Boris calls for another 60 years of British rule in Cayman
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson at the Cayman Islands Coat of Arms 60th anniversary celebrations in London
(CNS): The dispute between the Cayman Islands and the British government over the potential imposition of a public beneficial ownership register was put aside Monday, when the celebrations in London to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cayman Islands Coat of Arms got underway. However, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson made it clear that the UK was still the final arbiter when he gave remarks at the cocktail party held in Durbar Court at the FCO building in Whitehall and called for Cayman to remain British for another 60 years.
In his brief remarks, Johnson pointed out that the British lion sits underneath the turtle, rope and pineapple on the historic crest, symbolising that the Cayman Islands remains part of the UK, as he called for the islands to remain part of the UK family for many more years to come.
Meanwhile, Premier Alden McLaughlin said that in any family there are disagreements from time to time but stated that it had not shaken the foundation of Cayman as a British Overseas Territory. While he said independence was inevitable, like his death he hoped it wouldn’t happen anytime soon.
However, the issue of the UK imposing a register that will require financial entities domiciled in the Cayman Islands to reveal their beneficial owners on a public platform before it becomes the global standard has done a great deal to shake the foundations. As a result the premier will be meeting with British officials to again try and stop the UK forcing the issue. McLaughlin had requested a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May but it is not clear whether or not that has been granted.
Financial Services Minister Tara Rivers is not in London, but she and her ministry officials are heading to Brussels to deal with the current grey-listing of the Cayman Islands by the European Union, which is calling for the jurisdiction to address questions about the lack of substantive presence for all of the financial entities that are domiciled here.
See video of celebrations produced by the premier’s office below:
Category: Business, Financial Services, Politics
Boris for premier of the Cayman Islands 🙂
Does anyone actually take Boris Johnson seriously, he might as well be the Queen’s court jester at this point
Diogenes
More seriously than you.
Suggestion for the Public Beneficial Owner registry: make it paper based. Every quarter print a new register – one copy. Any “public” who wishes information has to come to The Cayman Islands and read through it in some specific office. Maybe the access time could even be charged for, e.g $1 per minute.
Borris is just what Cayman needs
You can have him.
Sorry bro I live in a proper republic and we don’t have orders from no queen.
Borris would fit in with the rest of Cayman clowns
The Premier’s response should have been ” with the absurd motion, all we will be in sixty years is a broke destroyed British colony but before that happens I will personally ensure that every man woman and child who possess a British/ EU passport converge on t w perdonallthat your government will have to but or I will ensure that all the population who possess a British passport leave Cayman and
Right then, that made sense.
Boris should have said banana instead of pineapple. Pineapples are symbolic of welcome to one and all. Cayman is not very welcoming or accepting these days.
Viva la republica banana!
Maybe it’s because of people like you…
Boris Johnson is a buffoon whose public statements are largely meaningless – and particularly in this context. He probably couldn’t identify Cayman on a globe.
A buffoon he may be, but an educated one. Plus his father was here…so on balance, you are probably wrong.
In which case, he was certainly in good company.
“Anonymous” at 3.59 pm your remark is trashy and contributes nothing intelligent to this debate. He is an extremely intelligent politician who simply has a habit of speaking off the cuff, revealing his personal opinions rather than the party line, much to the annoyance of his cabinet colleagues. That apart, it is very revealing that he and / or the UK govt. would wish to continue running our affairs for us rather than seek to see us develop as a country and claim our independence with pride.
What pride can any right-minded Caymanian take, for another 60 years, in being a citizen of a country that cannot manage it’s own affairs and needs it’s colonial master to run it’s house for him/her?????????? Reminds me of those youngsters who cannot ever leave their parents home because “They just aint ready”.
In view of recent events, it would be safe to conclude that Cayman is incapable of running its own affairs in a professional manner, and needs oversight. In my view, not enough oversight currently from the UK.
Alden McLaughlin should resign immediately from the Office of Premier. This comment may sound politically motivated, but it is not…
CNS: The rest of thsi comment is posted as a featured comment here.
And jolly lucky Cayman is too to be part of such a wonderful nation.
Hip Hip Hoorah, Gin and tonics all round!
UNITY dance troupe in London playing nice with Boris. At this rate Cayman will be lucky to get 60 more months as an offshore financial centre if it’s lucky. The golden goose is being cooked!
but…we dont want it anymore anyway….boris trump
You know that experiment where they put a frog in a pot of water and slowly increase the temperature without the frog noticing?
Utterly apocryphal of course. The frog jumps out when it get too hot.
………….no choice
Not today BOBO…
So how many of Tara’s “officials” are sprouting in Brussels?.
Stop it, we love Brussels Sprouts.
Tara is trying against great odds with a weak team. She needs our support.
She is the weakest link …
How embarassing to send McLaughlin over there. He is way out of his league, and his comments are cringeworthy to say the least. Aughh!
Whats worse, there’s a “Who Gene” sighting – that is infinitely more scary.
You are incredibly ignorant…
Tell Boris to keep his locker closed and his gas trap out of Cayman Islands.
Why is independence “inevitable”????
My exact same thought
11:38am Because children grow up and, whether they are capable or not, they go off on their to live their own lives. Makes any sense?
However, I agree with you!
Sad truth: this “inevitability” will not be based on logic or rational but rather, on emotions. Some countries get the emotions right, some don’t.
As I have said before – Cayman should strive to be independent in order to avoid a former colonial master perpetually deciding your fate to suit themselves. I say “strive” meaning (1) Having a healthy and functional democratic parliamentary system in place, and (2) being able to formulate and manage appropriate budgets without accumulating burdensome debts. In other words, grow up before you leave home!!
Well, that’s 60 years away at least…
Because eventually slaves fight back.
Indeed, but the first step is realizing that they are slaves.
How many signs do you need to see, before you are kicked in the teeth? Where there is no vision the people will perish.
Independence is a state of mind at our stage of development, we already have economic independence .
Actually, the reality is 180′ from your fantasy: we have economic reliance of the worst kind and the outlook is not improving. A few months ago, we were on course to roll almost half of the unsettled debt coming due in 2019. We won’t be able to service the same debt load post-2020, especially if our Aa2 credit rating (which was Aa1 at time of debt issuance) is downgraded many notches down the scale to something like Bahamas’ Baa3 (if we’re lucky). We are one bad move away from a non-investment grade junk rating and default. We can’t even get our government departments to keep proper records of what they are spending (and employees skimming). The UK has us by the short hairs, thanks in large part to the unchecked egos of the members of the Unity team.