(Grand Cayman, Tuesday, 1 March 2011) The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) has further reinforced its commitment to international cooperation by signing its 19th Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), this time with neighbour, the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The MOU for the exchange of information and investigative assistance between CIMA and the Turks and Caicos Financial Services
Commission (TCI FSC) was signed on 25 February 2011 and formalises cooperation between the two Caribbean authorities, which
had been informally occurring otherwise.
TCI FSC Managing Director, Mr. Kevin Higgins, who signed on behalf of the Turks and Caicos Islands, said he welcomed the
development: “The FSC looks forward to working more closely with one of the premier regulatory agencies in the Caribbean.”
Also present at the signing were CIMA’s Managing Director, Mrs. Cindy Scotland; Deputy Managing Director - General Counsel, Mr.
Langston Sibblies, QC, and Legal Counsel, Mrs. Sandra Edun-Watler.
Echoing the sentiments of her TCI counterpart, Mrs. Scotland shared, "We are pleased to formalise methodologies of cooperation
that has existed between CIMA and the Turks and Caicos Islands. We see this MOU as reinforcing our strong international
cooperation regime and further demonstrating our commitment in this area."
The MOU is similar to the other 18 agreements in place between CIMA and overseas financial regulators. It outlines the types of
assistance that can be requested and given by CIMA and the TCI FSC. This includes:
- providing, confirming or verifying information;
- obtaining specified information and documents from other parties;
- discussing issues of mutual interest;
- arranging and/or conducting inspections of financial services providers, and
- permitting representatives of the requesting authority to participate in enquiries by or on behalf of the requested authority.
The MOU also outlines the procedure each regulator will use for making requests and how requests will be assessed to determine if
the required assistance can be given.
The TCI FSC was established in 2001 as an independent statutory body responsible for the supervision of the Islands’ financial
services sector and is also responsible for the oversight of company formation and registration. Like CIMA, the Commission is a
member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force; International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), and Offshore Group
of Insurance Supervisors (OGIS).
CIMA has MOUs and other information-exchange agreements with financial regulators in Argentina, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, the
Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jersey, Malta, Panama, the U.K and several within the U.S.A., as well as with the International Organization of
Securities Commissions (IOSCO). There is also a multi-lateral MOU with eight Caribbean regulators. The agreements can be viewed
in the External Cooperation and Assessments / International Co-operation section of CIMA's website: International Agreements.