Cayman Islands' Banking Association Reports Financial Sector Growth

by Mandy Robinson, Tax-news.com, London

24 May 2001

The Cayman Islands Bankers Association (CIBA) has presented an update of policies implemented over the past year to promote the country's fiscal and legislative well-being to the Institute of International Bankers

Tthe presentation began with the listing of several vital pieces of legislative change which were enacted last year in response to the FATF report which had labelled the Cayman Islands as one of fifteen 'non-cooperative jurisdictions in the fight against money-laundering.'

Through the new regulations, financial institutions operating in the Caymans are now required to implement 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) rules and employees have undergone training programmes to ensure they are up to speed on maintaining the necessary records and procedures.

With regard to the country's financial sector performance, CIBA reported that the number of 'active' banking and trust company licences at the end of last year rose to 580 (compared to 570 in 1998-1999). Of the top 50 banks in the jurisdiction, 43 had maintained their licenses.

CIBA confirmed that at the end of 2000, Cayman was maintaining its position as the second most popular offshore mutual fund jurisdiction with total assets valued at US$210 billion from 3,014 regulated funds.

At the end of 2000 the total number of insurance licenses stood at 673. Cayman's captive insurance industry continues to be one of the fastest growing despite increased competition from other domiciles and the continuing soft insurance market. During 2000, the Cayman Islands maintained its position as the second largest captive insurance domicile in the world with an increase to 517 companies writing over US$3.3 bn in premiums and reporting total assets in excess of US$14.8 billion. Captives emanating from the USA increased slightly to 84%, followed by decreases for the Caribbean and Latin America region (4.8%) and Europe (3.8%).'

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