Business
Chamber begins survey on basic minimum wage
(CNS Business): The Chamber of Commerce Council has begun a survey of its membership about the proposed minimum wage. Asking members how much it will impact their businesses and how they feel about it, officials have said the results will form the basis of a report which will be shared with members then handed over to the labour and commerce ministries as well as the government committee being formed to review the introduction of a minimum wage in Cayman. Government has not committed to any kind of timeline for its implementation and recently rejected a private member’s motion to begin the process now with the introduction of a $5 flat rate. Read more on CNS Business
Clock ticks on beneficial ownership submissions
(CNS): Only a few days now remain for those who wish to make contributions to the government’s consultation on the critical issue of beneficial ownership. Anyone who wants to let government know their thoughts on how the country should tackle the demands now being place on the Cayman Islands and other financial centres to reveal who really benefits from offshore trusts and companies domiciled here have to make their feelings known by this Friday, 28 February. The questions for the local authorities on this issue relate to how effectively Cayman maintains information on the real owners of companies and to whom that information should be available. Read more on CNS Business
CNS Business launches video
(CNS Business): In our next step in bringing news to as broad a cross-section of the people of the Cayman Islands as possible, Cayman News Service's business website today launches video 'talking heads'. Each week CNS Business will be interviewing a person from the business community about the issues that they encounter in their own sector, or a politician, focusing on the business aspects of their ministry. The interview will be posted in five segments, one each day Monday to Friday. Each segment will be one to two minutes long, making business news accessible and digestible for busy people. We started this week with an interview with Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell, who will discuss cruise ship dock facilities. Read more on CNS Business
Consultation extended on beneficial ownership
(CNS Business): The deadline for public input on the critical issue of beneficial ownership of Cayman registered companies has been extended for another month. The financial services ministry is appealing to people working in financial services and commerce, their clients and the general public, including small-business owners, to provide comments before the end of February. Government is committed to finding a way to be transparent about who benefits from Cayman registered companies, both on and offshore, to meet with the UK’s expectations and the G8 agenda. Cayman does not have to go as far as a fully open public register, as the UK prime minister has proposed for Britain, but the jurisdiction must find a way to collate the necessary information in one place and decide who gets to access it. Read more on CNS Business
Developers seek free tyres for golf course
(CNS Business): While the Cayman Islands government is looking for proposals from qualified parties to purchase and remove the growing mountain of used tyres which have accumulated at the landfills on Grand Cayman and the Sister Islands, developers behind a proposed massive mixed-use project in the eastern districts are hoping to get them for free. Government recently began the hunt for a firm that will be able to remove and recycle the tyres at its three landfills and earn some much needed cash for the public purse at the same time. However, the investors behind the Ironwood project in Frank Sound want the tyres for their proposed golf course. Read more on CNS Business
Chamber calls on employers to step up
(CNS Business): With local businesses complaining bitterly about the cost of work permit fees and the negative impact that such high numbers of unemployed locals is having on the community, the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce president is asking employers to step up and start being part of the solution. Johann Moxam asked local business owners and industry managers what they are doing to prepare young Caymanian students to enter the workforce or generate interest in their industry sector or business and he urged those doing nothing to consider participating in this year's Careers, Education and Training Expo at the University College of the Cayman Islands in March. Read more on CNS Business
Ministry seeks consultants for cruise port EIA
(CNS Business): The Ministry of District Administration Tourism and Transport has issued a request for tender from qualified and eligible environmental and engineering consultants for the next stage on the path to development of cruise berthing facilities. Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell, whose ministry is overseeing the development, said that this accords with the schedule in the Outline Business Case, which was released to the public and openly discussed during public meetings held in November 2013, and noted that procurement for the cruise berthing facility is following an open, transparent and competitive process as required by the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility (FFR). Read more on CNS Business
Chamber’s new president an “agent for change”
(CNS Business): The appointment of an outspoken political activist as the president of the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce spells a new dawn for the association that represents a broad cross-section of Cayman’s business community. Johann Moxam has been a forthright advocate for many political issues in Cayman, from the 'one man, one vote' campaign last year to the promotion of independent candidates over political parties this year. He has described himself as “an agent for change”, promising to do all he can to be part of the solution. Confirmed in his new post on Tuesday at the annual general meeting, the director of Merrill Lynch’s Cayman office is expected to lead the Chamber in 2014 firmly from the front. Read more on CNS Business
CUC to cut January bills 2% from insurance payment
(CNS Business): Grand Cayman’s power company is reducing the fuel cost rate on its customers' January bills by less than 1 cent as a result of an extra pay-out from its insurers of just under US$1 million in relation to its generator failures in 2011. CUC said the money would be refunded to consumers via the fuel charge next month reducing bills by just 2%, with the cut in the fuel cost charge from CI$0.2202 per kilowatt hour (kWh) to CI$0.2142. The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) said that even though it was only a small amount and would not have a significant impact on reducing bills, the recovery of the money demonstrated how the electricity regulatory framework was able to provide benefits to customers. Read more on CNS Business
Staff shake-up at Airports Authority
(CNS Business): The Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) Board has announced plans for a major shake-up and has confirmed that Kerith McCoy is no longer the authority's acting chief executive officer. CNS sent enquiries to the board, the minister responsible and senior staff at the beginning of December about staffing changes and speculation that McCoy had been removed from his post, and we were informed by Board Chair Kirkland Nixon on 2 December that McCoy was on annual leave. On Tuesday, the new acting CEO, Andrew McLaughlin, released a statement on behalf of the CIAA confirming that McCoy was still on leave but that he would be returning to a new post in the New Year. Read more on CNS Business