Cayman Leader Hits Out At UK Over Eurobank Trial, Savings Tax Agreement

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

12 February 2003

Speaking last week, Caymanian Leader of Government Business, Hon McKeeva Bush stated that: 'The United Kingdom is hell-bent on destroying the financial industry of these islands because we are in competition with them.'

Referring at a recent UDP public meeting to the involvement of the UK authorities in the collapse of the Eurobank money laundering trial, and Governor Bruce Dinwiddy's subsequent statement on the matter, Mr Bush called again for the resignation of Attorney General, David Ballantyne and for the extradition of former Financial Reporting Unit head, Brian Gibbs back to the Cayman Islands to face criminal prosecution for his role in the collapse of the trial.

'The Attorney General initiated the case (Eurobank); he was the person responsible for oversight of the case, had appeared personally in the case, and had accepted responsibility for the FRU headed by Gibbs.'

'Gibbs said he acted with the knowledge and consent of the Attorney General; that he (Gibbs) employed informants from within the financial industry in contravention of the confidentiality laws of the Cayman Islands and had 'sent that information on to the UK agency which forms part of MI6...The AG failed to uphold justice and we can no longer hold any trust in him and should not be expected to do otherwise.'

Speaking with regard to the EU Savings Tax Directive, which affects the jurisdiction as a result of its relationship with the United Kingdom, the Leader of Government Business revealed that:

'They (the UK government) are pushing on us the European Savings Tax Initiative by the 7th of March and we have said, with the backing of the financial industry, that we do not intend to agree, and we have now set about and gotten constitutional lawyers, but we must do all we can to put our case forward. We will go to court; we will go to the United Nations if necessary.'

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