Cayman Receives Favourable Rating From Moody's

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

12 September 2002

Moody's Investors Service has awarded the Cayman Islands an Aa3 foreign currency ceiling in its annual report, it emerged this week.

In a statement following the release of 'The Cayman Islands: Global Credit Research', Moody's announced that the outlook for the jurisdiction is stable despite recent global economic uncertainty, thanks in large part to its diverse offshore financial services industry.

'Although tourism has yet to fully recover, the ratings are also supported by relatively high income levels, a prudent economic policy framework, and a favoourable external debt position,' Moody's Vice President, Thomas Byrne observed.

He explained that: 'The prudent fiscal policy stance is reflected in low and manageable levels of debt. Fiscal capacity, however, remains constrained by a limited revenue base, which stems from the jurisdiction's tax regime.'

Mr Byrne, who authored the report, went on to praise the government of the Cayman Islands for responding promptly to concerns on money laundering vulnerability and tax information sharing issues expressed by international bodies such as the OECD and the FATF, arguing that:

'The government's cooperation with these organizations has reduced reputation risk that could otherwise arise.'

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