Cayman Finance issued the below statement by CEO Steve McIntosh following the conclusion of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) February 2023 Plenary on Friday in Paris, France.

“Although, as expected, no significant change to the Cayman Islands’ status was announced by the FATF at the conclusion of this week’s plenary, the FATF has recognised our significant progress as a jurisdiction.The Cayman Islands are rated as compliant or largely compliant with all 40 of the FATF’s technical recommendations, and 62 out of the 63 Recommended Actions with respect to the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime.

By acknowledging for the first time our progress with respect to prosecutions and convictions the FATF statement suggests that the money laundering cases currently pending sentencing will in due course allow us to satisfy the final Recommended Action with respect to money-laundering sentencings.  On behalf of the Cayman Finance board and members, I thank the Ministry of Financial Services and Commerce for its leadership, and acknowledge the hard work of our authorities and industry in the progress achieved to date.  As a leading international financial centre, the Cayman Islands remains committed to achieving the highest possible level of compliance in the global fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and tax evasion.”