Not surprisingly, the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have agreed with their brothers, the National Crime Agency (NCA), that it was “asking for information we don’t get” from the Cayman Islands.

The NCA has launched investigations into British-based lawyers and accountants suspected of facilitating money laundering. A number of its investigations have led it to offshore firms registered in the Cayman Islands.

Donald Toon, director of the NCA, revealed the Cayman Islands authorities had not co-operated when he had asked for information on who owned these firms. He said usually when his officers asked British Overseas Territories for help “we can generally get from them clear, unambiguous beneficial ownership information but we are having a difficulty with Cayman”.

In reply Cayman’s premier, Alden McLaughlin, said, “there is absolutely no merit to Mr. Toon’s allegation. His complaint is a gross misrepresentation of a single situation and is no basis on which to accuse the Cayman Islands of being uncooperative.”

The FCO said, the Cayman Islands Government’s decision to switch the point of contact for the NCA from the RCIPS Financial Crimes Unit to the Financial Reporting Authority of the Cayman Islands has undermined the ability of investigators to get immediate information needed for important crime cases because of the limited hours of operation.

McLaughlin’s reply was swift. He said in a Press Release, “At the core of the current dispute with the FCO are fundamental issues of data security and human rights, specifically the right to privacy. Cayman has on several occasions offered case law examples to support our point of view. The FCO has never provided any counterpoints, choosing instead to dismiss Cayman’s concerns without explanation. This attitude is alarming as a recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights found that British surveillance violated privacy rights – an indication that the UK’s interpretation of human rights protection is not infallible. The FCO, since November 2016, had chosen to dismiss Cayman’s concerns relating to a fundamental principle of data security, specifically encryption, in relation to the exchange of information for an active investigation. Eventually, in July 2018, the FCO conceded that Cayman’s concerns, in this regard, were well founded. But other concerns remain.”

He also said, “…it is disingenuous for the FCO to say that the Cayman Islands is not cooperating with the UK with regards to investigating serious crimes.”

“At the core of the current dispute with the FCO are fundamental issues of data security and human rights, specifically the right to privacy. Cayman has on several occasions offered case law examples to support our point of view. The FCO has never provided any counterpoints, choosing instead to dismiss Cayman’s concerns without explanation. “

I fully can understand McLaughlin’s point of view and his reported comment, “The Cayman Islands stands by its commitment to cooperation with all international law enforcement, including the NCA, but will not be bullied into the violation of fundamental principles of human rights or to cooperating in a way that runs counter to internationally accepted standards.”

However, the odds are weighed considerably against him.

The FCO have stated the Cayman Islands remains the only British Overseas Territories that has taken action to pull out of its agreement with the UK over exchanging beneficial ownership information. Any support we might have, and I doubt it is as big as our premier thinks it is, is likely to evaporate at his stance.

Though little boy David took on the giant Goliath, David had God on his side.

I fear God might not be too interested in this battle.

Mammoth Mother can crush our champion with hardly a blink. Then we would lose everything.

I fear McLaughlin needs to be a lot more conciliatory.