CIMA Welcomes IMF Report On Cayman Islands

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

31 March 2005

The Board of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has welcomed the conclusions of the recently published report by the International Monetary Fund concerning the regulatory progress made by the jurisdiction.

"There are a number of issues arising out of the Report which should be addressed,” noted Managing Director Cindy Scotland following a review of the report by CIMA’s board.

“We will be discussing these with Government and industry in order to determine the best way forward,” she added.

The on-site assessment was carried out during a two-week mission from 29 September to 10 October 2003. The assessment evaluated the Cayman Islands against Basel Committee, International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards.

In the executive summary of the two-volume report the assessment team noted that: “An extensive program of legislative, rule and guideline development has introduced an increasingly effective system of regulation, both formalising earlier practices and introducing enhanced procedures.”

However, certain questions have been raised by IOSCO concerning the regulatory regime in the Cayman Islands and CIMA’s senior management recently met with the organisation's representatives in Europe to discuss these issues, particularly those relating to cross-border exchange of information.

CIMA has also announced that its review of domestic insurance industry practices post Hurricane Ivan is well underway and will be submitted to Cabinet at the end of April 2005. The Authority continues to monitor the financial position of local insurers.

“The Authority is committed to a regulatory regime which ensures the continued success and enhances the reputation of Cayman’s financial industry,” Mrs Scotland remarked.

“We will achieve this by working together with Government and the private sector and by improving overseas understanding of the quality of the regime,” she added.

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