how the law has impacted them. The team has 180 days to present their report from the date the premier officially appoints the team, which is expected to be next week.
ICCI is a new AML testing centre
(CNS): Cayman’s anti-money laundering professionals are now able to assess their skills at a new testing centre located at the International College of the Cayman Islands. The Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), the international organisation which aims to enhance the skills of AML professionals, recently announced the expansion of a new Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) testing centre which will assist people locally as well as regionally in earning their CAMS designation.
John Byrne, CAMS, ACAMSexecutive vice president said: “The CAMS certification is the internationally recognised gold standard certification for AML professionals, and the CAMS exam rigorously tests for the highest aptitude in the field. Our community spans the globe, and as such, it is the mission of ACAMS to provide the opportunity to validate the skills of our AML professionals, regardless of international boundaries.”
The CAMS Examination is offered in a computer based format at hundreds testing centres located around the world. To search other testing site locations and for more information, visit the ACAMS website at www.ACAMS.org.