CIFSA Produces First Annual Report

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

17 May 2005

The Cayman Islands Financial Services Association (CIFSA) has produced its first annual report since its inception in November 2003, which reveals a number of significant achievements towards the organisation's goal to "communicate the quality and integrity of the Cayman Islands' financial services industry."

"We have had a very pleasing first year and are excited about the progress we've made, despite the impact of hurricane Ivan towards the year end," said Mr Eduardo D'Angelo P. Silva, CIFSA director.

"The year was marked by highly successful media coverage and relationship building with key journalists around the globe - particularly in the United Kingdom and Europe - with positive editorial being published in a range of publications including Investment International, The Banker, Portfolio International, and Tax-News.com.

"The Association was approached for comment on important industry issues such as the Parmalat and Enron cases, the EU Savings Tax Directive and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) review - demonstrating the Association had successfully achieved its goal of positioning itself as an authority on Cayman's financial industry," Mr Silva said.

Among the list of achievements is the results of the organisation's website, launched in March 2004, which has served as one of the Association's primary marketing tools. Since its launch the website has received more than 230,000 hits and just under 10,000 visitors.

"Receiving such a large number of hits and visitors in such a short period is very impressive and shows the website has proven to be a valuable source of information," said Mr Lyndhurst Bodden, owner of Cayman Online, one of Cayman's oldest web portals.

Through its website CIFSA has responded to media around the world ensuring accurate information is available on a timely basis. The site also provides opportunities for questions to be asked directly to the Association about the financial services industry of the Cayman Islands.

Another first-year milestone was CIFSA's sponsorship of a luncheon in London in January 2005 to help promote Cayman's financial services industry and strengthen ties between the Cayman Islands and the City of London.

"We were particularly pleased with how well the London luncheon was received and the positive comments from a number of key players in the City of London," said Mr Eric Crutchley, CIFSA director.

The London event was attended by over 85 guests including representatives from the UK Treasury department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Financial Services Authority and a number of top names from London's financial services community.

The CIFSA publication also reports that when the Cayman Islands financial services industry faced one of its largest challenges after hurricane Ivan, the Association rose to the challenge in response.

"Despite a lack of power and office facilities, CIFSA was able to dispatch important communications to a number of key stakeholders, from website updates to press releases to local and international media," said Mr Crutchley. "In addition, regular updates were available on the CIFSA website on the status of many financial services institutions in the Cayman Islands."

"It was clear to us that we had to react very quickly to maintain the reputation of, not only the financial services industry, but the Cayman Islands as a whole," said Mr Crutchley.

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