Politics
Cayman Pirates invade Florida
(CNS): Next weekend a band of Cayman Pirates will invade the south-eastern peninsula of the United States with the aim of pillaging and plundering and running off with the prize of Champions of the Fort Lauderdale Ruggerfest Touch Tournament 2014. A merry band of 12 marauders will embark on their third annual trip to this tournament aiming to improve on their semi-final position in 2012 and hopefully to capture the trophy for the first time. Sponsored by Trident Trust and promoted by the Cayman Touch Association the Cayman Pirates go to the event in fine fettle.
Coached by Aussie legend (at least that’s what his girlfriend calls him) Shaun Hardcastle, the Pirates are led onto the field by the wonderfully-named Captain Morgan – Morgan Shelver that is. He may lack the flowing locks andcocked-feather-in-hat of the infamous buccaneer but his play is as intoxicating as the eponymous rum and certainly makes his opponents heads spin.
Every year in Cayman the standard of Touch (similar to rugby league but without the tackles) increases as more and more people are drawn to the sport. It is a high energy game with limited player-to-player contact and is just right for guys and girls looking to get involved in a fast-paced ball game.
The Cayman Pirates will be challenging teams from New York, Washington DC, the East Coast and Florida but most of all they will be looking to develop their teamwork and playing style ahead of other tournaments in the US later this year such as the National Touch Championships and the Touch World Cup in Australia 2015.
The team has been training for several weeks and is looking to build on work done earlier in the year combining a game of innovative attacking moves with a balanced defence. It is a work-in-progress but looking at the roster there is a heady mix of blistering pace, astute play-making and sage-wisdom.
Tour Organizer Chandra Friesen said, “Touch is one of the fastest growing team sports in Cayman and we love the chance to experience playing other teams from overseas. It’s a challenge which we’ll enjoy and if we can bring back the trophy it will be even better!”
A full report of the Pirates’ progress will be made next week.
Cayman Pirates 2014 Squad – Morgan Shelver ©, Neal Ainscow, Marc Randall, Nic Swartz, Richie Gordon, Brad Stephenson, RileyMullen, Brandon Smith, Guy Major, Chandra Friesen, Jax McCarty, Evelyn Ritch.
Dump row escalates
(CNS): The president of the Chamber of Commerce has hit out once again at government over the dump, escalating the row, following comments made by the premier in his address at the Fidelity CEO Conference on Thursday. In a letter to the Chamber membership berating government for moving too slowly, Johann Moxam said the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility (FFR) process shouldn’t be used as the excuse for delaying action. However, the governor has also emphasised the need for the requirements of the FFR agreement with the UK to be met to make sure government does the right thing for the long term and that any solution offers value for money and can be afforded by the Caymanian taxpayer.
The Chamber boss hit out at the premier for stalling and described the situation at both the George Town and Cayman Brac dumps as “disgraceful examples of our Islands' lack of leadership, planning and urgency”. “Cayman cannot afford the multiple excuses, egos, and political rhetoric,” he said, as it would not fix the literally burning issue.
Moxam also took aim at Premier Alden McLaughlin for revealing that he (Moxam) had been involved in the original bid and suggested that the premier was implying his position on the dump might be because of commercial interest – although McLaughlin made no such reference.
Moxam said it was correct that he had been involved in a bid but he found it “disturbing and irresponsible for thepremier” to have revealed the confidential information about his business interests and said the comments led him to believe McLaughlin was “attempting to imply that I was using this high office to further my business interests and personal agenda,” which Moxam denied.
He said he and all the Chamber members had a right to point out the delays towards a solution for Cayman’s waste management were not necessary and that there was enough information out there already on which to base the business case.
During his speech at the conference, McLaughlin said the fires had brought the issue of waste management into sharp focus and the government was facing calls for an immediate solution to a problem that is the result of many years of unsustainable waste management practices.
“While we fully acknowledge the urgency of this issue, we cannot be reasonably expected to resolve it overnight. The procurement process for major projects like this was outlined in the FFR, and has been enshrined in our Public Management and Finance Law. We do not have a choice,” he said.
“The processes that are in place under the Public Management and Finance Law are there in large part because of the disastrous consequences of the last tendering exercise conducted by government for a waste management solution. I am sure my good friend, the President of the Chamber, will recall this well, as he was involved in that tendering exercise,” McLaughlin added.
He said the process would ensure transparency and accountability in the procurement process this time round.
His comments were supported by the governor, Helen Kilpatrick. Responding to CNS questions, she said that she was committed to working with the CIG to find an effective long term response.
“I recognise the frustration that the issue is causing and I know that the Cabinet is doing what it can to contain the problem and work quickly towards finding a longer term solution for our waste management,” she said.
“The terms of the FFR are well documented and there is limited scope to increase government borrowing. It is critical that infrastructure projects move forward quickly in a way that meets these requirements. The UK Government stands ready to continue to work in partnership with CIG to help deliver key infrastructure projects. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been in discussions with CIG about calling on the services of Infrastructure UK, the UK Government body with strategic capability for infrastructure delivery,” Kilpatrick told CNS.
She also said the services of UK waste management experts could be called upon by CIG and the UK government would be happy to help facilitate expertise as may be necessary.
GT upgrade coming
(CNS): There were no surprises in the much anticipated speech delivered by the premier on Thursday at the opening of the CEO conference. His first State of the Nation address at the annual business event in his role as the country's leader, Alden McLaughlin used the platform as a review rather than to reveal any new plans. The premier did state, however, that the promised revitalization of George Town would get underway later this year. He said that a committee had been formed which would be engaging in a public consultation process next month with a view to implementing proposals in June. He talked of beautification, altering traffic flows, preserving historic monuments and the introduction of mixed use business and residential zones.
He said the enhancement of the capital would help local businesses make the most of the cruise berthing facilities when they were completed.
For eleven years the former Cayman Business Outlook, now Cayman Economic Outlook, has provided a platform for the country's leaders to deliver a State of the Nation address. The former leader, McKeeva Bush, became well known for using the forum to make major announcements. However, McLaughlin did not take a leaf out of the now opposition leader's book and made no new revelations.
Reviewing his government's time in office so far and recapping some of the improvements in the relations with the UK, changes to immigration and the numerous problems that still need to be addressed, he said public finances were on track with government earnings over $11 million more than forecast and public spending down more than $9 million.
McLaughlin also re-emphasized that his government was not in a position to solve the problem of the George Town landfill overnight because of the required process set out in the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility (FFR) agreement with the UK, which is now part of local legislation.
Hitting back at Chamber of Commerce President Johann Moxam, who has been very critical recently of the dump situation, the premier said the rules were put in place as a result of what he described as the "disasterous consequences of the last tendering process", which he said the president was well aware as he himself had been involved in the bidding.
However, McLaughlin said that alongside the work needed to establish the strategic and business cases for the new waste management system, work would get underway at the dump to improve the current management, with investment in new equipment as well as the creation of a recycling and reuse programme and a public education campaign about waste reduction.
McLaughlin pointed to the success of the immigration changes and said more than one third of those that would have been entitled to apply for PR at the point the law was changed had instead chosen to leave. He also said just 139 Caymanians had been placed in jobs since June by the National Workforce Development Agency, which he said was now beginning to take shape and fulfill its mandate.
He said government was pressing ahead with the plans for E-government and the recruitment of a director to help implement the online improvements of government services.
McLaughlin said his administration was reviewing the possible privatization of government services. He said that there were no sacred cows but that any divestment had to be in the best interests of the people and could not risk costing government in long run. He warned that recent cuts had already detrimentally impacted public services and that many of the recent staff cuts could only be temporary as he pointed to the need for more recruitment already in some areas such as the fire service.
Talking about the improvement in confidence and a turn around in the economy, McLaughlin emphasized the new positive relationship with the UK, which had kept Cayman at the table during the development of new international regulations affecting the financial services sector.
Referring to the previously much more strained relationship between the UDP government and the UK, McLaughlin said it was important to be at the table talking rather than "butting heads with the FCO and our governor with no result to show at the end of it."
LA to debate OMOV and minimum wage
(CNS): Legislators will be back in the Legislative Assembly next Wednesday when they will be making changes to offshore-related legislation and debating the private members' motions filed by the independent members on 'one man, one vote' and a minimum wage. The debates on both controversial topics, which are said to be causing divisions among the government benches as well as across the floor, were postponed during the last LA sitting to facilitate the debate on the Standards in Public Life bill. Although the government has set out a schedule for meetings, Ezzard Miller raised concerns that the new government is being just as abusive regarding the parliamentary process as their predecessors, the UDP, and disregarding the rules and regulations.
Miller said that he and Arden McLean had agreed to a postponement of their motions until today, 19 February but he said despite that the premier the proceeded to adjourn the LA without a future date and he said he was informed just this week that instead of returning on 19 February they would be sitting on the 26 February.
“Nothing much has changed the government is running the business of the House in accordance with its liking rather than the rules, but of course there is nothing we can do about that,” he said. Miller said he had been pleased to see the premier’s efforts to plan a proper schedule but he said it was even more disappointing that the government still went ahead and did what it wanted without regard for other members.
Nevertheless, Miller said he was looking forward to the forthcoming debates on the two motions before the House dealing with the both the implementation of a minimum wage and the need to revise the local voting system as quickly as possible. Miller said he and Arden McLean who had filed and seconded each other’s motions were anticipating that the government would be welcoming the motions as the PPM had campaigned on both of these issues in the run up to the election.
However, sources have suggested that the government benches may not be unified on the way forward on either issue and as a result while they may accept the motions in principle they may not act on them. However, Miller has said that he was willing to draft the necessary legislation if need be and present a private members bill to the House on the issues if government does not accept and act quickly on the motions.
Action needed for elderly
(CNS): Cayman is reaching a crisis point regarding its elderly citizens as a result of meagre pensions and the failure of employers to extend healthcare to retirees, the independent member for North Side has said. Ezzard Miller believes the country needs to begin a national debate about how Cayman can ensure its elderly retire with some dignity because too many of them are in real need but often too proud to seek help from government. Miller said that in the first instance government needs to create an open and transparent system for offering support to the elderly and indigent and it also needs to revise the pensions and health insurance laws to prevent future pensioners spiralling into poverty.
The MLA said that he has real concerns that the situation for many elderly people who have worked all their lives who have now retired is dire. Many have been forced to retire whether they wanted to or not and have done so on exceptionally small pensions because they have only paid into funds since 1997 and, having been employed by different employers, have been forced to pay into various schemes. With inadequate contributions dispersed across different plans, they are struggling to survive and their meagre conditions are being compounded by a lack of health cover.
“We need a national debate now over this huge problem which is facing us,” Miller told CNS Tuesday.
In the wake of recent comments by Finance Minister Marco Archer, who pointed out that government is spending millions of dollars picking up the health care tab because of private sector employers' inadequate provisions, Miller is calling for a bigger discussion about what he says is already a national crisis.
He said it is time for government to be more open and transparent about how assistance is given to people via social services.
“We can no longer have this hidden, secret system where no one knows who is getting what. It seems those who are recommended to the department by politicians are assisted while others get nothing because they haven’t got the right contacts,” he said. Miller said it was time for a transparent, properly established system and criteria which would make it clear who is entitled to what and on what basis.
“We also need to revise the pensions law and reconsider one national pension plan,” Miller added. He said that he was not advocating that government run the plan but that a single fund would prove more effective. He pointed out that when workers move from employer to employer, they don’t necessarily transfer their past contributions, leaving them with tiny pieces in several different funds and very little to draw on come retirement.
He said past governments had bowed to pressure from the private sector, which was seeking ways to make money from the decision to make pensions compulsory with multiple funds, but in the end it has been to the detriment of many workers. Miller said it would have made much greater sense for everyone to pay into one pot. He said there would be nothing to stop those with the means to invest in other plans but if the basic 10% of all workers earnings had gone into one plan then the returns would have been better and moving employment would have had no detrimental impacts to pension fund members.
He said employers would have to start making health provision for those employees that retire or to put a stop to forced retirement .The independent MLA said there should be no mandatory retirement age, only a minimum age at which one can retire if one would like to. This, he added, would give people who are still willing and able to work a chance to accumulate more pension as well as keep earning for as long as possible.
Miller said that he did not have all of the answers on how the country would address this growing problem but the essential thing was to begin the debate and start assessing the real size of the problem.
A starting point, he said, would be more transparency, then the country can talk about viable solutions to help the community’s older citizens before it’s too late.
Lobby ban to oust CIG’s lord
(CNS): Members of the British House of Lords will be banned from lobbying in a shake-up of the UK’s parliamentary rules, published Monday. In changes to the Lords Code of Conduct, peers will be banned from lobbying members of either the Commons or Lords, ministers or government officials “in return for payment or other reward”, which means the Cayman Island Government will need to re-think its current employment of Lord Blencathra in the London office. Blencathra, who is paid over CI$19,500 a month to represent Cayman in the UK’s corridors of power, was appointed by former premier McKeeva Bush in 2011.
The appointment caused some controversy locally as the head of the London office has traditionally been a Caymanian. Sources close to the governor’s office at the time confirmed to CNS that there had also been some concerns in the FCO about the decision.
Those concerns were raised ahead of a complaint filed by a Labour MP when the UK media revealed that Blencathra was lobbying for what many considered a tax haven. In its report setting out the new rules, the House of Lords Privileges and Conduct Committee specifically mentioned the case of Lord Blencathra as a reason why the changes are necessary.
In 2012 The Independent newspaper and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed the former MP and Tory chief whip was being paid by the Cayman Islands to represent the interests of the financial services industry. As part of his job, he also lobbied Chancellor George Osborne to reduce air passenger transport taxes and facilitated an all-expenses-paid trip to the islands for three UK MPs.
A complaint against him was rejected by the Lords authorities on the grounds that there was “no evidence that Lord Blencathra exercised parliamentary influence on behalf of the Cayman Islands Government Office in the United Kingdom” and he had not breached the rules at the time.
However, in its report on Monday the Lords made it clear the loophole would be closed.
CNS contacted the financial services ministry, which is responsible for Blencathra’s contract in the London office, and later received a response from the premier’s office.
“The Cayman Islands Government is aware of and is taking into consideration a report that bans members of the House of Lords from lobbying ministers,” the release stated, but the office made no comment about Blencathra’s contract with CIG. CNS has also contacted Lord Blencathra and is awaiting a response.
Paul Flynn, the Labour MP who made the complaint about the Tory peer, told the Independent he welcomed the change.
“The previous rules had a dangerous loophole that was not compatible to the principles of transparency that should be fundamental to public life. The idea a peer could divide themselves in two with one half being a lobbyist and the other being a parliamentarian was always absurd and I am delighted the Lords Authorities have recognised this.”
The revised code of conduct will also require members of the House of Lords to register any gift or hospitality worth more than £140, compared to the previous limit of £500, bringing them into line with the threshold for government ministers. The new rules will come into effect once that have been ratified by a vote of the whole House of Lords.
Archer takes C4C to task
(CNS): The finance minister has said that it is now “undeniable that public finances are improving”, as he hit back at the recent over-simplistic view from the Coalition for Cayman of what they believe is government’s poor performance when it comes to cutting back on public spending. In a lengthy response sent to the media, Marco Archer took the group to task over their criticisms of government’s record so far and made some important criticisms of his own about the failures of the private sector employers that have left government to pick up the tab on inadequate pay, pension and health benefits. Archer also said government wouldn’t balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the elderly.
Going through the C4C’s recent assessment of the budget, which was published in a paid-for advertorial in the Compass last week and sent to CNS and other media at the weekend, Archer made some interesting observations about the C4C’s demands that civil service benefits needed to line up with the private sector.
The minister questioned whether the C4C had any study or empirical evidence that the benefits provided by private sector employers were enough to “allow their employees to retire with dignity and not become dependent on government” or that the healthcare coverage allowed "their employees to access needed care without government assistance?”
Archer pointed out that some of the government expenditures that C4C is criticised were as a result of its moral responsibility to local people who were in difficulty, stemming from their employers' focus solely on minimizing costs and increasing profits without adequate regard for their employees and their future needs.
“At the end of the day, C4C should be realistic; not everyone can take care of themselves. If they plan to run a government that doesn’t take into consideration the most vulnerable of our society, then they have a very bleak outlook for human kind,” Archer said of the political group that many see as being a special interest group representing Cayman’s wealthier local business owners.
“In all societies there will be those who need government assistance to exist,” Archer noted in his response. “It’s something this government realises and even more, understands and fully intends to taper these benefits with welfare to work programmes as the economy continues to improve.”
He admitted that government spending as much as $18 million annually to provide overseas medical care for people who are deemed medically indigent was a significant sum but he noted why they needed the help.
“Many of those people worked their entire lives but were not provided with sufficient benefits to take care of themselves in their retirement years,” he said, adding that government had a moral and a financial obligation to care for these people.
“The Progressives government will continue to examine ways to reduce public sector costs,” he stated, but said it would do so with due regard to the consequences of those actions.
The finance minister said government, too, believes in a hand up as opposed to a hand out, but said it could not "balance the budget solely on the backs of the poor and the elderly.”
Social reform, Archer pointed out, is a multifaceted effort with intervention in several areas and it was not addressed by simply cutting off assistance to those in need.
The minister also noted the contradictions made by the C4C in their assessment of the budget and where they believed government was going wrong.
The C4C told government it needs to make provision for the unfunded liabilities it faced from pensions and health care for civil servant pensioners and to replace the budget cuts for the financial sector and tourism. At the same time it called for government to roll back fees. It also called for a massive reduction in the civil service headcount while acknowledging the damage to the economy the mass civil service lay-offs they are calling for would do, not just to the individuals who lose their jobs but to the wider economy.
“The Progressives government has been in office for a mere 8 months, yet the recommendation is to collect less revenue by rolling back fees, whilst simultaneously increasing the expenditure on Tourism and Financial Services. This is an amazing recommendation by the C4C, which we are sure is not one that the proponents employ in their own businesses,” Archer said in his lengthy response to the C4C critics.
“Government is grounded in reality and fully intends to make good on its promises of first stabilising finances and then rolling back certain fees,” he added as he pointed out it would be done systematically without putting the country in an unsustainable position of further deficits.
“It should be noted that the government managed to use only CI$2 million of the approved CI$44 million overdraft facility in the 2013/14 fiscal year. Therefore, it is undeniable that public finances are improving, costs are being reduced, cash reserves are growing. Continued prudence is what is required; not magical equations, rhetoric and grandstanding,” he added.
See Archer’s full response to the C4C’s criticisms of government’s management of public finances.
Alden holds his own on BBC
(CNS): The Cayman Islands premier managed to wave the flag for the financial sector without suffering too many wounds during the anticipated interview on the BBC's news channel’ flagship show HARDtalk with Steven Sackur. During the show, which was first broadcast at 11:30pm local time on Tuesday, Alden McLaughlin admitted the genesis of the CI financial sector may have been to assist corporations in tax avoidance but things today were very different. He said Cayman’s house was now in better order than almost any other country with a financial sector, and although he dodged questions about public transparency on beneficial ownership, McLaughlin delivered the message that Cayman would comply to any new standards so long as there was a level playing field.
As he opened the show, the host, Steven Sackur, asked if the pressure on tax havens would cause Cayman to lose its allure for corporations using the jurisdiction and the complex financial vehicles it offers.
The BBC host described Cayman as one of the strangest and most unbalanced micro-economies in the world before McLaughlin went on to briefly describethe success story of Cayman from a subsistence economy to its status as an international offshore financial centre.
Tackling the ‘Ugland House question’, he explained that it was right that none of the companies there had a physical presence as it was the home of an offshore law firm, but referred to 1209 Orange Street in Delaware, USA, which has even more registered companies without a physical presence.
McLaughlin described Cayman as being much better regulated than the US state, pointing to the numerous tax deals and exchange agreements Cayman has, as well as the scrutiny from international regulators, onshore authorities and the OECD, which have found that Cayman has one of the best and most robust regulatory regimes in the world.
“The modern day Cayman is an open, transparent jurisdiction,” he said as he listed all of Cayman’s TIEA and multilateral agreements.
He dismissed the findings of the Tax Justice Network, which ranks Cayman as the fifth most secret international financial centre in the world, but also refused to say whether or not Cayman would be publishing the information it keeps on beneficial owners. He told Sackur that consultation was ongoing and that “no country in the world” reveals all the beneficial ownership of corporations to the wider public, though he acknowledged that the UK was heading that way.
The Cayman leader explained that Cayman has never had direct taxation so it creates a tax neutral jurisdiction for international companies to find cheaper financing as the jurisdiction adds no extra layers of tax liability, which is why it would remain an attractive jurisdiction for international finance.
McLaughlin agreed that it was not right for people or corporations to avoid paying tax where it was due and stated that Cayman was no longer a place where corporations came to avoid tax. He said companies and wealthy individuals know that the Cayman Islands authorities will now tell their country of origin about their business or wealth when asked.
The Cayman premier admitted that the world was moving towards automatic exchange but that would not mean an end to Cayman’s success as an offshore jurisdiction. He said increasing regulation and transparency had fuelled Cayman’s success in past years as businesses are increasingly more attracted to reputable well regulated jurisdictions.
Sackur referred to comments made by former CIMA chair, Tim Ridley, about Cayman losing its competitive edge if there was too much regulation but McLaughlin pointed out that for fifteen years Cayman had met the challenge of increasing regulation and the sector continued to grow and prosper.
Despite painting a picture of a well regulated jurisdiction, Sackur’s question about Cayman successfully prosecuting only six cases of money laundering in over seven years proved tough for McLaughlin, who nevertheless insisted that the jurisdiction had been rated as having one of the best anti-money laundering regime’s in the world.
Addressing questions about UK pressure, McLaughlin indicated that the Cayman Islands was not fed up of the mother country yet, and while a few people waved the flag of independence, the relationship with the UK was a good one.
Despite some tensions from time to time, he said the country was happy with its constitutional relationship with Britain. He did, however, press home the issue that Cayman should not be a scapegoat for the world’s financial ills as perceptions about the islands were still a long way from reality.
The show will air again locally at 4:30pm on BBC World but it is also now available on Youtube or the HARDtalk website.
Podcasts and audio versions will also be available on the BBC Worldservice website later.
PPM too quick to sign FATCA deals, says Bush
(CNS Business): Opposition Leader McKeeva Bush has criticised both Premier Alden McLaughlin and Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton for being too quick to sign the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act deal with the US and a similar deal with the UK at the same time as committing to the revelations of beneficial ownership. Bush, the former minister of finance, said there were ongoing problems with the US act on foreign accounts which may lead to further delays in the already postponed implementation and the CIG didn’t need to rush to sign on the dotted line so far ahead of it coming into effect. He also accused the two men of not having the backbone to stand up for the Cayman Islands and the sector they both profited from in the past. Read more on CNS Business
McLaughlin bumped for Sudanese foreign minister
CNS): Cayman will now have to wait at least one more day to see the recording of the premier on the BBC’s flagship news interview show HARDtalk. Alden McLaughlin’s head to head appearance with Stephen Sackur, which was recorded on 4 February, has been bumped from Tuesday to Wednesday, which means the first broadcast of the show on BBC World News will be 4:30am in London on 12 February, or 11:30pm local time Tuesday, and then again locally on Wednesday morning at 4:30am, 11:30am and then in the afternoon at 4:30pm. The slot is now being used to show an interview with Barnaba Marial Benjamin, Foreign Minister of South Sudan, where rebels have boycotted the latest planned peace talks.
Local officials in Cayman said that depending on news events, the programme could be moved again but once it has aired an audio version of the show will also be available on the BBC iPlayer or as a podcast. Video clips are also available on line but the full video is not available to viewers outside the UK on the show’s website.