More legislation planned to keep Cayman compliant
Offices of CIMA and the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange, George Town
(CNS): After steering through two pieces of legislation in the most recent session of the Legislative Assembly to help keep Cayman’s offshore sector compliant and competitive, the financial services ministry is working on more new laws, which are expected to be debated in June. The Securities Investment Business (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which was published on the government Gazette Tuesday, paves the way for a regulatory and supervisory framework for entities that were previously excluded from licensing requirements.
The bill will deal with securities that were previously unregulated, such as a Cayman subsidiary of a parent company located in another jurisdiction, which was excluded from the law on the basis that the parent company was regulated in its home jurisdiction.
Once the law is passed and implemented, requirements will include filing financial statements and regular returns, undergoing onsite regulatory inspections, and being subject to any necessary enforcement actions by Cayman’s financial services regulator, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA).
As well as addressing CIMA’s recommendations for additional oversight of these entities, the proposed amendment has been written in response to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force assessment of the Cayman Islands’ regime to counter money laundering and terrorist financing.
Officials said it also reflects the comments of a financial services industry working group, and aims to bring all individuals, companies and partnerships that undertake securities investment business into regulatory scope.
The public is invited to send their comments on the proposed bill to the Department of Financial Services Policy and Legislation’s Senior Policy Analyst, Rolna DaCosta, at rolna.dacosta@gov.ky.
Category: Business, Financial Services
Why do we need more legislation to compel our FRAs to follow up on SARs? Do any of our MLAs know what a SAR is, and if so, who is THEIR MLRO?!? Great that we have the most corrupt making unhelpful non-enforced laws for us!
Or we grant them status in an effort to avoid extradition.
https://dirtymoney21.wordpress.com/
You will at some point have to push back. This is not really about terrorist financing.
https://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2015/supplemental/239339.htm
“Sources of illicit funds in Vietnam include public corruption, fraud, gambling, prostitution, counterfeiting of goods, illegal wildlife trade, and trafficking in persons. Remittances from narcotics trafficking in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the United States continue to be a significant source of illicit funds entering Vietnam, as are proceeds from narcotics traffickers using Vietnam as a transit country.”
“Almost all trade and investment receipts and expenditures are processed by the banking system, but many transactions are not monitored effectively. As a result, the banking system is still at risk of being used for money laundering through false declarations, including fictitious investment transactions. Customs fraud and the over- and under-invoicing of exports and imports are common and could be indicators of trade-based money laundering. Illicit funds are also used to purchase real estate for subsequent resale.”
1314670 VietNam Holding Asset Management Ltd. is a CIMA-licensed SIBL Securities Manager and Advisor since 26Jul 2017. Do we have a lot of hard-earned dong going in there?
So Cayman has to ride herd on Viet Nam? Not really possible.
It’s about money laundering not terrorist financing:
Don’t be so sure. Hot money flows where nobody is checking, and we have several thriving industries in that category….SIBLs, gemstone trade, prec metals, pawn shops, cash for gold, real estate, exempt money transfers, and an unregulated legal fraternity. Even the few SARs filed in recent years weren’t investigated by the FAR. Appalling.
lol how about the many SARS that don’t even make it to the FRA because Johnny come lately wants to keep his recently purchased beach front property with his 5 kids? How about the many expat turned status holder MLROs/Compliance managers that stay late at night shredding evidence of criminal conduct? How about the Caymanian subordinates that day something but are subsequently removed from these positions?
People keep quiet because they need a job to feed their families. Money talks and if your directors want you gone then you will be gone if you say something about well paying clients.
Now if only something could be done about those in the Cayman real estate industry who knowingly assist / support Chinese and Russian money laundering into Cayman real estate.
The plan is clear, devastation by legislation
The devastation of our renegade SIBLs industry would be welcome. Good riddance Pump N Dumpers and Pink Sheets Pirates! Unfortunately they have proven time and time again, that they can’t be trusted. We don’t need, or want, the headline risk.
You clearly don’t know what you are talking about.
SIBL Securities sector was given highest vulnerability assessment in March 2019 CFATF report. 19 of 49 SEZ companies were helmed by an excluded person. 2013-2017 Stats of ML/TF SARs Submitted vs Analysed are damning indictments of how loose the supervision has been. In some years, zero follow-up by FAR to any SARs.
Here are some recent headline events:
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2019/comp24449.pdf
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2018/comp-pr2018-132.pdf
https://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/NAC_2014041724601_Scottsdale_072018_0.pdf
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2015/comp23195.pdf
They go on and on…
Long overdue.