OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In this ^A.M.BestTV episode from the Cayman Captive Forum 2017, held in George Town, Grand Cayman, attendees said although the recent leaks of files from offshore service providers—the so-called Paradise Papers—reveal individuals and organizations seeking to minimize tax liabilities, they show little if any actual wrongdoing. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=imac21117 to view the entire program.

“They are pretty bland. They just show connections between people. … The challenge has been that the press has then used this to ring the bell of, ‘tax avoidance, tax avoidance.’ Actually, no one has done anything wrong. No one has broken any laws, apart from maybe the hacker.”

“The Paradise Papers are a result of a hack or a leak into a major law firm,” said Paul Owens, chief executive officer, global captive practice, Willis Towers Watson. “They are pretty bland. They just show connections between people. … The challenge has been that the press has then used this to ring the bell of, ‘tax avoidance, tax avoidance.’ Actually, no one has done anything wrong. No one has broken any laws, apart from maybe the hacker.”

Roy McTaggart, minister, finance & economic development, Cayman Islands, stressed the British overseas territory’s compliance with global regulatory standards. “The Cayman Islands’ government does not support, nor promote secrecy, in its financial services industry, and there is no welcome mat here for criminal activity. Criminals will find no haven on these shores because of strong legislative and regulatory frameworks, which are based on British common law and our strong history of adhering to international standards.”

Adrian Lynch, managing director at Aon Cayman, said he viewed the situation as “trial by media.”

“We are talking about legitimate tax efficiency planning—tax avoidance—which is perfectly legal but to the average blue collar worker, it is perceived as a bad thing: ‘It is bad to have money. It is bad to be engaging in any kind of tax efficiency practices.’ I think that is a very unfair position to be putting on people.”

For full video coverage of the Cayman Captive Forum, including exclusive executive interviews, visitwww.ambest.tv/imac17.

Other people that appear in this episode:

• Anne Marie Towle, executive vice president, JLT.

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