Article by Louise Groom and Marco a Martins, Harneys

The Cayman Islands Ministry of Public Finance has reported that the jurisdiction has retained its very high “Aa3” rating from Moody’s, one of the world’s foremost financial rating agencies. Cayman has held this status non-stop since 2000.

The Moody’s report from December 2013 (available at www.gov.ky) notes that the rating is based on the following Cayman attributes:

A very high per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – the latest figure for which is US$55,075.

A Debt-to-GDP ratio of 22.4% at the end of 2013, which is a comparatively low debt burden viewed against other rated jurisdictions.

A high score for governance indicators along with its political connection to the UK.

A very low susceptibility to Event Risk.

The Minister for Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Marco Archer said: “The Government is very pleased with the high rating for the Cayman Islands being maintained and, equally important as the high rating itself, the outlook for the rating is stable. This should encourage investors to have utmost confidence in the Islands’ future.”

Last year, the OECD/G20 launched an initiative focusing on bilateral agreements for the exchange of tax information on request known as Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAS). Cayman’s response to global tax and transparency matters includes the signing of 33 TIEAs, with negotiations either completed or underway with a further 16 jurisdictions.

In November 2013 Cayman signed a FATCA-style intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the UK, and weeks later became the first Overseas Territory to sign both a FATCA Model 1B intergovernmental agreement (IGA), and a new TIEA to replace the original 2001 agreement, with the US. Earlier in 2013, the jurisdiction also volunteered to join a G5 pilot on multilateral automatic exchange of information.

Harneys has Cayman law experts at the partner and senior associate levels in the Cayman Islands, Latin America, London, Cyprus, Africa and Hong Kong providing direct, time-zone sensitive advice to clients around the globe.

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