Cayman: Publicly accessible CIMA database of directors still a long way off

From IFC Review

The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) is still some way from creating an accessible database identifying the fund boards on which directors sit on, reports COOConnect.

The recently enacted Directors Registration and Licensing Law requires certain directors of Cayman Islands domiciled mutual funds and hedge funds to register with CIMA by the end of 2014. Many experts in the industry had predicted this initiative would prove to be a precursor to a public database which would list the boards on which directors sat.

While it is believed the database will become searchable in due course, guidance presently on the CIMA website points out directors are protected by confidentiality provisions contained within Cayman law. This stipulates that details on directors supplied to CIMA be protected from Freedom of Information requests. A search of CIMA’s website will reveal only a director’s name, the type of registration and license they hold, the registration or license number and the dates on which these were issued.

“The registration and licensing of directors is another step albeit a small one towards further enhancing Cayman’s reputation for best practice and good governance,” said Sean Scott, partner at Harneys, an offshore law firm.

Directors of mutual funds will also be subjected to CIMA inspections and expected to adhere to the Statement of Guidance issued by CIMA in January 2014. The guidance for regulated mutual funds outlined the minimum standards it expected from mutual fund board directors, including independence, the necessary skill-sets, engagement with service providers and disclosure of any conflicts of interest.

“The rules should help bolster the standards of governance in the Cayman Islands, which is something institutional investors have been calling for over the last few years since the financial crisis,” said Mike Parton, a Cayman Islands-based director at KB Associates, the boutique hedge fund consultancy.

Investor awareness of corporate governance has risen since the financial crisis with 71 per cent of respondents telling a Carne Group survey in October 2013 that it had become a more important issue over the last four years. Eighty-three per-cent of investors said they would like fund boards to be comprised of a majority of independent directors and 62 per cent stated it was essential to have an independent chairman to mitigate the risk of conflicts of interest and misdemeanours at the fund level.

In terms of corporate governance shortcomings, lack of independence and experience were cited as investors’ biggest concerns in the Carne Group study, with a number of respondents wanting directors to have greater expertise in risk management as opposed to a legal background. A study by CIMA in conjunction with Ernst & Young (EY) revealed just 11 per cent felt corporate governance was fit for purpose and no single investor rated hedge fund governance standards as being outstanding. Seventy-one per-cent said major improvements needed to be made.

Ignoring these problems is not an option for managers. A Deutsche Bank study of operational due diligence executives at institutional investors with US$2.13 trillion in assets highlighted a quarter had vetoed an investment because of governance concerns while 34 per cent acknowledged they would devote more resources to this area. CIMA is unlikely though to impose hard and fast caps on directorships, a move that would have been welcomed by some institutional investors. Caps would ramp up the price for managers at a time when the fund management industry is already grappling with mounting costs.

“It is very easy to oversimplify some of the arguments in favour of increased regulation of fiduciaries but the reality is that investor demand is what will drive change in fiduciary services. All directors, not just those who are now subject to registration, are subject to fiduciary duties and duties of care and skill derived from English law. They ultimately will be held to account on that basis. Admittedly, there are different models for delivery of fiduciary services but that is true across the financial services sector generally. Larger providers have simply institutionalised their business but they all have a place and all directors have the same duties and responsibilities in Cayman,” said Scott.

For more on this story go to: http://www.ifcreview.com/viewnews.aspx?articleId=8022

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Mum of murdered Keith Murrain flies murdered son’s body home from Jamaica

By Mike Lockley From Birmingham Mail

Pensioner Josephine Murrain, overcome with grief, will sign documents paving the way for the body of son Keith Murrain to be returned to the UK

Keith Murrain was murdered in Jamaica

The mother of a Birmingham businessman kidnapped and brutally murdered in Jamaica is to fly out to the Caribbean tomorrow – to help bring her son home.

Pensioner Josephine Murrain, overcome with grief, will sign documents paving the way for the body of son Keith Murrain to be returned to the UK.

Keith was abducted at gunpoint from a hire car shortly after flying into Kingston’s Norman Manley Airport last Friday.

The 54-year-old’s throat was slit and he was buried in a sugarcane field close to Spanish Town. The father-of-three’s body was found in the shallow grave on Saturday.

Speaking from her Aston home distraught Josephine said: “He was the best son any mother could have. I just hope they catch the people who did this before The Lord takes me home.

“When I heard the news, I crossed my fingers and prayed it wasn’t true. When I found out it was, I had to prise the fingers apart.”

The 73-year-old, born in Montserrat, added: “Of all my six children, he was the most intelligent one.

“I have to be strong for him because he would be strong for me, but it is hard. I just want him back.”

“The word ‘evil’ is too nice for the people who did this. They are scum, scum of the earth.”

Mr Murrain, boss of a firm that exports engineering parts, was snatched by three men as he relieved himself by the side of a remote road outside Portmore. The driver was pistol-whipped.

The former Prince Albert Junior School and Great Barr Comprehensive pupil’s murder has rocked Birmingham’s Afro-Caribbean community.

Mr Murrain was a frequent visitor to Jamaica and had a home in the exclusive, gated Caribbean Estates Community.

Police have yet to make arrests, but say they have a number of “strong leads”.

A spokesman for the Jamaican Police Force said last night that no arrests have been made and the investigation is on-going.

For more on this story go to: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/mum-murdered-birmingham-dad-keith-7374851

Here are the leading causes of death in 1900 compared to 2010

By Pamela Engel From Business Insider

While Americans have mostly conquered many of the diseases that used to kill thousands in the early 1900s, one disease in particular kills a lot more people today than it did a century ago.

Michigan State University research assistant Randy Olson has made a chart that compares common causes of death in 1900 to common causes of death today.

Cancer is now a leading cause of death in the U.S. In 1900, because of the lack of medical technology, it accounted for only a small portion of reported deaths.

Different versions of this chart have been published since the New England Journal of Medicine data was released in 2012, but this chart more clearly shows the broad differences in deaths from that time period compared to now.

As you can see, deaths from infectious diseases have gone way down compared to 1900, while the proportion of people dying from cancer has tripled:

See attached “Causes of death chart”

Modern medicine has allowed doctors to more effectively treat many diseases that might have caused people to die in the early 20th century — hence the discrepancy in total deaths tallied. But recognizing cancer, in particular, has become a lot more common during the past century and it isn’t as easily treatable.

A 2006 study published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences found that certain types of cancer — including skin, prostate, and breast cancer — are occurring more frequently in men and women. Changes in “exposure to risk factors such as sun or smoking, changes in how we classify cancer or the introduction of new screening or diagnostic tests” could affect this, according to the study.

One bright note: Cancer mortality rates started decreasing in 1991.

Heart disease accounted for a large portion of deaths in 1900, and that’s still the case today. Overall, though, life spans are increasing.

For more on this story go to: http://www.businessinsider.com/leading-causes-of-death-in-1900-and-today-2014-6#ixzz364YeQ7gy