Cayman Islands Government : Cayman Confirmed to Key Global Forum Position; Does Well in Ratings

In addition to receiving a high ranking for its legislative and regulatory framework, the Cayman Islands has been confirmed as one of the vice chairs of the Peer Review Group, and retained its position on the Steering Group, of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

‘This confirmation recognises the dedication and value that Cayman has brought to the Global Forum over these past few years’, said Minister for Financial Services Wayne Panton. ‘While this will mean more responsibility, it demonstrates that our engagement, commitment and hard work are acknowledged’.

The positions were confirmed as part of the periodic rotation of membership in the forum’s Steering Group and Peer Review Group. The rotation will become effective on 1 January 2014.

Cayman also has been rated ‘largely compliant’ following the Global Forum’s peer review and rating process. The ratings were based on the forum’s Phase 1 assessments of member countries’ legal and regulatory frameworks, and Phase 2 assessments of their practical implementation of the global standard for tax information exchange.

Other countries in the largely compliant category include the Bahamas, Bermuda, Germany, Italy, Jersey, Singapore, the UK and the US.

For the ratings process, the Global Forum assigned compliant, largely compliant, partially compliant, or non-compliant ratings to 10 individual elements. In addition, an overall rating was given. Cayman’s received eight compliant ratings, and two largely compliant ratings, on the individual elements.

In all, the Global Forum published the ratings of 50 jurisdictions at its 6th Plenary Meeting in Jakarta on 22 November 2013. The overall rating for 18 jurisdictions was compliant; 26, largely compliant; two, partially compliant; and four, non-compliant.

‘I am very pleased with Cayman’s rating, and with our participation in the Global Forum’, Minister Panton said. ‘The overall results of the Peer Review ratings demonstrate that the forum is ensuring proper adherence to the international standard on exchange of information for tax purposes, based an objective and robust peer review mechanism’.

The Global Forum’s membership comprises 121 countries. According to its release, work began on rating the members’ exchange of information framework once a representative sample of peer review reports had completed.

Also at the Jakarta meeting, the Global Forum established an Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) Group, open to all interested members, to prepare the move towards AEOI implementation. Italy was elected chair of this group, and Cayman is a member.

Furthermore, members examined the Global Forum’s terms of reference, in order to take account of recent developments in transparency, including in relation to beneficial ownership.

For more information on the ratings, visit http://ow.ly/raMCy.

For more information, please contact the Financial Services Secretariat at (345) 945-5819 or via email at [email protected].

Related story:

Cayman tops regional investment survey

26 November 2013 · (George Town, Grand Cayman) Following close on the heels of the recent HSBC Expat Explorer, The Banker rankings, and Knight Frank surveys that all put Cayman in the lead over its competitors, a recently published survey by the Foreign Direct Investment magazine, fDi Intelligence, rates Cayman among the best places in the region for investment.

In the magazine, which is produced by the Financial Times, Cayman was awarded fourth place overall when it came to the best Caribbean and Central American Country of the Future for 2013/14, beaten only by Costa Rica, which gained first place, Panama (second), and the Dominican Republic (third).  Cayman came first in the category of best economic potential out of 29 countries.

In addition, Cayman ranked sixth for best labour environment, ninth when it came to which jurisdiction was the most business friendly and tenth for having the best FDI Strategy.

Cayman Finance CEO Gonzalo Jalles said Cayman was clearly now an obvious leader among competitor offshore jurisdictions.

“The increased frequency with which the Cayman Islands is now appearing at the top of international surveys indicates it has finally gained the global recognition it so richly deserves,” he said. “Cayman’s proficiency in meeting and often exceeding global standards of professionalism, its welcoming business infrastructure, and its friendly and hospitable working environment have all contributed to the phenomenal success of the jurisdiction.  We are very pleased that fDi Intelligence has recognized this.”

To assemble data for its survey, the fDi Intelligence division of the Financial Times collected data using the specialist online FDI tools fDi Benchmark and fDi Markets, as well as other sources.  Data was collected for 29 countries under five categories: Economic Potential, Labour Environment, Cost Effectiveness, Infrastructure, and Business Friendliness.