Remarks For EU-OCTA Forum

Many thanks for this opportunity to provide some input from a Cayman Islands perspective on the topic of future relations between Overseas Territories and the EU. There have been many interesting ideas and points of discussion brought forward that I believe we should carefully consider.

I know it’s been said at various points over the past two days, but the world is facing unprecedented circumstances – particularly in terms of the global economic situation and as evidenced by the many social problems facing today’s global society.

The Cayman Islands, while a resilient, dynamic small Island economy, is certainly not immune to some of these challenges and we are working steadily to address our near-term and future concerns.

In terms of one of our main economic pillars, the financial service sector, our overall goal for the future is to take the Cayman Islands to another level. To do that, we are putting resources into looking at ways to stimulate growth in this industry in ways that benefit market participants and our country.

For the Cayman Islands Government, this means working diligently to ensure that we continue to drive awareness and meet international standards on governance, regulation and supervision. And in that regard, we continue to develop our legislative framework through upgrades and improvements to existing laws, facilitating ease of business and investment in Cayman.

The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority’s admittance to the International Organisation of Securities Commissions in June 2009 as a full member, in addition to the solid follow up review by the International Monetary Fund of our regulatory regime, published in late 2009 are evidence of our achievements in this regard.

One of the key features of our industry is that we have been able to respond to market conditions quickly and efficiently and the current global economic situation is providing several opportunities for us to determine how we can remain innovative and competitive in the global financial services marketplace.

Relationships with our international counterparts are strengthening. Our international cooperation regime is better than ever before. We have also demonstrated our commitment to improving channels of communication in the global tax arena by signing 14 tax information exchange agreements, and we are in the process of negotiating and advancing 16 others.

We are active participants in the OECD Global Forum, as members of the Steering Group and by providing input into the recently announced peer review programme.

Not only have we been part of the process in identifying the methodologies and terms of reference for this review and will be part of the assessment team, but we are also in the first group of countries to undergo a peer review evaluation, which we are in the throes of completing this week. This high level of commitment is not without cost, especially for a small island economy. As with several other British OTs, budgetary challenges are of key concern to Cayman.

In terms of our partnership with the EU, many have already touched on the points that are top of mind for Cayman. Recognition of our regimes, regulations and legislation to help market access and capital flows is important, particularly in a highly competitive marketplace.

Capacity remains a very real issue in Cayman. We wish more emphasis on finding ways to streamline technical assistance, tendering and contracting procedures and to be sympathetic about delays in implementation faced because of lack of capacity.

As part of this, we see the need for greater mutual understanding and would encourage consideration for more opportunities for interaction, using technology where possible to minimise cost, and agreeing to concrete outcomes that we can work towards.

Thank you.