Headline News
Cabinet halves key worker fee
(CNS): In a surprise announcement on Monday, government said it had reduced the fees which employers must pay for a key employee application by fifty percent. A brief statement from government information services said that from Tuesday, 26 October, permit fees payable for workers who have been granted Key Employee designation will be reduced by half. The decision to lower the administration fees for existing or new designates was made by Cabinet, according to the press statement. No reason was given for the sudden u-change in policy, which is likely to be widely welcomed by a number of employers across the island.
The key employee fee was one of many business related fees increased by the UDP government in its first budget statement in 2009, when it attempted to eliminate the public deficit in its first year in office. The key employee application fee had originally been a flat payment of $250 but the fee was significantly increased to a variable rate based on the actual cost of the work permit dependent on the given category of employee.
Following the change in the 2009/10 budget, an employer applying for key employee status for a bookkeeper, for example, on a $4000 work permit would have to pay $4000 for the key employee application on top of the work permit fee. In the wake of Monday’s announcement, the key employee application charge will now be reduced to $2000.
Key employee designation enables work permit holders to by-pass the existing rollover policy, which requires all foreign employees to leave the island after seven years of continuous employment in the Cayman Islands. Once that seven year residency benchmark has been passed, key employees can go on to apply for permanent residency in the islands and eventually Caymanian status.
Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration begins a series of public meetings this week where officials will be available to address queries and listen to concerns of both employers and employees regarding current immigration policy and service. The first meeting starts at 5:30pm on Tuesday evening in West Bay at the John A Cumber primary school hall.
The schedule is as follows:
West Bay: Tuesday 26 October at John A Cumber primary school hall.
East End: Wednesday, 27 October at the William Allen McLaughlin Civic Centre
Savannah: Thursday, 28 October at Savannah Primary School
Bodden Town: Monday, 1 November at the Bodden Town Civic Centre
North Side: Tuesday, 2 November at the Craddock Ebanks Civic Centre
George Town: Wednesday, 3 November at the John Gray High School Hall
Cayman Brac: Thursday, 4 November at the Aston Rutty Centre.
Gov’t secures $155m loan
(CNS): The government’s cash flow situation improved Monday following confirmation that financing has been found for the $155 million it needs to plug this year’s public spending gap, but questions are already being asked about how the loan package may have been put together and the players involved. According to a statement from government, the money will be coming from Cohen and Company Securities LLC, a global firm headquartered in New York. However, sources have revealed to CNS that the bid was not one recommended by the Central Tenders Committee. “The proposal that was accepted was extremely competitive,” Premier McKeeva Bush said in the statement.
“The solution from Cohen and Company enables the government to benefit from the current very low interest rate environment while limiting our maximum interest rate over the entire life of the facility. This structure was the lowest rate among all of the fixed interest rate solutions presented to the government from firms who could deliver the funding to the Government on time,” the premier said.
Government says it has secured the required bridge financing and the bond arrangement process is underway, but the terms of the long term financing are still being finalised as this depends on actual market rates on the day.
Bush said that last year government had secured financing at a rate of 5.95% but as a result of the low interest rate climate it was able to secure a much lower cost of funding this time. Though the likely rate has not yet been revealed, Bush said it was competitive because of the “highly competitive nature and innovative solution offered by Cohen and Company.”
Cohen & Company is an investment firm specializing in credit related fixed income products and investments which is listed as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange. The firm manages approximately $10.6 billion in fixed income assets in a variety of asset classes, including US trust preferred securities, European hybrid capital securities, Asian commercial real estate debt, and mortgage- and asset-backed securities.
Stuart Sugarman, Senior Managing Director of Cohen and Company, said that the firm was pleased to be involved in providing financing to the Cayman Islands Government. “We were particularly pleased to be working with the Cayman Islands as a well respected and high grade jurisdiction to assist with this financing which will in part fund important infrastructure projects in the Cayman Islands,” Sugarman said.
However, according to CNS sources, the firm is believed to have connections to the ruling United Democratic Party via Peter Young, its treasurer and business partner of the minister for health. When asked by CNS if he had involvement in the firm, Young did not deny a connection which is believed to be with Cohen’s Cayman based entities. This evening government said that Young had no involvement at all with the financial arrangements between government and Cohen and Company.
However, the selection of Cohen and Company was not recommended by the Central Tenders Committee. The CTC closed the invitation to tender to provide long term government financing on 9 September as it had expected to draw on half the loan amount by 24 September.
In today’s statement from the premier’s office there was no mention of the CTC’s recommendations and CNS understands that it had recommended that government select a joint venture by two local banks. It appears this bid was rejected by government in favour of Cohen and Company.
Concerns of irregularities in the decision to choose Cohen had been raised in a number of quarters and the opposition had before today’s announcement submitted a parliamentary question to government, to be asked at next week’s sitting of the Legislative Assembly, regarding the loan.
Alden McLaughlin had asked if government had secured the necessary financing for the US$185,000,000 of approved borrowing in the 2010/2011 budget and, if so, from whom and on what terms? Following today’s statement, McLaughlin told CNS he had concerns that the proper process had not been followed.
“I have very grave concerns that the government did not follow the proper process and has not selected a bid recommended by the CTC and instead has chosen a financing package from another source,” he said.
With revenue levels still falling short of expectations, government has been struggling to meet day to day expenses. The loan is intended to help it meet payments on capital projects such as the schools and the government office accommodation building, as well as various investments in statutory authorities, including the Turtle Farm and Cayman Airways.
No sign of disability laws
(CNS): Laws to protect those who are disabled from discrimination and enhance their access to public life have not yet appeared on the legislative table, which the Constitution Commission has said is of concern. The commissioners have said the lack of legislation protecting the disabled is one of a number of areas likely to leave government vulnerable to legal challenges once the Bill of Rights comes in to effect in November. The commission has pointed out that, even if there are hold-ups in writing new laws, the government could still be adopting policies that would ensure equal treatment for people with disabilities.
Although a comprehensive report recommending the various changes to existing legislation and the introduction of new legislation to address the issue of people with disabilities was given to government in February 2009, there is no sign of any proposed legislation. The last time government spoke publicly about the disability laws was over one year ago in September 2009. At that time the minister with responsibility, Rolston Anglin, said he was “anxious to … take the report forward to the next stages, which will involve public review and debate,” as “persons with disabilities in Cayman have long been pushed into the shadows.”
Speaking at a recent briefing to launch its first report, members of the Constitution Commission pointed out that a lot of work had been done in this area by the legal sub-committee for people with disabilities but no policies had yet been implemented and there has been no further news on any legislative or policy developments.
“It would be good to see legislation enacted as soon as possible, but we don’t need to wait for laws to start following non-discrimination policies,” noted Wil Pineau, one of the commissioners. “We need to start putting these things into practice. There is no need to wait for the Bill of Rights to be in place before starting to follow non-discriminatory policies.”
At present Cayman has very little legislative protection for people with disabilities. What there is exists in parts of various different laws, such as the Mental Health Law, but there is no comprehensive way to ensure access to services for, or prevent discrimination of, the disabled.
Moreover, the enactment of the Bill of Rights will not necessarily improve that situation very much for the disabled as the protection under the Constitution is quite limited. As a result of a compromise made in the writing of the Bill of Rights, the Human Rights Committee (which existed until the Constitution came into effect) warned that people with disabilities would be vulnerable even after the bill was enforced and the need for protective domestic legislation was all the more pressing.
Section 16 in the bill, which deals with non-discrimination, had originally been written so government would not be able to discriminate against anyone at any time. The right to equality was originally included as a “free-standing” right and applied in all areas of daily life, including healthcare, housing and employment. However, the compromised form means the right not to be discriminated against only applies to the areas of public life dealt with in the Constitution itself.
This means people with disabilities are not necessarily protected by the Bill of Rights when it comes to healthcare, housing, employment, access to public spaces, and the provision of social services, forcing the need for domestic legislation with teeth.
At the time of the constitutional deliberations the Human Rights Committee pointed out that the right of non-discrimination had been compromised in an effort to remove any protection for homosexuals and transsexuals. The HRC warned that the right of non-discrimination for vulnerable people, including mentally and physically handicapped persons, would also be undermined, especially as Cayman’s legal environment when it come to the disabled was so poor.
For example, even when the Bill of Rights is enforced a disabled person could not compel the government to put in wheelchair ramps or handrails to allow access to public buildings or facilities, including schools.
The HRC and advocates from local the non-governmental organisation Equality Cayman warned at the time that the disabled could be marginalised by the constitutional compromise as government could not necessarily be trusted to enact the necessary anti-discrimination legislation. They noted too that even if it did there was nothing to prevent another administration overturning that legislation.
Hit and run victim dies
(CNS): An incident that went unreported by the police at the time, in June this year, has now resulted in the death of a 59-year-old hit and run victim, The RCIPS eventually made the incident known to the public on 12 August, more than six weeks after the incident, when officers from the Traffic Department said that Mike Allen Jervis was hit on 27 June in the early hours and received serious head injuries. On Friday 22 October, the RCIPS said that the victim, who has been in hospital since being found at the side of the road, died yesterday. They said that around 3.20am on Sunday 27 June, a man was found badly injured in Eastern Avenue, George Town, close to the Cayman Shoe Shop.
The man was lying on the sidewalk beside hisbicycle. The man was conveyed to the George Town Hospital suffering from serious head injuries. He has been detained in hospital since that date and it has now been confirmed that he passed away yesterday, Thursday 21 October.
In August police said they had information from one witness, who said he saw two cars travelling on Eastern Avenue and heard a collision but was not sure which car hit the man on the bike. Police recovered a left side wing mirror at the scene, which they say belonged to a green Honda Sabre.
Police told News 27 in August that if anyone has seen a car like this with a missing mirror or knows anything about what happened that night to come forward and call PC Harris 946 6254. The victim was seriously injured in this hit and run and police say he is unable to speak to them.
Following the man’s death yesterday, police said that to date no vehicle has been traced, and no witnesses have come forward to assist in the enquiry. Officers from the RCIPS Traffic Department are renewing their appeal for witnesses and anyone who has any information regarding the incident is asked to contact them on 946-6254.
Shetty to star at health forum
(CNS): The renowned Indian doctor who has proposed building a $2 billion healthcare city in the Cayman Islands will be appearing at a special health conference here next month. According to the agenda posted on the website, Dr Devi Shetty will deliver the opening address at the islands’ first ever national health care conference being organised by the health ministry. The famous surgeon will present an assessment of the global healthcare industry and the challenges and opportunities it presents for the Cayman Islands. The doctor signed an agreement with the Cayman government in April of this year but there have been no further developments on the project since then.
Dr Shetty’s proposal is to build a 2,000-bed speciality tertiary hospital in the Cayman Islands. The Naryana Cayman University Medical Centre will include a medical school and assisted living to attract patients who are either uninsured or under-insured. The doctor has said such a facility would price procedures at least 50 percent lower than in the US. Government in turn has said the facility would also offer low cost tertiary healthcare to Caymanians as well as boost the local economy.
The project has been broadly, if cautiously, welcomed in the community as providing a real possibility of the elusive third pillar for the local economy of medical tourism. However, six months after signing the agreement with government no location has yet been publicly identified for the potential health city and there has been growing speculation recently that the hospital project is being stalled as a result of administrative hurdles that it may not be able to overcome. Dr Shetty’s appearance at the government sponsored conference will give a boost to those supporting the project that it could still be on track.
The Healthcare 20/20 conference at the Ritz-Carlton is scheduled for the 11 to 13 November and is expected to bring together leading local and international experts in the healthcare field, the health minister has said. He added that it marks the start of the ministry’s efforts to create a comprehensive healthcare policy in the Cayman Islands for the next five years.
“I hope that this open forum will facilitate knowledge-sharing and productive discussions that will lead us to sustainable healthcare solutions. The future of health is everyone’s business, simply because good health matters! I therefore extend an invitation to all residents, healthcare and insurance providers and business owners to join us for this landmark event,” Scotland said.
So far speakers include Dr Christine Goeschel, an international expert in patient safety and quality who is a clinical instructor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and associate faculty in the School of Public Health. She is also senior adviser to the World Health Organisation‘s Patient Safety Program, contributing to the development, implementation and evaluation of efforts to improve healthcare quality on a global scale.
“We are fortunate to have Dr Goeschel as one of our presenters,” the minister said. “The level of international representation with our local presenters will provide varied perspective on various aspects of healthcare as we seek to create an effective national healthcare policy which takes into account international trends, viewpoints, evidence and research whilst balancing that with the unique issues of the Cayman Islands.”
Subtitled “Envisioning the future … creating a national vision for innovation, transformation and delivery of sustainable quality healthcare in the Cayman Islands”, the gathering will include insurance companies, healthcare professionals, patients, regulators, not-for-profit organisations and the private sector.
More than a dozen local and international organizations — including Tenet Healthcare Corporation, the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority, Tower Marketing, Baptist Health, Deloitte, the Naryana Cayman University Hospital, The Pan American Health Organisation and the Medical Protection Society — have already agreed to sponsor the event, anticipated to attract more than 200 participants.
Visit www.healthcareconference.ky for more details.
Board to rethink wine shop
(CNS):
Jacque Scott’s proposed new West Bay store took a step closer towards becoming a reality on Thursday following a court direction to the Liquor Licensing Board to reconsider its refusal to grant a change of location licence to the fine wine merchant. Following a successful application to get the board’s decision quashed last month, the liquor retailers and the board were back in court to hear how it should now proceed. After hearing arguments from the Attorney General’s Office on behalf of the board for a new hearing and arguments for a direction to the board to grant the licence from Maples on behalf of Jacques Scott, the chief justice ordered it to reconsider its refusal based only on the information which was before it in April when it declined the license.
Peter Dutton, the CEO of the local wine merchants, said he was delighted with the judge’s ruling, as his legal team had argued from the very beginning of the judicial review that, if the board was directed to reconsider the decision based on the original information, it could not refuse the license.
The original refusal had been based on concerns over traffic congestion, that the district was already well serviced by liquor stores and that adding to the numbers could add to the anti-social crime problems that were affecting the neighbourhood.
Jacques Scott argued heavily throughout the judicial review that the plan was for an upmarket flagship store in a small retail development next to Fosters Republix that would in no way add to the crime in the area but enhance the existing commercial plaza.
The shop, Jacques Scott argued, would be a luxury kitchen and dining store as well as a fine wine dealer, based on the same model as the store in the Country Side shopping village in Savannah. It would be open during normal daytime shopping hours and not until 10pm, as other liquor stores in West Bay were, and it would have full time security staff and would not, unlike local package stores, sell single units of alcohol.
The merchants had said the refusal based on traffic was irrelevant as that was a matter that would be addressed with the Central Planning Authority when the planning application was made, which could not be until a provisional liquor license was granted.
The wine dealers also dismissed the idea that West Bay was “well serviced”. Although there are four small liquor stores in the district, there are no fine wine dealers; the nearest is in Governors Square. Jacques Scott had also argued that per head of population it was one of the least served districts in the entire Cayman Islands.
The Liquor Licensing Board cannot refuse a license based on competition and Chief Justice Anthony Smellie raised his concerns in open court that the board’s conclusion that the area was well serviced moved into the area of economic consideration, which was outside its remit.
In a supplementary affidavit from the board, Deputy Chair Noel Williams, who had presided over the deliberations, asked for a rehearing in which more submissions could be canvassed from people who had objected by petition. A petition is not the correct way to object and therefore it had not been considered at the time and the board wanted to give them a fair chance to object individually, Williams had stated.
The chief justice, however, noted during the arguments that the applicant also had to be given a fair chance and that the proper opportunity for anyone to object had been provided.
With no evidence of objections from the commissioner of police, the chief justice said he could see no evidence that the store would lead to issues of public disorder or traffic problems. He also noted that the board appeared to have applied a new and different test that was not within its remit and strayed into economic considerations when it suggested that the district was already well serviced and the store would be better placed elsewhere on the island.
The board will now be required to reconsider Jacques Scott’s application for a change of location licence within a relatively short period based on the evidence presented to it in April and will not be permitted to canvas any new submission or objections before coming to a new decision.
Dutton said he was hopeful that in its reconsideration the board would now grant the license, since the entire project, which will include a number of other retail outlets, is dependent on the granting of a conditional license. He said the small development would bring a welcome commercial boost to the area during its construction, even before it opens.
Describing the store as completely different to the existing small retailers in the area, Dutton claimed in his original application that it would not be in direct competition to them and hoped it would offer a new service to the people of West Bay.
CJ finds teen gunman guilty
(CNS): Nineteen-year-old Justin Ramoon has been found guilty of possession of an imitation firearm with intent in connection with an attack on Sven Connor earlier this year. The chief justice delivered his verdict to the court on Thursday morning in the wake of Ramoon’s judge alone trial earlier this month. The country’s top judge told the court that he found the evidence of the complainant, Sven Connor, compelling, while he rejected the alibi offered by the defendant, who had denied being the man who came at Connor with a semi-automatic weapon. Ramoon, who will return to court for sentencing before the CJ tomorrow afternoon, is facing a tariff of as much as 20 years behind bars for the offence.
The teenager has been convicted in relation to an incident which took place in Fairlawn Road, George Town, on 21 February. Connor said Ramoon had turned up in his stepfather’s car at a house where he, Connor, had been visiting friends. Ramoon got out of a car and walked straight up to him while aiming a semi-automatic weapon in his direction.
Connor said that he immediately grabbed at the weapon and the two men then fought over the gun, which fell to the ground before Connor ran off into the bushes in the direction of the Field of Dreams from where, nursing a dislocated shoulder, he then called the police.
Connor told the police in the wake of the incident that the gunman was Ramoon. Police later arrested the teen when he arrived at a police station to respond to bail on another matter. Ramoon denied possessing the weapon or attacking Connor. During the trial the teen defendant chose to give evidence in his own defence and went into the witness box claiming that on the night in question he was in West Bay getting drunk at his cousin’s house, where he had been staying for a few weeks .
He also called his cousin as an alibi in his defence, who admitted that he had come to court at the prompting of another person. The witness said he had been told that the night he, Ramoon and others were attending a cook-out at his house was the same night on which Ramoon was accused of attacking Connor.
In the chief justice’s written ruling, which he read to the court, he said that the suggestion that it was the same night was imposed upon the witness but he did not appear to have any independent recollection of the night. He described the detail of the witness’s account as “quite remarkable” given how long ago the incident had occurred.
On the other hand, the judge said, he found the manner in which Connor had given his evidence “compelling” stating that he was “clear and unhesitant" and the chief justice said he did not believe Connor could have been mistaken over the identity of the attacker as it had been in such close proximity. This, he said, was further illustrated by the dislocated shoulder which Connor had sustained during the struggle for the gun. The judge also observed the relative spontaneity in which Connor had told the police who the gunman was.
“I accept Sven Connor’s account, including the description of the firearm, which meets the description of the imitation weapon in the charges,’ the judge told the court. “I am satisfied it was the defendant that assaulted Sven Connor and the defendant is guilty of the charges on the indictment.”
Although Connor had described the weapon that Ramoon had approached him with as a semi-automatic handgun, the police never recovered a firearm and no gun shot residue was found on either Connor or Ramoon as the gun was not fired. Consequently, with no evidence that the gun in question was a real firearm, the crown brought charges of possession of an imitation weapon in accordance with the penal code.
Ramoon will return to court Friday afternoon for the sentence hearing.
Public pay for Mac’s fence
(CNS): Although the original proposal to put a high wall around the premier’s private residence in West Bay was dropped, a fence, which it seems has been paid for from the public purse, has now been erected instead. The protocol office has not revealed the cost of the fence or any other details but it confirmed that the security of the premier and the country’s guests, who may be hosted at the premier’s residence, is the responsibility of government. Meanwhile, on Cayman Brac, the Ministry of District Administration has denied that the public are paying for the security upgrades and other enhancements to the deputy premier’s private home.
Although the creation of the office of premier has ushered in a number of changes and extra trappings regarding the country’s political leadership, there is no official residence for the holder of that office or that of deputy premier.
The current premier, McKeeva Bush, continues to reside in his own West Bay property, where security has reportedly been significantly enhanced. The people are now also footing the bill for utilities and other extras at the premier’s home as a result of the house being used for official functions and purposes, something which Bush has said would be afforded to anyone who is elected into the role.
Following a request by CNS to the Protocol Office about the fence that has appeared around the Bush household, the office refused to reveal any details of the costs or who was responsible for it because of what it said were issues of national security.
“As you are aware this is security related, and if we were to answer this question fully, it would reveal certain security issues and concerns, and obviously we do not wish to plant any seeds publicly which may cause harm to our country’s leaders,” the Protocol Office told CNS when we enquired about who was paying for the fence at the Bush residence. “Generally, however, it must be understood that the security of the premier and the country’s guests, who may be hosted at the premier’s residence from time to time is the responsibility of the government, and one which it takes seriously.”
Meanwhile, considerable work being done at Juliana O’Connor Connolly’s home is being paid for by the minister herself and not the people, the chief officer in the ministry stated. “This ministry or any other government agency is not paying for any repairs/modifications to the deputy premier’s residence,” Kearney Gomez said in an email to CNS, explaining that the minister’s home was severely damaged during Hurricane Paloma and still in need of repair.
Despite public perception to the contrary, Gomez also stated that the deputy premier was not residing at the Alexander Hotel except on rare occasions, and when on the Brac the district administration minister is residing in her own home. “On occasion when evening meetings are held on the Brac with ministry and District Administration staff, the deputy premier may stay at the venue of those meetings. It should be noted, however, that for most of the past 16 months the deputy premier has been residing at her private residence,” Gomez revealed.
He did, however, revealed that the ministry was incurring costs for the deputy premier’s security officer’s accommodation, which he said varied from month to month. “To take an average would be in the vicinity of $1,500 per month,” which he explained was for the officer’s stay-over accommodation on the Brac.
Both the premier and his deputy have come in for wide public criticism as a result of the extra spending associated with the elevation of the political leadership. However, Bush has in turn blamed the opposition, who were the primary architects of the Cayman Constitution 2009 which has ushered in the changes and the extra costs.
In a recent effort to deflect the controversy surrounding the extra security, utility and other protocol costs incurred by government, during the last sitting of the Legislative Assembly the premier listed the costsof CCTV systems which were installed in the homes of some of the previous Cabinet Member’s homes, which came to a total of around $35,000, a tab which was picked up by the treasury.
During the budget sitting earlier this year the premier told the country that the use of the premier’s “personal home for certain functions gives the erroneous impression that these courtesies are personal,” when, he said, it was in fact official.
“The Protocol Office considers that the funds utilised for security upgrades on the premier’s residence, in the circumstances, to be both practical and cost effective for our highest ranking elected diplomat to properly represent the country, to host official visitors, and discharge the duties inherent in the position of Premier, absent of distraction,” Bush told his legislative colleagues, adding that all future premiers would have upgrades to their homes until an official residence was feasible.
Advice flawed says Chuckie
(CNS): Former government minister Charles Clifford has added his voice to the concerns raised regarding the premier’s proposal to remedy the country’s economic woes by revamping immigration policy. Clifford said the proposed reduction in the residency break from one year to one month, which was made by McKeeva Bush recently, is flawed and unlikely to sustain legal scrutiny. Clifford has challenged Bush to present the public with proof of the legal advice that supports his proposal that it would protect the country from mass status grants. Additionally, it is uncertain if the advice received by Bush applies strictly to the Cayman Islands immigration laws or if it took into account the British Nationality Law that also governs how residency, and consequently status, can be obtained in overseas territories.
Bush’s press secretary told CNS that the premier intends to table the advice, which is believed to have come from Lord Pannick QC, in the Legislative Assembly next month. However, Clifford claims the legal advice alluded to runs contrary to the advice given to the previous administration.
"When the Cabinet of which I was a part considered this matter we took legal advice on the matter from several sources. The legal consensus was that any break of less than 12 months in residency would render the term limit provisions in the Immigration Law ineffective because it was highly unlikely to stand the test of legal scrutiny and would be successfully challenged in the courts," he said. "The court would likely take the view that a break in residency of less than 12 months could not reasonably be said to either constitute a break in legal residency or establish that the person was no longer domiciled in the Cayman Islands."
During a televised address in September the premier first told the country that he had received legal advice from Britain that the Cayman Islands government could make the rollover as short as it chose and said he would be examining changes to the immigration policy. “We have legal advice from the UK that says we can make the rollover time as limited as we want to in our legislation,” he said, later indicating that the rollover gap could be reduced to as little as one month.
Clifford, who has since resigned from the PPM, does not believe that such advice exists.
"The premier’s claim that he has advice from the UK that the government can successfully reduce the break in stay under the term limit provisions in the Immigration Law to 30 days is suspicious at best and is contrary to all of the legal advice which was previously provided," he said. “If the premier has such legal advice as he claims he does then I call on him to voluntarily publish it in the spirit of Freedom of Information before it is formally requested, he added.
Responding to this challenge, the Office of the Premier told Cayman News Service that the legal advice would be made public next month. "The premier has previously stated that once the legal advice on this
matter was presented to Cabinet he will table it in the Legislative Assembly. The premier plans to table the legal advice concerning the required break in residency at the end of the immigration term limit
in the LA next month," said his press secretary.
Bush has raised the issue of immigration and the need to attract people to the Cayman Islands, as well as the need to encourage people to keep their earnings here. He said that Cayman was exporting part of its GDP as a result of the way the country’s immigration policy encouraged foreign workers to send money out of Cayman. He said any country which exported its GDP was doomed to failure.
Clifford questioned the validity of the premier’s motive for immigration changes. "Despite what the premier and some of his supporters have said, the economic problems in the country are not related to the term limit provisions in the Immigration Law," he said. “Our economic misfortunes are directly related to the global financial meltdown, which has been made worse by the UDP government’s decision to increase taxes across the board three times in 15 months and reduce salaries by 3.2%. The UDP government has implemented a flawed economic policy. They need to understand that you cannot tax your way out of a recession, but if they don’t reverse those taxes and jettison their flawed economic policy they will tax us into a depression.”
Clifford stated that government had made the cost of doing business prohibitive and its flawed economic policy had reduced everyone’s disposable income, which was the reason why businesses are closing and why people are being made redundant and leaving the island. Only the government can change that through a reversal of their damaging policies, he indicated.
Implementing the proposed changes to the Immigration Law would, in effect, repeal the term limit and would in turn increase the number of expatriate workers entitled to Caymanian status, Clifford suggested. "I believe that the premier’s attempt to substitute the 12 months break in stay for 30 days under the term limit provisions of the Immigration Law is the UDP government’s way of abolishing the term limit provisions altogether because they are well aware that it will not stand the test of legal scrutiny," he said. "If the premier and his government want to repeal the term limit provisions they ought to be brave enough to say so and stop playing games with our Immigration Law and hiding behind
what will inevitably be a successful legal challenge."
Currently, the law requires expatriate workers on work permits to leave for a minimum period of twelve months after working for seven years before they can return. The period was originally set at two years but was then reduce to twelve by the previous administration, as they said it was the minimum period which could be accepted in law as a genuine break in stay. This would then prevent all permit holders from meeting the threshold to be entitled to begin the process of becoming Caymanian and thereby creating what was perceived as an imbalance between indigenous Caymanians and foreign status holders.
EU deal good news for CI
(CNS): News from Europe that hedge funds will be regulated via a “passport system” rather than individual registration is good news for the Cayman Islands fund industry, which is back on the up and up. Mark Lewis, managing partner at Walkers, said it was “extremely good news”. He explained that not only was the passport system preferable but he also noted that the new system would be phased in over the next four years, giving Cayman plenty of time to ensure its compliance with whatever the parameters of the system will be. With fund registrations increasing again, the removal of the uncertainty over European hedge fund regulation will be good for the market, Lewis predicted.
He pointed out that the deal that has finally emerged over European hedge fund regulation showed Europe’s ministers had recognised that it was inappropriate to exclude non-Euro based funds, which would have been contrary to the G20 principles of competition. EU finance ministers agreed on Tuesday (19 October) to regulate the sector under the eye of the European Securities and Markets Authority via a passport system. Although the full details have not yet been revealed of how the system will work, Lewis said indications are that this will be beneficial to the local industry, which is enjoying resurgence.
“It really is extremely good news,” Lewis told CNS. “Combined with the recent news that only a few funds have migrated from the jurisdictions and that registrations are growing at some 60 funds a month (100 new against 40 closures) we can be confident now that we are likely to see the high mark of 10,000 registered funds in Cayman passed again early next year.”
The long and protracted argument in Europe about how it would deal with funds registered outside the union had created uncertainty, which Lewis said has now been addressed. “This removes a considerable hurdle and uncertainty for the industry’s immediate future,” the Walkers boss revealed. “We hope it will translate into greater confidence in the market.”
Ingrid Pierce, partner with the global fund group at Walkers, said that the industry would now be watching closely for the details of how the European Securities and Markets Authority would work but she said the industry would welcome organised oversight.
“It is yet unclear how this organization will operate; we have yet to hear the details, but oversight is what the hedge fund industry is used to,” she said, dispelling ideas of the industry being opaque and unregulated. Pierce also said she believed Cayman would be well placed to meet whatever the requirements will be. Importantly, she noted, the phased process would ensure there was plenty of time for the requirements of the regulation under the passport system to be met, allowing Cayman to continue doing business in Europe.
The new oversight for the industry and the regulation of hedge funds in the European Union has been in dispute for several months, with the UK locked in a long-running battle with France over how to regulate the multi-trillion-dollar sector.
Under the new regime, the EMSA will manage a ‘passport’ system for hedge fund managers from outside the EU, giving them access to investors from all 27 member states, so long as they are registered in one country instead of having to register with every country, which is what French officials had hoped for. London, which is, home to 80 percent of the world’s hedge funds, fought against the idea, suggesting that would send funds to other jurisdictions.
Managers will now only have to register in one European country to gain the passport for the rest of the European bloc. The new rules, however, increase the amount of information that funds will need to provide, including which products they are investing in.
Although the French finance minister was not entirely supportive of the deal that was reached on Tuesday, Christine Lagarde said at least it delivered "genuine supervision and regulation of actors who were to-date not at all controlled".
The deal now goes to the European Parliament for approval.