Hamilton, Bermuda and George Town, Grand Cayman—27 May 2016: Butterfield Group, which comprises full-service community banking and wealth management operations in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, and specialised wealth management and fiduciary services operations in Guernsey, Switzerland, The Bahamas and the UK, has stated that it welcomes proposed changes to the laws governing the disclosure of confidential information in the Cayman Islands.

Earlier this month, the Cayman Islands Government gazetted a bill to repeal the existing, 40-year old Confidential Relationships (Preservation) Law in favour of a new law outlined in the Confidential Information Disclosure Bill, 2016. The latter would see specific criminal penalties for the disclosure of confidential information stricken in favour of the courts assessing liabilities for breaches of confidence under common law and the rules of equity. The proposed law would retain a mechanism for institutions and individuals to seek advance court approval for disclosures, which removes ambiguity around the obligations of foreign companies with Cayman Islands operations to furnish information to their home country regulators (or through those regulator(s) to foreign authorities) when requested to do so.

Michael Collins, Butterfield Group’s Chief Executive Officer, said “The proposed legislation will bring Cayman’s confidentiality laws in line with those of other common law jurisdictions, and will enhance the country’s reputation as a progressive, cooperative and transparent international financial centre. We view the change as an important and positive development for the Cayman banking industry, in which many of the larger players, Butterfield included, have significant operations in other locations and are, therefore, subject to the laws of multiple jurisdictions. Greater alignment of the approach to and mechanisms for the disclosure of confidential information will redound to the benefit of the Cayman Islands, and we welcome the changes proposed.”

The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited (“Butterfield”) is Bermuda’s first and largest independent bank, and a specialist provider of international financial services. The Butterfield Group offers a full range of community banking services in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, encompassing retail and corporate banking and treasury activities. Butterfield also variously provides property lending, private banking, asset management and personal trust services from its headquarters in Bermuda and subsidiary offices in the Cayman Islands, Guernsey and the United Kingdom. In Switzerland and The Bahamas, Butterfield provides personal trust and company services. Butterfield is a publicly traded corporation with shares listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange. Butterfield’s share price is published daily in The Royal Gazette (www.theroyalgazette.com) and is also available on Bloomberg Financial Markets (symbol: NTB BH) and the Bermuda Stock Exchange website (www.bsx.com). Further details on the Butterfield Group can be obtained from our website at: www.butterfieldgroup.com.

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IMAGE: en.wikipedia.org Butterfield Bank in George Town, Grand Cayman