The Cayman Islands introduced electronic company registration earlier this year -- in Arabic. The Caribbean jurisdiction's move is a neat illustration of just how far offshore business has come in a few years, from being focused on one small island, to competing for business on a global scale. With billions of dollars of assets under administration in these centres and a growing unease in the global economy, the tougher, more sophisticated regulatory regimes of the leading offshore centres are about to face their greatest test since the post-Enron fallout.
Cayman is -- by far -- the largest funds jurisdiction in the world. The vast majority of the world's hedge funds are domiciled in Grand Cayman. The Cayman-based law firms handle an increasing volume of work from US and UK investors. One of the main trends in the past year in Cayman has been the vast increase in the volume of work. Maples and Calder say its funds work has increased by at least 50% and probably more. Appleby talks about a substantial rise in activity.