1. Transparency Initiatives in the
Cayman Islands
Mr. Dax Basdeo, PhD Chief Officer
Ministry for Financial Services
Cayman Islands Government
20th June 2016
2. Overview
• Transparency – Principles vs. Mechanisms
• Principles
– Adequacy
– Accuracy
– Timeliness
• Mechanisms
– Issues for debate and discussion
3. Cayman’s Commitments
• 36 TIEAs
• Multilateral Convention on Mutual
Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters
• US FATCA
• UK FATCA
• OECD’s Common Reporting Standard
• EOI for Beneficial Ownership with the UK*
• Initiative for Automatic EOI for BO
4. Beneficial Ownership
Transparency
• FATF 24: Countries should ensure that there is
adequate, accurate and timely information on the
beneficial ownership and control of legal persons
that can be obtained or accessed in a timely
fashion by competent authorities
• G20: improve implementation, including
availability and exchange
• “[A public] registry itself is not a solution if it is
not properly fed with information” – Pascal Saint-
Amans
5. Cayman Model for BO EOI
TCSP
LCA FCA
FCA
FCA
FCA
LCA
LCA
LCA
Legal Entity Gov’t Register
Competent Authorities
- Tax
- Regulatory
- Law Enforcement
- Fin. Intelligence Unit
Local Foreign
Trust and Corp
Services
Providers
6. BO EOI - Adequacy
TCSP
LCA FCA
FCA
FCA
FCA
LCA
LCA
LCA
• Basic info, BO info
• Types of entities
• Exemptions
• Threshold for disclosure
Cayman:
• Retrospective due diligence
• 10% vs. 25% Int’l Standard
• Abolished bearer shares
8. BO EOI – Timeliness
TCSP
LCA FCA
FCA
FCA
FCA
LCA
LCA
LCAtimely updating
• disclosure rules
• turnaround time
• on request; automatic; spontaneous
Cayman:
• Confidential Information Disclosure Law
• Tightening eligible introducer regime – 1 week
• Electronic reporting platform – < 24hrs
9. Need for further debate…
• Privacy vs. Secrecy
– Cultural acceptance
– Personal security
– Fair Treatment
• Due Process
• Speed of change
– Inclusiveness vs. exclusiveness
– Uniformity
• Data security