Bankers blamed for starting US$ black market

| 30/09/2015 | 72 Comments
Cayman News Service

Standing room only at the meeting hosted by the Jamaican Consulate, 29 Sept 2015

CNS): The local banking system has been blamed for starting the black market for US currency in the Cayman Islands, which is seen as a result of fees being charged to make exchanges and for their reaction to the risk issues associated with money transfer firms. More than 300 people, mostly Jamaicans, spilled out of the town hall in George Town Tuesday at a meeting called by the Jamaican Consulate, where the failure by the bankers association and CIMA to send a representative was seen as an affront by people who had come out to find out what was being done to address their difficulties in transferring cash home.

Roy McTaggart, standing in for Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton, explained to the audience the cause of the problem and said that government was in talks with local banks, the money transfer firms, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA), US banks and other stakeholders to find a permanent long-term solution. However, he said the shortage of US currency on the island was being addressed as the local banks have shipped in more cash.

But the failure of the Cayman Islands Bankers’ Association (CIBA) and the local regulator to show up at the meeting angered the Jamaican residents, who blamed the banks for their decision not to continue doing business with money transfer firms in the first place and then charging non-bank customers as much as $50 to make an exchange, even though the law prevents any currency exchange in Cayman of a local dollar with a US one exceeding 84 local cents.

The CIBA released a statement on Tuesday evening, a few hours ahead of the public meeting, which attracted so many people that many of them had to stand outside by windows in order to listen to what was happening. But the statement was not available to be read to those who had attended.

Cayman News Service

Ministry Counsellor Roy McTaggart talks to the audience at the meeting on remittances

McTaggart told the crowd that the immediate problem of a shortage of cash had been resolved but concerns that the banks are charging for exchange as a result of their increased costs to ship in cash was not addressed.

People were clearly frustrated and bemused by what had happened and were taking the situation as a direct attack on the Jamaican community in Cayman and conspiracy theories were plentiful. But the critical issues that the people complained of were the shortage of cash in the country and the extreme difficulty they were facing sourcing US cash and the additional costs they were incurring to buy those dollars – an issue that the government seems powerless to prevent or even seemed willing to accept was happening.

McTaggart told CNS after the meeting that it was the job of CIMA, the independent regulator, to oversee the banks and ensure they comply with the laws relating to exchange. He and the legal advisor to the ministry, Andre Ebanks, said government could not tell CIMA what to do but could only formulate policy direction.

Admitting that government was reacting to the crisis and did not yet have a solution, they stated that it was working diligently to address the problem and recognized the seriousness of the situation.

Contrary to earlier estimates that local transactions in US dollars before the banking problem emerged was between 40-50%, in reality only around 10% of transfers in Cayman were previously made in US currency, which means that almost overnight there was a  90% increase in demand for US cash.

The decision by local banks to stop taking cash from money transfer businesses crept up on both government and the money transfer firms as they were not expecting the banks here to pull the rug, given that the local transfer business has never given cause for concern. It is well documented that the remittances from here are the legitimate earnings of mostly blue-collar workers, who are sending money home for very ordinary domestic expenditures of the families they have left behind.

Many of those present at the meeting, including the former honorary and current honorary consul representatives, Robert Hamaty and Dr Joe Marzouca, pointed to the decision by the banks to stop doing business with the likes of Moneygram, Quikcash and JN Money Transfer following the closure of Western Union.

Convinced that this was a decision that local banks made without considering its impact, the men said they, too, would continue to talk with the banks as the “commercial decision” was causing a massive problem for all expat workers, which the Cayman economy depends upon very heavily.

At the moment the temporary band-aid solution appears to be the increased importation of physical cash.

In a short statement from the CIBA, which came too late to be read to the concerned audience, the spokesperson said the banks had “adjusted their practices in relation to securing US cash, in order to better service the increased demand that has been caused by the money services businesses’ (MSBs) requirement that customers now use US dollars for remittances.”

The President of the association, Mark McIntyre, said the decision of the money transfer firms to accept US cash had caused some initial disruptions.

“However, now that the banks have made adjustments to their practices, those disruptions largely have been resolved,” he said, but made no mention of the fact that the money transfer firms had no choice but to revert to limiting the service to US cash because the very same banks refuse to bank their CI currency.

McIntyre said local banks were continuing to offer wire transfer services. However, the fee is around $46 per transaction, and with the average remittance from Cayman being just over $300, that service is prohibitively expensive for most workers.

CIMA stated that it was aware that global regulatory bodies, including the World Bank, the Financial Stability Board, and the Financial Action Task Force, had issued statements supporting the need to continue remittance services worldwide and the need for global bodies to provide a clear framework for their legitimate use, but made no comment about the lawfulness or otherwise of the additional fee that banks are adding to currency transactions for people who do not have accounts.

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Comments (72)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    It’s nothing to do with Jeff Webb. It’s all to do with the US Government’s view that cash transfer businesses are used for money laundering and terrorist financing. As a result, they have compelled US Banks to ensure that they do not handle any funds that may have entered the country via the money transfer agencies. As a result the US banks have gone to ALL their correspondent banks overseas and said that they will terminate any relationship with a bank that still accepts business from the money transfer agencies (since some of the money that flows through them might have come from the accounts of a money transfer business). If this happened to any bank in the Cayman Islands, they would have to close their doors very shortly thereafter, as they would effectively be cut off from international banking facilities. Most banks in Cayman closed the accounts of any money transfer agencies several years ago, and, I believe, only one kept taking the (very real) risk. They have now been forced to do the same, following a direct threat to terminate their relationship with their correspondent bank in the USA. It’s not something that the banks in Cayman have any real control over – the ball is firmly in the government’s/ CIMA’s court, and it’s for them to sort out directly with the US authorities.The situation has been brewing for quite some time now, with no action taken to stop it affecting some of the lowest paid people on the island.

    • Judge Watchya says:

      where are you living?the US is a nobody right about now! CIA the creator and funding source for Isis so who are the real terrorists and money laundry mats?the days are gone for looking up to the US there is no more respect nor trust coming from anywhere so careful how you word your phrases we may have to take a break. to vomit!
      FYI
      Russia, China,and lran are in Syria. fighting. lSlS and CIA because this soft president don’t want to send the sissyfied. girl boys of the imasculated military into harms way!so the made man the Russian KGB Chief has got to get the job done in middle East because the US Muslim President don’t want to step on the toes . of his Muslim brotherhood and deal with Assad once and for all!
      understand the picture now?

      Also China Russia Japan and Iran are against the NWO new world order.The Us want to bring Russia . in NWO under them l know Putent wont go for that at all hes . too smart.

    • Woof woof says:

      He like the Councillor attending the Town Hall meeting,; knows not that he knoweth not.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Pretty sure this is related to the Jeff Webb situation….if not then i need somebody to direct me to where in caymans history has something even remotely close to this has happened before in the past….willing to earn…waiting on a response…..

  3. Julie says:

    How can a banking business help you if you do not bank there. Get your documents and open your bank account. Get 2 debit cards and send one home to the receiver. Let them go to an ATM at their convenience.

    • Anonymous says:

      They don’t have conveniences in Jamaica.

      • Devil's Advocate says:

        So not true as JN Money offers this very same convenience to assist with this problem. You can even send money from gas stations(?) and the receiver can collect it from any participating store.

        Stop spreading false propaganda, and no offense. Guest workers in Cayman, you also need to start taking some responsibility for the situation you find yourselves. Help yourselves and stop playing the victim card.

        Boggles my mind how anyone can be working here for 10+ years and not have a bank account. Have you even enquired as to the process or just assumed it is unattainable. If you don’t want to open with one of the usual banks here, what is your excuse for not opening with one of your own Jamaican banks operating here e.g. NCB or JN Money, a fully-owned subsidiary of the Jamaica National Building Society?

  4. James Gunner says:

    It seems like every day that goes by there is more and more resentment and hate towards expats. At first it seemed to be white expats from UK, Canada, etc but the hate seems to have propagated to all races/nationalities.

    It’s a sorry state of affairs that with all of the wealth Cayman has there is no minimum wage. How dare anyone look down on these people when they are the same ones willing to pay $3 an hour for a house cleaner.

    What these people need is a service similar to the startup Regalii which is for expats living in America who want to send money back home. Basically you open an app and you can transfer money back home directly to a grocery store, or to a utility company for your family member.

    It seems like no one who has read this post has thought that maybe the problem is not the lack of bank account in Cayman, but the fact that the family members back home might not have a bank account.

    This hate for immigrants is not only a Cayman problem. It’s the same mentality some Americans, Canadians, Europeans, etc have. Usually this is the minority who are uneducated and have never traveled. It is the same minority who blames others for their hardships, and who expect jobs to be issued to them.

    • Devil's Advocate says:

      Open a legitimate bank account, withdraw the USD funds from an ATM using your debit card, and send home cash per usual via one of the remittance companies still in operation on Island.

      I have lived in 10 countries (including Jamaica, USA, Canada, UK and several European countries) thus far in my life, yes, I am a born Caymanian, and would never dream of not opening a bank account in my temporary home.

      Why are foreign workers so resistant to opening a local bank account?

  5. McCarron McLaughlin says:

    Time for some tough Anittrust laws here in Cayman – the way some of the commercial banks behave is repulsive.

  6. Devil's Advocate says:

    Not sure how anyone could be working in another’s country for several years and it never occurs to them to open a bank account to establish themselves – yes, a bank reference from here can also assist you in your own country should the need ever arise.

    Also, what many do not understand is that when you purchase USD from the bank, they are borrowing some of it from those of us who hold USD accounts. Now when they sell all the USD without withholding some for their legitimate bank customers, how do you think that customer will react when they wish to withdraw some of their saved USD cash from their USD bank account, only to be told, there is none because it was all sold?

    To those of you thinking you need a large cash flow to open a personal bank account, actually you can open it with as little as CI$50/US$50 (revising my earlier statement). I would recommend that you open both a USD and KYD bank accounts and link your debit card only to your KYD account for local expenses.

    All that is required is the completion of the bank’s application form and the provision of the following due diligence to open:

    (i) Photo ID (passport and if you have a driver’s license, take both);
    (ii) proof of home address in the form of a statement e.g. utility/telephone/mobile/cable (the bank’s are aware of your living circumstances, they will make certain concessions); and
    (iii) Two references (employer and/or character).

    Are any of you non-resident workers aware, that with a debit card you can not only withdraw funds, but also deposit funds via the ATM instead of waiting in line?

    So every time you get your partner draw, deposit it into your bank account. When you withdraw USD from the ATM, it will be available as you are pulling from your account and not “buying” currency, which is the present problem.

  7. Anonymous says:

    No show from CIMA and Bankers Association. What a slap in the face for those in the meeting.

    • Anonymous says:

      The people at the meeting to do not appear to be significant profit units particularly when weighted by risk assessment. It is good commercial sense for banks to price many of those complaining out of transactions.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Open a bank account, go home or stop moaning.

  9. Ron says:

    It saddens me how we look down on people and show no gratitude to the Jamaican community that assisted with building of these islands. I would have believed minimally the bankers association and CIMA to address the concerns of these people. $300 maybe a movie night out for you bankers association and CIMA people but to these individuals, it’s a months savings. I am so disappointed on how this whole matter has and is being dealt with.

    Ironically we had two gay attorneys the other day fighting for human rights, where are you now for these people’s rights?

    • Anonymous says:

      Ron, it saddens me to read that you think that these people that built the buildings were not paid. The propagation of your sort of BS is what causes trouble. By the way, for all of those who feel slighted by being in Cayman, there are flights leaving here everyday; catch one. Everyone who is here must know how they got here!!

    • Anonymous says:

      It’s a little know fact that CIMA won’t don’t anything other than quote the laws that are on the books because the Cayman banks dictate to them just what they can and can’t do…..

  10. Anonymous says:

    they wont let you leave with your personal items anymore what makes anybody think you can leave with your money

  11. Anonymous says:

    Frankly it is not even the Jamaicans who have caused this. It is a Caymanian. Your very own born and bred ya Jeff Webb

  12. Anonymous says:

    It is really killing people here that Jamaicans send money home to their families. It seems as if people wanted us to come here work like a slave, spend all our money here while our families back home suffered. I wonder how the Americans and English felt when Caymanians were going overseas to work and sending their pay back to their families in Cayman. The hatred that is being spewed against people who live on chicken back and flour, who clean people’s dirty houses, look after their children, and earn less than 600.00 per month is astounding. I don’t know why I am surprised by these God fearing people. The hate was always there. It is unfortunate that it seems that much of the hate is always directed against one set of people. Amazing

    • Anonymous says:

      Please tell me how to earn $600 in Cayman and still have enough money left over to send funds to family living else where? What we are saying is you can get a bank account and do cheap wire transfers on line. There will be no time wasted standing in lines in banks as one can wire funds to their family back home from their smart phone (which every one has and uses free wifi).

      • Anonymous says:

        and how many people here who are earning 600.00/month own a smart phone? You want to know how to survive on 600/month? Let me give you a quick lesson: first you sleep on the floor of the person who has rented the apartment and you contribute your portion for sleeping on the floor, including light and water. When you get paid each week, you go to Uncle Clem and you buy bulk chicken back and flour, but before that you throw a partner 50/week, that is your savings. And you keep doing that. For the family back home, they eat the same thing, chicken back and flour with bananas, yam, sweet potato and pumpkin. You budget. You don’t go to parties, clubs. You don’t go to the hairdresser every week. You don’t drive an expensive car. You save any little extra that you get and you survive. Jamaicans and frankly early Caymanians have been doing this for years. Surviving on little to ensure that the future is looked after. You ask me how a Jamaican survives on 600/month, easy. You live within your means and you don’t borrow.

        • Anonymous says:

          Smart phones are available at under $50 at mobile phone retailers on-island. Not every buys the big “name brand” phones.

        • SwampCrab says:

          yes, and when you go out to every bar and club its full of drunk Jamaicans full of gold jewelry, texting on smart phones, showing off money, obviously not living how you describe…

      • Anonymous says:

        Ignorance knows no bounds.

        Clearly you are one of the fortunate ones who has no way to really relate. Just a few Cayman dollars might not get you much in Cayman, but it will get you a heck of a lot in Jamaica (1 Caymanian dollar is roughly 145 Jamaican). And for poor families in Jamaica struggling to feed and clothe their children a few of our Caymanian dollars buy a lot in Jamaica.

        And I just don’t get how anybody can begrudge anyone sending a bit of saved money home to their families. You’re not telling me that nobody else does it, because Caymanians in the UK send money home to their families in Cayman just as Jamaicans in Cayman send money home to theirs. Its such a stupid point to make. All those on work permits spend money in Cayman’s regular economy on food, living expenses, traveling too and from work, and all as a result of this also pay taxes to the CIG. There is absolutely no logical reason why they cannot, or should not, send their hard earned saving to help support members of their own family at home.

        I have no doubt you have a bank account in Cayman, and know that to open one is far from a straightforward or easy process given KYC/due diligence requirements. Not everyone has the luxury of a bank account, or computers and cellphones to conduct internet banking. Not everyone is as fortunate as you.

        • Knot S Smart says:

          But every Jamaican I have seen in Cayman have at least one Digicel and one Lime Iphone…

        • Anonymous says:

          The message was a bit garbled by the original poster, but the reality is in this day and age you can not support a cash based society. They really do need to open a bank account. There are online options, most banks have computers in their banking halls available to customers, if you’ve got 30 mins to stand in line for cash, then another wait at JN, you can instead do an online wire.

      • Anonymous says:

        Have anyone ever noticed how some Caymanians drive the newest and the best car (of course with bank loan) and the house they live in is pop down. In Jamaica we do it the other way around. We first own the place where we will lay our head and if any change is left back we buy an old car.

        After years have passed and we save up some money. We buy a car. Please note majority of Jamaican build their house. So we owe banks nothing.

        I suggest you take a page out of the Jamaicans book.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Please note that if previously only 10% of transfers used USD and now 100% do then that reflects a ten-fold or 1000% increase in demand not 90%.

  14. PPM Distress Signal says:

    CIMA & PPM simply don’t have a clue??? can’t make it any clearer than that, as for the Minister of financial services not showing up. It wouldn’t have made a difference any how. What has he really done for Cayman besides join Alden and signing away Cayman financial industry to their UK bosses and their EU partners. A lot of you are blaming Jeff Webb but this handing over of our rights and excepting privileges started a long time ago.

  15. Anonymous says:

    You live in Cayman, you work in Cayman, you have a passport. All the prerequisites required to open a Bank account. These money transfer places are easy targets for transferring illegal gains off island, how can anyone be allowed to present a wad of cash and not be asked and have source of funds evident before simply transferring the funds off island? Sure they claim the do,and have limits for people but a person can easily use different transfer agencies which I am sure is not sharing the names and amount of funds they are transferring for a particular person. If you earn a salary, you should be required to have a legitimate bank account. My suggestion, open an account like the majority of us and close these places down for good!

    • Anonymous says:

      You are so thoughtless of others

      • Anonymous says:

        Does a work permit application not ask for bank account details? Pretty sure it does. Just saying…

        • Anonymous says:

          No it doesn’t

          • Anonymous says:

            But it should.

            • Anonymous says:

              Have you tried to open a Cayman account as a non-resident without out significant capital?

              • Devil's Advocate says:

                Yes, you can open personal bank accounts with as little as CI$200/US$200. I would recommend that you open both a USD and KYD bank accounts and link your debit card only to your KYD account for local expenses.

                All that is required is the bank application form and the following due diligence to open:

                (i) Photo ID (passport and if you have a driver’s license, take both);
                (ii) proof of home address in the form of a statement e.g. utility/telephone/mobile/cable (the bank’s are aware of your living circumstances, they will make certain concessions); and
                (iii) Two references (employer and/or character).

                Are any of you non-resident workers aware, that with a debit card you can not only withdraw funds, but also deposit funds via the ATM instead of waiting in line?

                So every time you get your partner draw, deposit it into your bank account. When you withdraw USD from the ATM, it will be available as you are pulling from your account and not “buying” currency, which is the present problem.

        • Anonymous says:

          No it doesn’t. You open your bank account after you have obtained your work permit.

    • Knot S Smart says:

      Exactly…

    • Anonymous says:

      It appears however that the wads of US dollars now being collected by the money transfer places is being accepted by US banks in the US without any questions being asked of the money transfer places regarding the source of those funds. How this is different from our local banks accepting deposits of CI dollars from remittances sent via the money transfer companies? Must be good business for the security firm/s taking these wads of physical cash back to the USA!

  16. Anonymous says:

    “It is well documented that the remittances from here are the legitimate earnings of mostly blue-collar workers, who are sending money home for very ordinary domestic expenditures of the families they have left behind.”

    Well documented?? I think not. I pay my helper in cash weekly with no documentation and she has always used money transfer services to send money back home regularly. Most of these businesses have no clue where the cash they accept comes from which is one reason it is so risky for big banks to facilitate the transfers.

    Look what happened to Caledonian when the SEC reportedly overreacted to their discrepancy. I sure don’t want my bank to be shut down because they facilitated the transfer of dirty money. I’d like to keep full access to the full amount I have deposited there (albeit a small sum).

    If every cent of the 180 million dollars transferred was honest earnings of blue-collar workers I’d be mighty surprised. I suspect money transfers were the way to pay for some of these bales that wash up on our shores…

    I hope they find a solution but you don’t have to look too hard to see why the banks have chosen to do what they have done.

  17. Knot S Smart says:

    If Caymanians want to transfer money then they have to set up a Bank account and go through the procedures to prove that the funds are legitimate…
    Why wont Jamaicans just do the same thing?
    Why do they always have to protest everything?…
    Listen folks – you are in Cayman – do as the Caymanians do…
    And keep blood-clot quiet – because you are lucky to be here…

    • Anonymous says:

      Selfish remark

    • SSM345 says:

      Most Jamaicans here don’t have family working in the bank to open accounts for them. Most Jamaicans don’t have the required paperwork needed to open an account or their cousins opening the account for them. Most Jamaicans in Cayman just want to feed their families by sending some cash home. Most Jamaicans are not employed according to the labor law and so cannot provide the necessary paperwork that most Caymanians bypass because their cousins work in the bank. Capiche?

      • Knot S Smart says:

        You seem to know very little about opening an account. Cousins or their family members cannot open a bank account for anyone except themselves… If they are not employed according to the labor law then they are breaking the law and need to send themselves home… Or in your case ‘send yourself’ home…

        • Anonymous says:

          Correction – employers are the ones breaking the Labor Law. The people they employ contrary to the Labor law are just being exploited plain and simple because those unscrupulous employers know how desperate they for work and a means of supporting their families and trying to better their lives.

    • Ghetto Yute says:

      Hello “Knot S Smart” asinine person and those of you who are of like mind. It seems that your stupidity, idiocy and callousness knows no bounds. Your play on words in your name is in sync with your thinking. Quite to the contrary, YOU and CAYMAN are lucky that Expats of all nationalities are here to help these Islands to flourish. If only the likes of you could extricate yourself Cayman would be unstoppable in its growth and unification of all nationalities for one common purpose.

      People build a nation. Treat people with respect, assure them stability/certainty and provide opportunity for all whose skills are needed. Try to understand the dynamics of a situation before you start speaking garbage. Rest assured that unlike you, Jamaicans can leave Cayman and work anywhere in the world because of their work ethic. Though some are admittedly misguided in behaviour, generally a Jamaican understands what it means to work hard with his head held up high no matter the task and no matter the complexity. If Cayman crumbles today you will be left here to do what, as you say, “Caymanians do” and the expat Jamaican will move on to other places quite easily because he is employable, desireable, adaptable and resourceful.

      In reference to your “And keep blood-clot quiet”. What are you trying to say. Please do not write things which you are unable to reflect correctly and do not have a clue as to what is the meaning or origin behind it. Again, your STUPIDITY is on full display.

      • Knot S Smart says:

        Stop the squealing ghetto yute! The rock that I threw in the pig pen was quite simply inscribed: “open a Bank account like everybody else and that ends your money transfer crisis”.
        Is it possible for you to be that ‘dense’ that you cannot understand that this issue is not caused by the Banks, or the Webb guy or the Cayman Government?
        Global financial requirements and the implementation of FATCA require extensive reporting on financial transactions and if the Cayman Banks and Institutions do not comply then they will be shut off from international transactions.
        The Banks closed the money transfer services accounts because their Due Diligence and Compliance Procedures were inadequate.
        The current US Cash crisis in Cayman is caused by a few money transfer companies continuing to operate and requiring payment by US cash. This is causing a drain on US Dollars which now have to be imported by the Banks and the costs of this is being passed to those who want to buy US cash.
        To solve the problem one simply has to open a Bank Account and provide the required account information.
        Instead you and people like you are causing a big ruckus (as you do wherever you go) by refusing to do what other the expatriates and locals do.

        The reality is that the Cayman Islands Government had better quickly shut down the remaining money transfer businesses (if they are not in Compliance with International Requirements) or we will all be shut down…

        So ghetto yute – head on over to the nearest Bank, provide information on the source of your funds and stop ‘Hall a Hunna’ futtering…

        • Ghetto Yute says:

          Knot S Smart, your HIGNORANCE continues to consume your simple and factless mind. Go get some HEDUCATION and acquire some HUNDERSTANDING about an issue which clearly is beyond your intellectual capacity to think, digest and analyse. After you have done that, perhaps you can then offer something of value to this discourse.

          • Knot S Smart says:

            Your assumption of my educational level is based on your own lack of education and intelligence… Therefore you are seeing me through your own limited capacity… Not that it matters…
            Remember to take your Himployer letter to the Bank when Hopening your Haccount…

        • jean says:

          its not just about having a bank account here. you would need one in jamacia also to wire money to a bank. so its not as easy as people seem to beleive.

    • Anonymous says:

      Very multicultural approach

    • Anonymous says:

      I am sorry but in my entire life and travels I have never met anyone nation of people who complain more than Caymanians do.

      • Anonymous says:

        Don’t be sorry! Its true. Its called “entitlement”. It is the Cayman disease. It will eventually kill Cayman, however they haven’t worked it out yet, so don’t tell them and we can have this place all to ourselves….

    • Robert Young says:

      whats a blood -clot \? rass

  18. Anonymous says:

    Incompetence of this nature in the 5th largest financial centre in the world should result in some heads rolling at CIMA for failing to see this coming or act on it and to any bank that exploited it. Just plain criminal.

  19. Anonymous. says:

    Wow!, whenever I transfer money I use the banks and yep I have had to pay transfer fees. everything comes with a price. However the banks are really scandalous. I have bank accounts and now I have to pay 3:00 dlrs to transfer from one account to another within the same bank.These banks are like a run away transfer and they are all in collusion and are inventing every means possible to stick it to us. Years ago the big question mark was about the quantity of U S dlrs on island now they are importing it. Another problem is the inability to ship out Cayman dlrs but I do not understand why it is a problem now, it has always been like that.

  20. Anonymous says:

    Fall out from the Jeff Webb debacle!! …. or just a coincidence in the timing? Me thinks not!

  21. Anonymous says:

    I really wished I cared about this, but I just don’t.

  22. KN says:

    Caymanians take a look very closely. Now, can you tell the difference between these people and us?
    Collectively standing up regardless of indifferences/ silly spats this is what our proud foolish assxs should have been doing a long time ago.. Hopefully we are slowly learning our lessons now and praying it’s not too late! Yes way off this subject but needed to be pointed out.

  23. Anonymous says:

    Simple solution – go back to Jamaica. Sorry but you’re not going to get any sympathy from me over this when these people are sending $millions out of the country every year. It’s long overdue for some sort of realistic tax or tariff to be attached to these transactions.

    • Cash Money says:

      Person at 11:53am God gave you a brain to think. So please think and not spew your nonsensical thoughts on an issue which you seem to lack the capacity to understand. If all expats were to leave, not even God would be able to save your beloved Cayman. Why should people spend and invest in any meaningful way when they have no guarantees that they will be around to enjoy the fruits of their labour. These people work hard to earn THEIR money. They have a right to send it where they choose. Careful how you Tax because the Tax will comeback to hurt the very person who is calling on it to be imposed on others. It is all about the greed of big business which cares about itself and not YOU or Cayman. When they destroy Cayman, YOU and not me will be here to pick up any pieces that can be found. So friend, careful what you wish for. Your country is playing a very dangerous, insensitive and thoughtless game. A failure to restore things to how they were will be at Cayman’s possible peril.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes they send off money, but they also spend money.

    • SSM345 says:

      11:53, are you related to Jeff Webb?

    • Garfield says:

      No, the simple solution is to adopt the U.S. dollar as our currency as so many of our neighbours have done.

  24. Anonymous says:

    CIMA doesn’t really have any expertise to regulate banks. It just goes through the motions. All that is needed is an order to the banks to sell US dollars for CI dollars at 0.84. It isn’t rocket science. Physical US dollars pour into Cayman everyday from tourists. (And the CI dollars you get in change and bring home aren’t generally convertible.)

  25. Midnight Train says:

    Thanks Jeff

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