Recently-appointed Director of the Secretariat for the Portfolio of Finance and Economics, Joanna Lawrence recently expressed her views on some of the important issues facing the Cayman Islands as a leading offshore centre, according to a Government Information Service (GIS) press release.
"We will need to be proactive. We will need to be policy-minded. We will need to employ creative and strategic thinking, and demonstrate a will to cooperate with, and contribute to, international standards for the delivery of financial services," she said.
Ms Lawrence affirmed her commitment to ensuring the continued growth of Cayman's financial services sector, through strategic policy development and implementation.
"As a jurisdiction, we are constantly working towards finding the right balance between legislative, regulatory and policy matters; that is, between political and commercial success, so as to allow for optimum growth and development, while nurturing our competitive edge."
Three months into her appointment as Director of the Secretariat, Ms Lawrence expressed a clear understanding of the international financial services sector, and the challenges that competing jurisdictions face in this specialised marketplace.
She said, "Businesses will, in a globally shrinking market, continue to look to the bottom line. In business, success still means higher profits, lower costs, and a greater return on investment."
"Particularly, financial services business will patronise those jurisdictions that offer sound and sensible regulation, reasonable cost, solid infrastructure and local government, and a proven reliability in service. Cayman has all of these qualities."
Ms Lawrence anticipated, however, that offshore centres will be tested in the days ahead. "This is a fact of globalisation of the international financial services industry. Also, prosperous offshore financial centres like the Cayman Islands face the additional challenge of countering negative perceptions and disinformation in the mainstream media."
"We are hopeful that our contribution to the integrity of the international financial services sector will convert into a fuller recognition by international standard-setting organisations," she added.
Ms Lawrence succeeded Don Ebanks as Director in January this year. She brings to the position extensive knowledge of the financial services industry, with more than 12 years' experience in the private sector.
She holds a bachelor of law (honours) degree from the University of Liverpool and a postgraduate diploma in legal practice from the College of Law Guildford, UK. Prior to her current appointment, she was employed as an associate with Maples and Calder, specialising in investment fund structures.
The secretariat was initially established to enhance Cayman's capacity to respond to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's 'Harmful Tax Competition Initiative' in 1998.
Its mandate has since evolved to correspond to Cayman's need to effectively position itself in relation to current international initiatives that affect cross-border trade in services, and thus Cayman's economy and financial services sector.