UK MPs double down on demand for public registers
Andrew Mitchell MP
(CNS): The leaders of the British Overseas Territories impacted by the UK parliament’s vote in April to impose public ownership registers are currently in London, battling to reverse the decision and, in Cayman’s case, attempting to change the constitution. However, the British MPs behind the move doubled down this week. Andrew Mitchell, the Conservative MP who pushed for the amendment to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill that led to the row between the UK and the BOTs, remains unsympathetic.
He told the British newspaper, The Guardian, “The overseas territories share our queen, they travel under our flag and they must also share our values.” He said that he and Dame Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP who was part of the cross-bench campaign, will not drop it. The next step, they say, is to include the Crown Dependencies.
The controversial amendment did not extend to those jurisdictions because they have more complex constitutional relationships with Britain and there is no precedent for the UK government to legislate for them. This angered Cayman’s premier, Alden McLaughlin, and the other BOT leaders even further because of the obvious inequity. But Hodge and Mitchell say they want them included somehow.
“What we plan to do now is to go to the Isle of Man for talks there and then possibly to Guernsey and Jersey,” Mitchell has said. “The intention is that we will try to persuade them of the wisdom of copying what Britain and the Overseas Territories have done and what most of Europe is going to do.”
Dame Margaret said no British territories should be allowed to continue financial services business without a publicly accessible list of beneficial ownership.
“All territories associated with Britain ought to be governed to the same standards and with the same transparency,” she added. “The purpose of this measure is to tackle all dirty money entering through any British territories. You cannot leave a few out.”
Meanwhile, McLaughlin has been in London this week attended meetings on an array of subjects with fellow BOT leaders and British officials. Topics include hurricane preparedness, Brexit, the beneficial ownership register issue and constitutional reform.
Category: Business, Financial Services, Politics
This whole conversation is very depressing. I am a UK national currently working on the Islands, and where I work my colleagues are 100% Caymanians. I have never been treated with such friendliness anywhere around the world. It’s an honour and a privilege to be here, and I sure my colleagues don’t view me with any hostility or falsehood. To see a debate filled with such animosity and nastiness is a great shame.
My views
The UK has a confused understanding of what it’s trying ti do with this legislation but it’s approaching it from a good moral viewpoint. Don’t cherry pick the quotes for those supporting the measures.
The UK should have treated the OTs as partners and made the case to their people. I would expect Mitchell and Hodge to be on the radio here doing just that. It diminishes their case that they didn’t do that.
Mitchell’s comments are entirely for a UK audience. He didn’t even think about how they would be received elsewhere. That’s the measure of the man.
I hope the Cayman Islands feels it gets a good deal from its relationship with the UK as I love the place and I’m proud it wants to be in our now very small family. But that’s up to Caymanians to work out. I do note how many Caymanians also have UK citizenship – and how many have worked and lived in the UK with enjoyment.
The Islands, like all of the former Empire, helped Britain when we “stood alone”. I hope we never forget that, whatever they decide to do.
Finally, we all have different opinions and that’s good. But can we respect each other and get along please.
Mr. Premier it may be worth bringing the two detractors and movers of the motion down here for a little “sunshine”. Give them a tour of our operations and let them see that we are world class and that we are indeed in the sun, and also have an open book to doing such business!
My only question to Mitchell and Hodge is how is the “transparent” beneficial ownership registry currently working out for Britain?
Anyone with half a brain knows that is a complete joke and is there for show only because it is so fraught with erroneous information I would seriously question its use for anything.
As for “sharing Britain’s values”, could Mitchell and Hodge elaborate on what those “values” are because it always seems that depending on the situation, sometimes OTs are to be recognized as OTs when it comes to imposing certain things and other times we are the unwanted stepchild if it means benefitting us in some way.
Is it illegal or infers something nefarious to not have a beneficial ownership register? If not then why impose it? (ignoring the cockamamie nonsense about following their values)
Because British MPs know that this is a way to harm the Cayman Islands, slow down their financial sector, which is in direct competition with London.
We’re not in direct competition with London. On the contrary, we are vital to London (as is the BVI) as a place to incorporate companies and trusts that facilitate the flow of capital around the world. Unfortunately that’s exactly the problem these MPs are aiming at. They think our capital pooling and distribution function allows dirty money to be ‘washed’ simply by its being invested into our companies and trusts and then invested onshore.
The difficulty is we don’t even really know the extent to which this is true. Who decides which money is good or bad? We don’t control who invests; we just set up the entities, manage their existence, and wind them down in due course. What these MPs want to do is have the media dig through it all, like they did with the Panama and Paradise papers, find the apparently bad apples, and create a shit storm that undoes all the work we have done over the past 25 years to clean up our own act and image.
Right now, the words “A Cayman Islands Company” are expected to be seen on the front page of just about every hedge fund prospectus and the sophisticated investors know how our companies fit into the global picture. The MPs seem to want to besmirch this name, forcing both good and bad money away from us as managers and investors decide, thanks to the media, that there is too much ‘reputation risk’ using Cayman anymore.
The problem for the MPs is, if somewhere doesn’t do what we do in this globalised world where money wants to make more money, somewhere else will do it, much worse than we do, and the UK will have no control over it. We are in fact already woven into the fabric of the global financial system, probably inextricably. The fundamental ‘problem’ they are really attacking is some people having lots of money…it’s Corbyn’s Labour. So they will ultimately fail in achieving their true goal of relieving themselves of the frustrating truth that some people are very rich and they are not.
In my opinion, as we are being lectured about sharing British values, we should do a register just like theirs, and let them dare to be even more hypocritical than they already are and tell us we have to do better still.
No government with a majority in Parliament (except one led by Corbyn of course) would have passed this Act or would dare to say that we have not complied with it after doing exactly what they themselves have done to comply with the EU requirements on the same issue. So we need to be doing two things: 1) preparing this register to their standard, and 2) watching their politics closely. Fighting words are fine as an opening stance, but then we need to get smart and give them exactly what they think is good enough for them and nothing more. The storm will blow away, bad money will be rooted out, good money (the vast majority of it) will remain, as will our financial services industry. Sure, we’ll take a hit, but The Firm, the dot-com bubble, Ivan, and the Great Recession have come and gone and we’re still here. Andrew Mitchell and Margaret Hodge haven’t got a chance.
So much talk of this being about tax evasion and money laundering etc but just ‘how’ does a public register improve things over a well-regulated, private one that law enforcers and tax authorities have access to?
Make no mistake, this is about large, poorly run economies manipulating their public to ‘hunt down’ lawful and legitimate businesses that operate intelligent, legal tax structures so that more tax can be declared in their own countries. I believe it’s called starting a witch hunt.
Because sunlight is the best disinfectant. Do you think the the corrupt regimes of poor nations or even rich ones allow the state machines they control to investigate their activities? No! It was private journalism that showed the horrors of what was in the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers and will show what is in the audit papers coming out shortly too.
In fact, a little sunlight is a good thing but lots causes cancer. The public are not nuanced. Just by having a Cayman company, organisations will be unjustly judged as avoiding tax. It will damage legitimate business. It’s the equivalent of nuking a city to deal with the criminal minority. We have one of the best registers of anywhere and the right people (law enforcement and tax authorities) have access to it based on need. All this will do is damage the legitimate whilst causing a resurgence in places like Panama.
So what if they go to Panama? It gets the tax dodgers off the books the UK. The UK has had enough of allowing such immoral activity on its territory. That is a fair choice for the UK to make.
I really don’t think you can read. Legitimate business will go to places like Panama too, along with the work permit fees etc that pay for our healthcare etc
UK MPs double down on demand for public registers – Cayman News Service
Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell told the British newspaper, The Guardian, “The overseas territories share our queen, they travel under our flag and they must also share our values.” He said that he and Dame Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP who was part of the cross-bench campaign, will not drop it. The next step, they say, is to include the Crown Dependencies.
Dame Margaret said no British territories should be allowed to continue financial services business without a publicly accessible list of beneficial ownership.
“All territories associated with Britain ought to be governed to the same standards and with the same transparency,” she added. “The purpose of this measure is to tackle all dirty money entering through any British territories. You cannot leave a few out.”
The relevant question, from the colonial point-of-view, the elephant in the room, is our future constitutional status. We, the colonies, not only have to stomach Orders-in-Council, but more importantly are without democratic representation in London and are therefore second-class citizens.
I suggest that the Cayman Islands demand all the rights that we are not afforded, such as the National Health Service and all the social services and unemployment benefits that full UK citizens are entitled to.
Then you’d have to pay for them. Duh.
And taxes?
When you become a colony let us know. And if you want access to NHS etc… we want the right to come to Cayman and settle without the bullshit, the same as you have in the UK.
Oh and by the way, we only insist you have a job, pay your taxes, be a good citizen, contribute to society and fill out the paperwork when required, (unlike the Windrush 1st and 2nd generations).
If you want to pay tax directly to the UK Treasury, sure, take what you think you’re entitled to. But whilst the UK taxpayer pays for your defence, diplomacy, loan guarantees, membership of G7, NATO etc, etc……… for nothing in return, stop whining about equality you ingrate.
3:41 you know that the fish of the sea will dry up and the U.K. will be beset by continuos hailstone before the likes of you will be allowed to settle in this ya land. We will fight ya with every breadfruit available and will bring out our secret weapons known to those of olden days and passed on to a chosen few; that will ensure if you land ya won’t stay long. Oh and dat is no threat brethren, so don’t think ya gonna get the chance to sue me. Hahahah. We rule these waves. Selah.
Nothing in return except a place for thousands of you to make thousands if not hundreds of thousands if not (for a lucky few) millions a year that you reinvest into the UK, mainly third rate secretaries and second rate lawyers and accountants and other professionals. I think we’re pretty even actually considering none of those things you listed are accessible to us in a usable or even informative way. Never seen the UK conduct any diplomacy for us that we asked it to conduct, nor defend us from any military threat, nor pay an actual penny on that loan guarantee (which we had to force the UK to accept it had even given by virtue of the relationship). We could go independent and gain most of that automatically as it comes with part of the club of sovereign states. Stop whining about how great paddlebording and brunch were yesterday you ingrate.
You fool, you obviously don’t know your way around the world outside of your crab bucket.
You would never get loan guarantees the like you have now because you simply don’t have a credit rating nor the reserves to guarantee them yourself.
You couldn’t afford a part time military or self defence force, or intelligence service.
You’ve obviously forgotten the loss of Caymanian/Jamaican and British seaman who died defending the Caribbean against the Nazi Navy and her U Boats.
You seriously believe that past military threats to these islands weren’t deterred by a UK presence?
You have no diplomatic corps or anyone qualified in international diplomacy and couldn’t afford embassies and consulates around the world in any case.
You have no seat at the top table of the UN.
You’ve never seen international diplomacy conducted on your behalf because most diplomacy goes on behind closed doors. It’s called diplomacy for a reason.
You cannot belong to G7 because you’re not an industrial country.
You don’t have enough third or fourth rate professionals to man your own financial and offshore legal industries, which btw bring millions to your exchequer.
You couldn’t afford the airfare to the Brac if our work permits and labour didn’t support your economy.
You can’t even afford your next deficit payment due next year, oh dear, how will that work out?
Your national airline runs at a loss.
Your police service is seriously underfunded.
Your Customs and Immigration departments go from one scandal to another.
Your education system is at breaking point and your children inadequately educated.
Your social fabric is breaking down as uneducated citizens turn to crime, drink, drugs and other forms of unsociable behaviour.
Your mental health system if failing the same people.
You have no social care or benefit system worthy of note.
Your political system is rigged for a self entitled few.
If you went independent the world would watch whilst Jamaican drug lords and their Caymanian stooges take control of your wannabe gangsters and their pathetic turf wars. The property market would collapse as would the financial services industry because with inevitable political instability the money will move to safer jurisdictions. And as in Jamaica, tourism would be reduced as crime rose.
Why do you think the most successful offshore jurisdictions are BOT’s or Crown Dependancy’s?
Nothing comes automatically, only chaos if you don’t have the internal security, state infrastructure and finances to support yourself. You are delusional if you seriously believe you will get some kind of free pass from any club of sovereign states, especially when that club is run by the world richest nations, the UK being one of them.
We have a right to self-determination confirmed by the UN and long recognised by the UK. We can keep all of that stuff you just listed as long as we like. So what’s your point?
Oh and I was educated in three G7 countries, which I bet is more than you. Just because you are from one of them (known for its ordinary citizens not bothering to travel further than other countries in Western Europe – I’m assuming you are British, and, from your tone, probably English), and then moved here doesn’t make you anything other than an economic migrant. You will note there are no Caymanians running to the UK for a better life. I happen to know that Cayman was considered and in many ways still is considered an elephant’s graveyard for barristers, and for solicitors at least a career choice that is either informed by, at most, fair to poor prospects of professional advancement, and/or lifestyle preferences. Accountancy works differently, of course – even less dignified. They put you on a plane 100 at a time and send you all over the world to sit at different desks and do the same thing. You guys really are arrogant and it is no wonder there is no social cohesion here. We have an invasive species on the island and you sound like a perfect example.
You are a fool! Cayman’s credit rating has nothing to do with the UK. Cayman’s bonds are not backed by the UK either. So the reputation we have in the global financial arena is because of CAYMAN alone. No one especially not the UK helped us get here. You need to have a read of the CIG bond prospectus and you will realize it is all on us.
Alan Milgate, as Chair of STEP Cayman Islands, or any of the other 230 members that can read, should explain to our negotiators the difference between a PSC register and a UBO register. Thanks.
poor choice of representative…how about with integrity
Andrew Mitchell – Plebgate. Says it all.
Andrew Mitchell represents the very worst of the British establishment and the so called political elite.
As for dirty money …. the British government has made London a playground for Russian oligarchs and their tainted assets.
@2:32 Not to mention the “dirty money” of slavery and sugar from the Caribbean, “ole” hypocrites. The only issue here is ignorance by a miserable old man who needs a cause to feel worthwhile. I can think of even more colorful words but this forum is not for that type of language.
And where does the money from London end up, oh yea, here.
Shouldn’t politicians be more worried about healthcare insurance for the poor, jobs, safety ?
Or are these few of the one percent really that important ?
Admit it, the Cayman islands is still the place to hide and wash your money.
What a stupid, ignorant comment. Run along troll.
Stupid comment.
So it’s OK for registered companies in Cayman to shunt money around the globe under a veil of secrecy no matter who the owners are? Money laundering has evolved since the days suitcases full of it used to be met at the airport and taken to banks by a “finder”. Now the same thing is done electronically by who and for what end purpose, we don’t exactly know, but that makes it OK?
There’s nothing wrong with first world countries and alliances wanting to clamp down on tax dodgers, funding of illegal and unethical activities and have it linked back to their jurisdiction. How soon we forget the First Cayman Bank, Eurobank, HSBC scandals to name a few.
Cayman wagered its future on being a global financial center, so be it if the rules change unfavorably, the wind changes direction too. As a stakeholder we have a right to protest but with the odds stacked against us we’d better not waste our money and breath on futile pushback. Rather we need to adapt to this inevitable change.
I love people who comment having no idea what they are talking about. You cannot open a sodding bank account these days without giving up your first born child, and even then that may not be enough. AML checks, Sanctions checks, the world moved on long ago.
The world moved on and left the U.K., behind apparently.
Knob, the poster clearly isn’t talking about a personal bank account is he dumbass.
And the difference between a personal account and a corporate account is…the obligations on corporate account holders are even higher!
. Don’t call someone a knob when you have absolutely no knowledge other than your intuition as to what you are talking about.
OP is absolutely right. The issue here is not laundering, it’s about limiting public – not law enforcement or tax authority – access by the man in the street or journalists to the ownership details of companies. Whether that is fair or reasonable is an interesting social argument, but has jack to do with people evading tax or laundering.
And the irony is that the UK who are pushing us to a public system run a system where they actually take no steps to actually check. the accuracy of the data on their system.
If you drill down into the text and definitions of what is being asked of us, we are only to fall in line with the UK’s public PSC register by 2020. A response resembling compliance with The Fouth EU Money Laundering Directive is all the UK is doing, and all that is being asked of us. Sure, it is a flawed standard, but we shouldn’t go pointing that out. We need better advisors on the Cayman side, pref industry pros and STEP members that might have bothered to read what is being asked of us, and explained it in crayon to our Cabinet.
We’re still not talking about bank accounts are we?
We’re talking about the facilitation of tax evasion and avoidance by offshore companies which is causing so much public anger in the UK, EU and US.
Obviously bank accounts of any kind are subject to intense scrutiny because they’re an easy target.
8:29pm, they are do far fetched, those three sided coins have no idea where the Cayman Islands are. The UK in all of its glory has not done zilch fir these islands. We paid or what we got, or worked damn hard to build this haven that they are happy to try and destroy.
They must practice what they are hoping to preach. Hurricane Ivan, was a good example of their help. We survived that catastrophe and by God,s help we will continue to prosper. Time to cut ties with the paranah.
Oh my god, another heroic Caymanian that doesn’t know what really happened after Ivan.
Bush stopped the Royal Navy landing and imposed a news black out you idiot. And as for you building havens, the only havens you have ever built are constructed on crooked money and off the backs of expat labour and experience.
Remember, we were here as well, talking to the RN on VHF, we saw the ships, we pleaded with them to land, but your government and its retarded leader stopped the aid this island desperately needed.
It was London that invented the off shore industry to facilitate foreign transactions. It was you who allowed the crooked money to flow into Cayman and into the hands of facilitators who laundered it. Don’t preach to anyone about your tenacity and brilliance, because those that know will laugh in your face.
Actually if you remember, the Royal Navy landed and filmed by Helicopter and drove where they had access. They had left another island all they had, to help an independent island with about a 100,000 pop. We were offered blankets, thats all they had left and one generator. We were helped by people who lived here. People who had access to planes help moved work permit holders. They lost all their documents they met counsuls to help them back home. Some people like Mrs.Olde bought 400 generators to give to East End people. I saw private planes landing almost every 15 mins. taking people to the USA and bringing generators and supplies for people on island.
Most Caymanians have cisterns, When it was safe enough for privately owned frontend loaders, they cleared a path on the main road so that ambulances and transportation could run back and forth except for the Mariners Cove disaster. Caymanian people came together to help there neighbors to get safe from the rain with some roof completely gone. We had 180 mph for over 76 hours. People and companies did what they had to do to get things going. Ivan was the worst hurricane to hit Grand Cayman. Anyone who had house and vehicle insurance was covered. The UK did very little even for elderly people.
The function of the first response team in any disaster relief situation is to both assist the local population to help themselves and to assess what is needed in the longer term (hence the initial helicopter survey). There simply aren’t enough people and stores on a single ship to make a significant impact otherwise.
Had Bush not refused UK help, additional forces would have arrived bringing more help (the RN and the RFA have more than one ship), followed by more UK funding (as happened following Hurricane Irma). Sometimes that takes a while to organise. That was all stopped because Bush said no help was needed. A public appeal in the UK (to which many had already donated and with the UK Government matching donations 1:1), was cancelled after a couple of days and the money returned to the donors.
The UK was willing to help, but Cayman said “no thanks”. Don’t be surprised then, that the willing helper went elsewhere.
Exactly, your last statement captured the essence. The world will move on and Cayman will have to fall in line or suffer by staying on the blacklist.
I’m not convinced the rest of the world will ‘move on’. I can see Cayman being pushed out of the trench into no man’s land and everyone else finding all kinds of excuses to stay behind.
And just who was doing the due diligence on HSBC transactions in Mexico then, certainly not Cayman. We’d be in deeper $hit now if the Feds hadn’t raised the alarm. We can talk the talk when is comes to financial system reg checks & balances but this malarkey still happens right under our noses. Nefarious, tax dodging, registered company owners need to be flushed out of Cayman if we want to keep our supposedly squeaky image and this is really the only way to ensure that.
The wrong doings by HBSC were carried out in Mexico not in Cayman.
A bit of both, really. HSBC Mexico set up it’s own office in Cayman, that it used to store documents etc. relating to their illegal activities in Mexico. When this was all uncovered, the HSBC Mexico Cayman office was closed, as it really had no other function than to conceal illegal activities (from HSBC management as much as anything else).
If you are familiar with those cases, those accounts were setup and managed by corrupt Mexican employees from Mexico, some of those acquired via merger, and concealed from the Cayman Office – which was ordered closed to take the fall as part of a headoffice plea. Similar to criminal accounts found on the books of Scotiabank Mexico, Barclays, Western Union, Wachovia, BNP Paribas, and Wells Fargo (to name a few). Slaps on the wrists for the all-knowing headoffices, with “sorry” headline pleas, and flame throwers for the regional Cayman Islands offices. Netflix’s “Dirty Money” has a good expose on the HSBC corporate compliance culture.
9:47am, the dirt is corporated and done overseas and the Cayman Islands is given the empty hand bag to carry.
The HSBC Cayman branch was only peripherally involved and did not close as a result of the Mexico issue. It was closed only a few years ago, simply because it wasn’t making money, pure and simple. The HSBC Mexico office in the Cayman Islands was closed (as it should have been – as it’s only real function was to attempt to conceal illegal activities in Mexico).
Why would Cayman be responsible for overseeing a British bank’s dealings in Mexico?
They weren’t. Mexico were trying to conceal long-standing money laundering practices (from before HSBC bought the bank) by offshoring their “compliance” functions and document archives
Idiot the government knows who the owners of these companies are. I guess when people get targeted because of their wealth they will change their minds.
Tax and Law enforcement will have access to a full and true beneficial ownership registry this summer. Prior to CRS, the Cayman Islands was an early adopter of over 30 tax information exchange agreements with foreign governments. This isn’t 1985, time to get back in your Delorean.
When those UK bigots clean up their act, the others will follow. Stop leaning on the shoulders of RUSSIAN Oligarchs. The UK Parliment is infested with too many twisted tongues and two-edged swords.
This isn’t about hiding the identity from tax authorities and governments, it’s about hiding the identity from ignorant trolls like you. Oh, and from kidnappers who just love to take children of wealthy families for ransom. It’s quite the cottage industry in certain parts of the world and that’s what these genius backbench MP’s are going to bring to Cayman’s financial clients…who will then stop being Cayman’s financial clients.
True Blue , Really ? what an idiotic comment ,
Proving that we DO share the same values, the obvious solution is to adopt the UK’s example, and opaque double standard, by disclosing “Persons of Significant Control” (PSCs) rather than true “Ultimate Beneficial Owners” (UBOs) as they themselves struggle to satisfy the EU Fourth Money Laundering Directive ((EU) 2015/849.
The UK has successfully conflated these two disclosure standards as one and the same in their self-assessment of compliance. Clearly, these are two very different registers, for different audiences.
Led by example, we would then have (a) our CRS/Tax and PCMLATF law enforcement access true UBO register (already agreed and going live this summer), and (b) a PSC/Nominee Director register for vetted public access by 2020. Nobody needs to change the Constitution, or recall our Cabinet/Governor to comply with both of those, to the same standard as Mother.
Well you know what you’re talking about. Pity the press doesn’t.
I think the concern is that there has been a bait-and-switch, and nothing will satisfy the MPs who did this but our making public the true UBO register we agreed to as a compromise.
Cayman hasn’t agreed to make public our true UBO register…and the UK has only offered the EU a public register of their corporate nominees…still a couple years for someone to come to grips with the difference.
The CIG need to realise that seeking a legislative amendment to protect the privacy rights of those that use tax havens would be political suicide in the UK right now. Now the requirement for a register has been passed it will never be undone.
How about protecting the privacy rights of others? We already to reporting to hundreds of countries regulators.
I guess all those meetings and negotiations that Alden and Eric are attending in London are still going well with “great progress” being made in their minds. SMH
The Dude and the Dame !
UK doesn’t do much. They are symbolic leaders of this country nothing morw. Time for Cayxit!
You want to see a rouge country lose everything? Then by all means leave mother. Just let us know so we can sell everything prior to that bad idea.
Not yours to sell.
Sorry, it’s a British Territory, so its all ours, ha, ha, ha.
All right then, someone will be round in the morning for your house keys.
Let us just bite the bullet and go with Mr. Dart. He will provide a very good lifestyle and plenty of protection.
Agreed.
We are definitely not rouge, perhaps yellow with a tinge of red.
English, a language best used correctly. How are people so stupid these days?
Do you work in the financial industry? A simple yes or no will suffice.
Staying with the UK just as bad an idea. This public register nonsense is going to ruin the Financial Services industry. Let’s not be scared, stand up to Mom and proclaim “I’m moving out!”
Moms’ money is here too.
All the more to make the deal with Mr. Dart. Dump the Brits and lets sent course with the Dart organization. We can create a Shangri-La that the rest of the world will be jealous of. Anyone who is unhappy can take and pack up to go off the mother England.
Other than giving you a free British passport ( for which you have done nothing) and providing the rock upon which Cayman finance industry is based ??!!
Bottom line is that as always Cayman expects to get its cake and eat it too. All mouth- too scared to go independent and continually hiding behind the ‘the time is not right’ tag line. If you are so good then go independent and do the UK a favor.
You guys are starting to sound a lot like the Caymanians who say ‘go home then’ in response to everything. Just proves this entire Caymanians and expats thing is pure hypocrisy on both sides.
12:58pm: Idiot!
Cayman is a British Overseas Territory so nobody (country) gives a passport fool – it is a responsibility!
YOU (UK) can’t have your (it’s) cake and eat it too, Nincumpoop!
Nincompoop, perhaps?
We already had Cayxit-Tortuga Rum Cakes-and that is about as good as it gets.
Tortuga rum cakes are Jamaican.
We would default on our existing loan book – authored by the previous regimes of our Premier and Speaker. We can barely afford to repay half of the amount coming due next year, at a rate of interest we are unlikely to see again in our lifetimes.
Ever been in Jamaica ?
dont let them destroy this country like other politicians did to other caribbean countries….can you immagine a politician in charge of judiciary and police??? lord help us???!!?
As opposed to a UK politician you mean?
Hmm…Why so mandatory and fishy at the same time?
Trying to sound all profess like they don’t know what goes on in the industry.
Yes we share the Queen, the flag and the values but we are also more stringent with our client finances than the bankers in London. They should be sharing our views. If they did, they wouldn’t be pushing this down the BOT’s throats. Guess it’s more of a do as I say and not as I do.
There are two options. Either fight this (which in my opinion is a waste of time and public money) or simply let the companies involved in offshore banking find ways to work round it – isn’t the latter what they pay their lawyers and accountants to do? I bet by the end of 2018 the various entities moving funds through these islands will have found so many loopholes in this it’ll be just about worthless.
Yes but part of the processes is to make a stink about it to (a) give the banks political cover and (b) if we’re lucky ring some concessions out of the UK when they’re embarrassed that their neo-colonial subconscious is showing through.
Andrew Mitchell MP, He told the British newspaper, The Guardian, “The overseas territories share our queen, they travel under our flag and they must also share our values.”
While we may share similar values the imposition of British rule over the period of colonialism lead to the deaths of millions, rape of riches, and subjugation of people. This type of colonial attitude fly’s in face of UN wishes and will impose hardship on the colonies. These measures are not in the interest of the Cayman Islands and most likely a onshoreing technique from the bankers of London who are in a bad way post Brexit.
V you hit the nail on the head. They will not stop until there is no financial industry in Cayman. If we had any natural resources our history would have been much different. During the 1800s we were left alone but the English were murdering and plundering the rest of the world.
11.38am Where do you think your financial industry came from?, it sure wasn’t from Caymanian seamen. How many Caymanians died fighting the Nazis, to stop them from enslaving the whole of Europe?.
Oh stop your shit. The Caymanian people have done more than their fair share for the Crown.
Please, just get over yourself. I know it will be difficult.
Why are you such a bully?
Alrighty then, what exactly did Cayman do for the Crown?
If we wanted the bloody crown, we’d be in Blighty.
What about you? Seriously mate, get a life.
So just how many Caymanians died fighting Nazis. Can you count them on all your digits and toes? How many is this compared to the 8M+ soldiers of North America, Europe and Asia?
A dozen or so give or take, but as some would say on here if they were of Jamaican heritage it doesn’t count. Happy Hour is when the bigots come out to play.
Actually quite a few Caymanians died fighting Nazi’s, particularly as merchant seamen lost to German U Boats on Atlantic convoys.
The Cayman Islands suffered more deaths per capita during the Second World War than any other Commonwealth country. At that time many Caymanians were sailing on ships around the globe.
And the vast amount of so called Caymanians around now don’t have any connection to those brave souls because they are from immigrant families who came here long after the war.
Actually I believe that if you ask the museum/archives/etc., someone worked out that, per capita, Cayman had more men serving in WWII than anyone else. We just don’t get counted because we’re so small. But Caymanians served in the merchant marine and Caribbean guards (here, Trinidad/Barbados, etc.). Which exposed them to German torpedoes and other deaths due to their war service. During “Operation Neuland” German & Italian submarines sunk hundreds of ships in the Caribbean. The ships even had to adopt convoy tactics because of the raids. In fact it was in part because of Axis activities in the Caribbean that Mexico eventually declared war on the side of the Allies. Maybe not as exciting as the Action Comics version of the war in Europe or the Pacific, but reality rarely is.
Capt. Chapman Bodden, from Little Cayman, was on the ship Alliser, owned by JS Webster family, when it was torpedoed a few miles south east of Grand Cayman. He and several of his crew members lost their lives.
Your point is because someone gave you something now they want it back? There is a name for that “Indian Giver”.
We should certainly thank the American’s for coming to the aid of Europe and the world at the time of the Nazi’s.
The founder of the Cayman Islands financial industry was the Hon. Sir Vassel Johnson. He certainly did not “come from” from the UK.
No but the money and expertise did. Just because a Caymanian facilitated it doesn’t make them the father of financial services.
Vassel did NOT start the financial industry. It was an idea by UK civil servants to get us off their payroll and it was put in place by Bill Walker, Macdonald and Vassel acting, to his credit, as the local enabler.
Bill Walker came from Guyana.
Yep. Came from Jamaica. Probably why he didn’t get the hero status he deserves. God forbid we should say Jamaicans did anything for Cayman.
While we did not have thousands on the beaches in Normandy and around Europe, you should remember per capita at the time….. the Cayman Islands had more men who volunteered and trained in the war effort in Trinidad to fight the Nazis than any other Caribbean territory. To say we did not fight for freedom of the world in Europe is BS. Many of those men lost their lives on the Atlantic crossing and several were placed in POW Camps for years entil the war ended. Some of the POW’s included Mr. Lee Smith, Mr. Johnny
Ebanks, Mr. Eddie Farrington and others.
I believe the figure was around 75 – 100 men who volunteered and went to fight the Nazis and Japanese. Considering the population of the Cayman Islands in the 1940’s our contribution to the war effort was significant.
You really don’t know Cayman History.
All true, my father plus one of his brothers and their cousin went to England and joined the Merchant Marine. My father was fortunate to survive at least 2 separate torpedo strikes on convoys to Murmansk in Russia. Just as well he did or I wouldn’t be here! Our men did their fair share for sure, that’s why, at least certainly with the older generation, there is such a strong sense of patriotism.
The founder of the Cayman Islands financial industry was the Hon. Sir Vassel Johnson. He certainly did not “come from” the UK.
Finally, someone who understands. We don’t want a financial industry in the Cayman Islands. It has been the ruin of us. Take your greedy bottoms to somewhere that actually wants you, and take our even greedier politicians with you.
Possibly the dumbest comment ever on CNS. Congratulations.
I take it you are in the financial industry? A simple yes or no will suffice.
During the 1800’s the British freed all slaves, threatened war with any country that didn’t do the same, fought the French to stop a facist dictator taking control of Europe and Russia, fought the Boer, (who invented apartied in South Africa) and bought the civil service, common law, parliamentary democracy and peace to warring nations who were killing each other long before the British arrived. They also conceived the Industrial Revolution whose inventions and ideas have made the world what it is today.
And what did Africa do? Oh yea, keep killing each other, stealing the national wealth and screwing their own people.
What did India do? Oh yea, turned itself into the worlds largest democracy, became a nuclear and space power and has some of the brightest minds on the planet.
For the standards of the day, not a bad record really.
To 14/6/18 @ 6.24pm — This is just incredible, unbelievable, you are defending and proud of British history in relation to the Boer war? I am 64 years of age and have always thought that the British should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves for the Boer war. You should hang your head in shame!
Let me explain, the British at the height of their world power attacked the much smaller and weaker Afrikaans republics. This is comparable to Russia seizing the Crimea peninsula from a much weaker & smaller Ukraine a few years ago and making war on Ukraine’s eastern border. Or if the U S were to invade say Belize or Jamaica tomorrow! That shows the extent of British bullying of weaker countries.
You ignorant person, it was not until many decades after the Boer war that the Afrikaans instituted apartheid in South Africa, so the one had nothing to do with the other. Also, the term ‘fascist dictator’ did not come into being until the 1920’s – 30’s so explain how France could have had a fascist dictator in the 1800’s?
Meanwhile, I am waiting with bated breath to learn how exactly you can defend the Boer war. I can only assume that you are an ultra nationalist Briton, white trash and a shame to the white race. Or maybe you are Indian?
In terms of “they” attribution…the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive is coming from the EU member states, regardless of Brexit outcome, the UK is being towed along as a reluctant participant. The UK has half-heartedly offered the EU a wooden nickel via their agreed PSC register, and they only ask the same of us as one of their territories. Unfortunately, our negotiation teams are too easily provoked, and provincially-minded, to have actually read the definitions, and known the difference in compliance terms. Bermuda, BVI, and Turks are not freaking out, because, presumably they have people there that can read. #facepalm
Yes “V” at 8.55 am and as I always say, “Colonialism is still very much alive, just that the weapons have changed, but mothers self interest still rules.” Considering the history of colonialism, with the bloodletting, slavery, exploitation, human degradation, and de-culturalization, it is time that the bullying stopped, but their consciences are non-existent. I for one, am ashamed to be descended from them.
Yes, but you’re not ashamed to live under our protection and reap the benefits of a world power are you little man?
To 9.16 am. I simply have an unbiased view of colonial history, as well as a conscience to morally judge what took place. It was basically very shameful, and I do not blind myself to truth. “Free yourself from mental slavery” Bob Marley sang for you to THINK, big boy.
Oh dear another dodo who believes Cayman was conquered and not actually established and settled by the British. Listen to the names of real Caymanians, they are British or Irish, not Spanish. These islands are British and always have been since the Treaty of Madrid.
It was the influx of immigrants from around the Caribbean after the war, and specifically during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s that watered down the British originality of these islands. With no allegiance to anywhere or anyone they now believe Cayman is theirs to take. Well newsflash bobo, it’s still a British Territory and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
Oh, and please let us know how all those countries that were so poorly treated now treat their own people, and indeed how their people treat their own. It’s seems to me that genocide, rape, murder, tribal and ethnic war, gang violence, corruption and persecution are all doing rather well in Africa and in many Caribbean countries too.
At least the British realised their mistakes and atoned for them by world wide emancipation, threatening war with the US and any one else so inclined to stop slavery, granted independence and still finance those countries through the Commonwealth and overseas aid.
And what have you done, besides whine and whinge?
Please don’t bitch about our history until you understand your own. Why by the way, is British.
Never said that “Cayman was conquered” as you put it, and you conveniently narrow down the argument to Cayman only to suit yourself. In case your insular mind has not realised it, this is a wider BOT problem. Many of those territories were colonosed and exploited as I stated. Cayman is not alone in resisting the public registers. Tiny territories like Cayman have to join forces with others similarly threatened in order to be smarter and stronger. Your use of the term “real Caymanians” says a lot about you, bobo!
Andrew Mitchell is a nuisance and we don’t need his pontifications thank you very much.
Listen pal, just go to Butlins and harass them. Hi de hi!
We share ‘their’ queen? THEIR queen? Wow. No wonder Canada, Australia and pretty much every other former Dominion have republican movements. It’s only because of their size and scale they don’t need the diplomatic and civil structure the UK provides. No one comment by any UK MP or other politician or official or even person has ever made me more depressed to be Caymanian. And the sad thing is, my heritage is English and Scottish. Just 350 years of being here and all of a sudden you’re what Boris Johnson calls a pickaninny.
He said “our”, as in all of us