Chairman of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) Tim Ridley is calling on the local financial industry to send professional representatives to international financial forums.
Mr Ridley' remarks come on the heels of Cayman Islands'participation in the OffshoreAlert 5th Financial Due Diligence Conference in Miami from 24-25 April.
The CIMA Chairman, who was part of the Caymanian delegation at the conference, received numerous accolades for his presentation.
"e must be willing to debate and rebut the inaccurate perception of offshore financial centres that still prevails in many places by explaining the high standards now in place and by demonstrating the critical role such centres play in global finance,"he said.
He emphasized the importance of the financial services sector to the local economy and added that he believed that perceptions were changing for the better.
"Recent comments in leading and respected publications such as The Economist and The Financial Times encourage me that the true position is now being understood. But constant reinforcement and engagement by both the private sector and Government is essential," he said.
Over 30 delegates attended from the Cayman Islands as well as those who took part in key panel discussions and debates, alongside hundreds of delegates from other offshore and onshore financial centres.
The two-day conference focused on the myriad issues surrounding financial crime, security, regulation and compliance.
Focusing on the discussion surrounding the publication of "Tax Haven Abuses: The Enablers, The Tools & Secrecy" by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Mr Ridley was able to raise crucial issues about Cayman's outstanding regulatory and compliance standards during the presentation.
Stuart Sybersma, a Partner with Deloitte & Touche, participated in a panel discussion on Hedge Funds.
Peter Broadhurst, a specialist financial lawyer, worked with a panel advising on the recovery of proceeds of crime and Nancy Saur of Bodden Compliance Services Ltd, moderated a panel of experts on the topic "Know Your Client Databases."
Beyond the specific commitment of each of the expert's contribution to the important exchange of information in their specialist areas, they acted as ambassadors for Cayman at this leading international event and helped in the campaign to address misconceptions about the jurisdiction.
The experts were able to focus on the high level of due diligence, which is a prominent feature of Cayman's offshore sector and one that the Cayman Islands Financial Services Association (CIFSA) has been working hard to promote.
Mr Sybersma said the panel he worked on was able to highlight the effective and appropriate regulatory approach to hedge funds here and added that Caymanian representation at such events was very important.
"Attendance ensures accurate information is presented with respect to the offshore environment and helps to dispel or prevent the spread of incorrect perceptions," he said.
Mr Broadhurst, who took part in an extensive session that looked at the issues surrounding asset recovery strategies, said he believed the conference was a great success and felt that open discussion surrounding financial crime is crucial.
"There appears to be momentum building for this type of candid exchange of information. Overall I thought it was very well done." he said. "So much of the offshore world has links to Cayman and the country needs to indicate what it is doing to prevent financial crime and money laundering. As it was, Cayman's contribution was very much in the forefront."
Ms Saur described the conference as topical and providing good interaction and learning opportunities.
"Several of the panels were particularly interesting as they gave attendees an opportunity to understand the uniqueness of a number of the jurisdictions with which they might not be doing business, but with which they can take comfort in such jurisdictions' anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist framework," she said.
She emphasised the ambassadorial role Cayman's delegates had and said they were all contributing towards spreading the word about the quality of Cayman's compliance. Ms Saur said the quality of this countries contribution was significant in winning hearts and minds.
"The quality of presentations made the questions our representatives asked or answered, and the discussions during networking events demonstrated some of the benefits of doing business in and with financial institutions in the Cayman Islands," she said.
"During a particularly contentious discussion near the end of the conference, it almost seemed that attendees from the US began to rally around jurisdictions which may not always be viewed most positively by the US government. Little by little we appear to be making a positive impact."
CIFSA offered its congratulations to all the delegates who represented the jurisdiction at the OffshoreAlert conference.
Eduardo D'Angelo P. Silva, CIFSA Director, said raising the profile of our compliance and regulatory standards, as well as emphasizing the importance of our jurisdiction's contribution to the global economy is the fundamental role of CIFSA.
"Events such as this conference present an ideal opportunity to present our industry here in Cayman in an open and positive manner," Mr Silva said.
"Getting the message out about what we do and how we do it will further the success of the financial services industry here and all those who took part in the Offshore Alert conference, did this jurisdiction proud."
CIFSA supported the conference by becoming a sponsoring organisation.