Members of the government and the private sector paid tribute to Sir Vassel Johnson, a pioneer of Cayman’s financial services industry, who died Wednesday evening at the age of 86.
Sir Vassel, who became the only Caymanian ever knighted in 1994, served as the Cayman Islands financial secretary from 1965 through 1982 and then as an Executive Council member from 1984 through 1988. In his government roles, Sir Vassel was a driving force in shaping the Cayman Islands financial services industry.
Governor Stuart Jack issued a tribute to Sir Vassel last Thursday.
“As one of the architects of modern Cayman, especially the financial industry, Sir Vassel guided the steady growth of these Islands as the first financial secretary,” Mr. Jack said. “His remarkable vision set the foundation for the prosperity and economic stability of these islands.
“Without his input, Cayman might well have remained the islands that time forgot.”
Mr. Johnson’s passing comes just weeks after the death of Warren Conolly, another significant contributor to the development of the Cayman Islands.
Born in Jamaica in 1922, Sir Vassel moved with his parents and siblings to Cuba at the age of four and they came to Grand Cayman in 1934.
In addition to serving as the Cayman Islands’ first financial secretary, a position originally designated as treasurer, Sir Vassel also served from 1971 through 1982 as Cayman’s first chairman of the Cayman Islands Currency Board, the predecessor of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.
Sir Vassel also served as a director or CIMA from its inception in 1997 through 2000. CIMA Managing Director Cindy Scotland said Mr. Johnson made a significant contribution to the Cayman Islands and to CIMA.
“It was also wonderful for me personally to have had the opportunity to work early in my career with someone of his calibre,” she said.
The private sector also gave tribute to Sir Vassel last week. The Cayman Islands Financial Services Association called him one of the founding fathers of the financial services sector in the Cayman Islands.
“In his role as the country’s first financial secretary, Sir Vassel charted the course that led the Cayman Islands to establish itself as an important financial centre,” CIFSA stated in a press release. “A man of great integrity and strong values, Sir Vassel never forgot his humble roots in Jamaica and Cuba. His appreciation of Cayman and his adopted country motivated him to take up public service as a way to give back to it.”
Attorney and former CIMA Chairman Tim Ridley said the passing of Sir Vassel was a very sad day for the Cayman Islands.
“He can justly be considered the most important founding grandfather and father of the financial services industry, so we all owe him a huge debt of gratitude,” he said. “It was not only through his foresight and vision that the Cayman Islands became one of the most pre–eminent offshore financial centres, but also through his calm and effective leadership that it became a reality.”
Mr. Ridley also spoke about Sir Vassel’s character.
“He was a quiet, courteous, thoughtful, methodical and tenacious man of the highest integrity,” he said.
“It was a great honour to have known and worked with him during the time he was financial secretary and subsequently an elected member of Executive Council.”
A hall at the University College of the Cayman Islands is named after Sir Vassel, as is Fidelity’s main banking hall. Sir Vassel joined Fidelity’s board of directors in 1983, when the bank was known as First Home Savings. He served as an active member of that board for 22 years and remained a director emeritus afterwards.
Prior to be knighted by Her Majesty the Queen in a ceremony in front of the Legislative Assembly Building in February, 1994, Mr. Johnson was awarded an OBE in 1970 and an MBE in 1980.
Sir Vassel also authored two books, The Cayman Islands Economic and Financial Review and As I See It: How Cayman became a Leading Financial Centre.