CAYMAN GETS TOP COMMENDATIONS FROM UK PARLIAMENTARIANS

By Staff Writer

A visiting group of British parliamentarians from the House of Commons and the House of Lords has praised Cayman for its robust management of the offshore financial services sector. Their plaudits for the jurisdiction’s regulatory standards challenge what they regard as persistent misconceptions. from some international watchdogs and government institutions.

“There is a very unfair misconception in Britain and other places that financial services regulation here in Cayman is not strict and is not similar to other 21st-century structures in the Western world. And that is not true.”

The visiting team comprised senior UK political figures including Labour Party MP Sarah Champion - who chairs the British Parliament’s International Development Select Committee, Conservative Party member Baroness Laing of Elderslie who sits on the House of Lords Constitutional Committee, and Lord Graham Brady also known officially as Baron Brady of Altrincham - a former MP with the Conservative Party and one of its ‘grandees’ who has also chaired the party’s powerful 1922 internal governance committee.

Also in the delegation were Liberal Democrat(LibDem) MPs, Dr Al Pinkerton who sits on his party’s front bench in the House of Commons and is their spokesman on European matters, and his LibDem colleague, Edward Morello

‘LAZY MISCONCEPTIONS’ REJECTED

Praising Cayman for its efforts to ensure that the locally and globally vital financial services sector remains compliant and a beacon of high standards, Baroness Laing stated: “We can see that this government has taken steps certainly since you introduced the Act in 2020 (PARBO - Public Access to Registers of Beneficial Ownership), and since then to tighten the regulations to make sure that Cayman is a really good place for business to come and for investment.”

As part of their itinerary, the UK representatives had a series of engagements with public and private sector officials including the financial services sector here.

“We can see that the business community, the international financial community, legal firms, accountancy firms, insurance firms, etc., all trust Cayman, and that is the message that should go out. And it’s terribly unfair that there’s a lazy misconception about, I don’t want to use the phrase money laundering, and that’s a lazy misconception. And it’s been really good to see how you have dealt with that,” it was also stated.

NO ‘SCRAPS OF EMPIRE’

During a press briefing another issue came to the fore pertaining to how Cayman and other Overseas Territories are often viewed in a dismissive manner by some in the British establishment

Liberal Democrat MP, Dr Al Pinkerton, recounted an experience shared with him by Baroness Laing, of an encounter she had with a former senior official at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office(FCDO) during a parliamentary committee hearing.

“He described the Overseas Territories as the ‘scraps of Empire’,” Dr Pinkerton, a former professor of geopolitics, reported the official as saying. “He was implying that they were too small and too poor, and without adequate resources to look after themselves. I’m not saying it’s a widely held misconception, but it’s a persistent concept that seems to exist, particularly within our Foreign Office, and the experience that we have had this week fundamentally challenges that in every possible way.”

Further dispelling such negative perceptions, Dr Pinkerton added: “The people that we have met, the Caymanians who are in charge of the different services; from the Coast Guard, the police to financial regulation, to the curators at the National Gallery, are utterly exceptional in every possible way. The sovereign capability that you have here, the people that you have in these positions, are truly world-leading and it’s a wonder. It’s not a surprise to me, but it’s a wonder and a joy to see the professionalism on their behalf.”

GOOD EXAMPLE

The specific example of the Cayman Islands Coast Guard was further highlighted as an example to be emulated elsewhere.

“Commander Scotland and his team are incredibly professional. The equipment that they have is brilliantly maintained. They’re doing an extraordinary service. And frankly, I hold them as a real exemplar…and I think they are indeed influencing what can be done on other islands in the Caribbean as well.”

This other observation attests to Cayman’s efforts to run its own affairs to a high standard.

“ The overwhelming sense I’ve had on this visit is of a greater maturity amongst institutions. There’s been a lot of progress, a degree of self-confidence amongst Caymanians in what you are doing very well for yourselves. I absolutely echo what Al(Pinkerton) says about the quality of the people you’ve got, about that institutional framework. And it goes right the way across from protecting your coast and your border, through to the visit to the National Gallery.”

With Cayman also being praised for its efforts in cultural preservation, there was a commitment from UK Labour Party MP Sarah Champion to ‘champion’ the cause of recognising Little Cayman as a world heritage centre. “It is, without doubt, an outstanding world treasure and needs to be looked after as such,” she said.

STRONG TIES

Welcoming the delegation to the jurisdiction, Hon. Premier Andre Ebanks stated: “It gives me tremendous honour and pleasure to welcome members of the UK Parliament who have expressed a deep interest in learning about Cayman, supporting Cayman, in some cases, returning to Cayman couple of times and being able to work in partnership understand our issues, be supporters and advocates within the UK Parliament.”

Her Excellency, Governor Jane Owen described the visit and the relationship with the UK: “It’s a vision of partnership to see how we go forward from here. It’s an important relationship, one that really works. It’s one that I often refer to as a kind of model of a mature, successful, sophisticated overseas territory partnership, and that’s what we want to continue to enhance as we go forward.”