CIMA strikes off unfit directors

| 31/10/2019 | 22 Comments
Cayman News Service

(CNS): The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority struck three directors off its registers this week, describing them all as not being “fit and proper persons” to hold the position. The authority gave few details about their removals in the relevant enforcement notices but it is understood at least one those struck off is facing fraud charges, while others have failed to follow the rules.

Mark Graham from New York, who has been accused for fraud, John David Geraci from Florida and Roland Kaehler from Prague in the Czech Republic have all had their directorships cancelled.

With the Cayman Islands seeking to up its game when it comes to policing financial crime, there is increasing scrutiny of all local regulators dealing with the offshore industry as well as other vulnerable sectors.

CIMA is also responsible for regulating insurance firms and it issued a notice this month about three firms that failed to satisfy the its termination requirements. Saratoga Atlantic Insurance Company, Long Horn Insurance Company and Union Captive Insurance have been removed from the CIMA’s register, as they were struck off the Companies Register of the General Registry.


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Category: Business, Financial Services, Politics, Private Sector Oversight

Comments (22)

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  1. Right!!!! says:

    This is hilarious!!! CIMA approves everyone who applies for directorship even if they have a shady past. Unless someone external to CIMA tells them a person is unfit- they will be a director until the cows come home. That is what happened here, CIMAs hand was forced. CIMA has zero balls.

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  2. Anonymous says:

    Wow, 3 out of approx 9,000 registered directors.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Whatever happened to the in-west-igations into the many CIMA-regulated entities that Canover Watson was a director of? What happened to that big fund administrator he managed?

    Wake me up when they start striking local directors.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    These guys should really spend more time in the gym.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Why is cima striking off a director based on an allegation of fraud? People make allegations everyday. Shouldn’t they wait for the director to be found guilty before striking them off?

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  6. Anonymous says:

    This is all waffle.
    How many companies have CIMA fined or prosecuted
    ZERO

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    • Anonymous says:

      I can think of several including firms they have closed down, most recently OneTradex. Why are posters on here frequently spreading negative misinformation about the Cayman Islands?

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      • where was CIMA? says:

        Here’s an answer to your question: You mention OneTradeX. They failed to file required reports for 3-4 years, and yet CIMA sat there and did nothing. Why??? Why was OneTradeX not warned, fined , or closed down until satisfactory reporting was provided? Instead, CIMA’s failure to do its policing has led to much disruption for investors at OneTradeX. OneTradeX investors should sue CIMA in a class action for its negligence, but I suppose it would do no good. One has to wonder if CIMA is just a joke.

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        • Chris Johnson says:

          If you read their pronouncements you will note that they act far too late in closing hedge funds down for lack of audited financial statements. Unfortunately this creats even more losses for investors. Moreover CIMA cannot be sued. Frequently they miss the red flags associated with scams as do the auditors who are often sued. However it is not just hedge funds and CIMA. . CIFA must have been the easiest audit in the world yet three audit firms missed the fraud. CIFAs assets included a field and a clubhouse built at $500 a square foot. Now is that not a red flag when the application for planning had it in at $120 a square foot. In fact there were more red flags at CIFA than at the annual meeting of Matadors in Madrid.

          However it is just not the enforcement division of CIMA but those of CPA and DOE to note a few. I will leave that for another day.

          I leave you with just one further thought to ponder on, . ‘ Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes’.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Does CIMA have an anonymous tip system? If not they should.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I have lots of tips to provide CIMA. Is there a whistleblower protection law in place with a financial reward? Otherwise the minute you blow the whistle you won’t get another job in the industry ever again.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    Until a local director is struck off this can be dismissed as a superficial PR exercise and no more.

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  9. Jennifer Ebanks says:

    And notice that they are all non-caymanians, Government got suckered again. Go PPM!! Hire Caymanian’s and train them!!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Financial “Industry” is a pile of garbage. The reason why many Caymanians don’t bother with it is because they see it for the greedfest it is.
      Since when did money own beach? When it was sold out.
      When the next financial crash occurs, our highly leveraged guests will be moving elsewhere.

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    • Anonymous says:

      But not the ones that have not mastered basic pluralisation.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Good job CIMA. Now start looking into other local staff on island that are unfit. Not just directors, but the MLROs and the DMLROs that don’t know what they are doing and the other ones that are circumventing the law or just doing outright illegal business in hopes of getting another bonus.

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    • Anonymous says:

      CIMA doesn’t regulate law firms, so all the illegal crap carried on in anticipation of bonus season can continue…

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      • Anonymous says:

        Regulated entities have to abide by the law. That doesn’t necessarily mean law firms.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Ironic, don’t you think. Law firms can be directly involved in unlawful behaviors, and no one does anything. Ever.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Token effort to try and retain credibility for CIMA?

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