Although the government has responded to the UK House of Commons Treasury Committee’s request for written evidence on the Financial Services sector via the Portfolio of Finance & Economics, the private sector also decided to collate and submit a report via the Cayman Islands Financial Services Association (CIFSA). In addition, Maples and Calder have also submitted their own report, according to Charles Jennings, a joint worldwide managing partner for Maples and Calder.
Meeting the deadline, which was Thursday 19 June, all three reports gave information relating to the committee’s request explaining the role of offshore financial centres and their importance to worldwide financial markets.West Bay MLA and member of the opposition United Democratic Party, Rolston Anglin, told CNS that he was happy the private sector had also submitted a report as he was not completely convinced that Cabinet Ministers were fully aware of the importance of this request, the opportunity it presented or what was actually being submitted to the UK. “When I questioned the Financial Secretary and the Ministers in Finance Committee no one could tell us on the day before the deadline what was happening. My line of questioning revealed that the government was unaware of what had been submitted and by whom and that the private sector was submitting its own report,” he said. “While the government is jumping up and saying it is well engaged with the private sector, this, in my opinion, is a clear indication that there is a lack of confidence in government, and the private sector chose to go it alone with its own submission.”
CIFSA Chairman Eduardo Silva, said in a CIFSA statement that, as a not-for-profit body comprising all of the key sectors of the country’s financial services industry, it was well placed to provide information to the UK Treasury Committee on the nature and role of offshore centres, with a focus on the Cayman Islands. Given the potential importance of the inquiry by the UK Treasury Committee, CIFSA recognised this as a good opportunity to get Cayman’s message out and was keen to participate when it became aware of the invitation to the public for written evidence.“Inaccurate information is one of the issues we have successfully addressed, and this unique opportunity to participate at the data collection stage of such an initiative was one that we felt should be taken,” said Bryan Hunter, one of the CIFSA Directors with responsibility for arranging the CIFSA response.CIFSA said its submission addressed a wide range of issues that were all guided by a list of specific questions set out by the UK Treasury Committee in its invitation for information. Some of the areas covered by the CIFSA response were: information on the anti-terrorism regulatory framework of offshore centres, the level of cooperation on taxation matters, and the level of adherence to global regulatory standards, among others.
The UK Treasury Committee announced its decision at the end of April to seek information about the role of offshore financial centres (OFCs) in global financial markets from the centres themselves. The committee said it was keen to hear from the OFCs regarding issues of transparency, how much complex financial instruments rely on OFCs, to what extent have OFCs have protected themselves from terrorist financing, and how much investigation is carried out in OFCs of businesses and individuals that appear to be evading UK taxation. “CIFSA generally welcomes further research into the role of offshore centres in the global financial markets because it improves understanding of the important role of jurisdictions like the Cayman Islands,” added Silva.