CIFSA Welcomes New Cayman Accounting Rules

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

11 April 2007

The Cayman Islands Financial Services Association has heaped praise on the local accounting profession for adopting a new regulatory framework, which is designed to further enhance the quality of the oversight of the financial services sector.

At an official launch of the "New CISPA" (Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants), the local accounting body celebrated a new era of regulatory oversight for the accountancy profession in the Cayman Islands, which aims to raise standards and further increase international confidence in the financial services sector.

The reception, held last month at the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, officially marked the introduction of the Public Accountants Law and its associated regulations, which became effective from January 2nd of this year, and gave the accounting profession's oversight body its new powers.

"The accountancy industry in the Cayman Islands should be recognised as a prime example of an industry regulating itself, rather than a government body," observed Andrew Johnson, director of the Cayman Islands Financial Services Association. "New CISPA will ensure that the highest standards are implemented and practiced in the Cayman Islands," he added.

CISPA is in charge of membership, licensing and disciplinary procedures for all accountants working in the Cayman Islands, and it will be funded by annual fees that must be paid each year by individual accountants. Every practitioner will have to pay a licensing fee of $3,000 each year, although the licensing requirement for practitioners does not become mandatory until the start of January 2008,

Mike Mannisto, partner at Ernst & Young and the new president of CISPA stated that: "The 'New CISPA' has both a tremendous responsibility and a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate that a private sector body can effectively and responsibly regulate itself," adding that "this is an important milestone for enlightened and responsible regulation in the Cayman Islands".

Although the Public Accountants bill officially established CISPA as the representative body for the accounting profession this year, the organisation has in fact been in place since the early 1970s, functioning as a body for the dissemination of information, education, and meetings for the furtherance of the industry in the Cayman Islands. The organisation, with its 850 members, is the largest professional association in the Cayman Islands.

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