Pensions in the Cayman Islands have been a thorny subject and the National Pensions Office (NPO) has been under fire for seemingly not doing enough diligence to protect employees.

However, they now have jumped to action and have released a public advisory announcing they have issued a cease & desist order against BAF Cayman Pension Plan.

The NPO have said BAF has not undertaken the necessary remedial action to bring the plan into compliance with the Pensions Law and Regulations.

The Public Advisory that was released last Monday (10) and can be read in its entirety in today’s iNews Cayman – see “NPU Cease & Desist Order against BAF Cayman Pension Plan”.

Mario Ebanks, Acting Superintendent of Pensions said a detailed action plan was agreed back in October 2009 with BAF but several important requirements have still not been met well over four years later.

The cease and desist order comes into effect alongside ongoing remedial compliance work. It means that BAF Pension Plan must cease all marketing, business development and new pensions clients enrolments until the fund is brought into strict compliance with the National Pension Law and Regulations

BAF Chairman Harvey Stephenson said in reply through a release that he wishes “to apologize for any inconvenience. We can assure the public that we are working assiduously with the NPO to address the issues. We are at the advanced stage and are confident that  we will be operating at full capacity within short order.”

He also pointed out that “The assets of the plan are held in Trust, with a CIMA licensed Trustee, and as such, existing pensions clients can be assured that their pensions are secure. We emphasise, that the action by the NPO relates to acquiring new pension clients and does not adversely impact any of our current clients.”

The National Pensions Law prescribes penalties for the failure by affected parties to comply with an Order of the Superintendent, ranging from a fine of $5000 on conviction to the dismissal of the administrator.

The BAF Cayman Pension Plan is the successor to the plan administered by the British American Insurance Company Limited (BAICO) and was replaced in 2009.