Minister claims success in perception battle
(CNS): In a long address to parliament Monday, Minister Tara Rivers outlined what she sees as her achievements during her tenure at the helm of the Ministry of Financial Services, from the reams of legislation passed to investment in the sector. Rivers also claimed credit for taking on Cayman’s “perception problem”. She said the ministry would continue to call out media and entertainment companies that painted a distorted picture of the country’s finance industry.
Rivers said that since announcing her plan to take on Hollywood over one year ago, in addition to the success in getting AT&T to change a TV advertisement depicting Cayman in a negative light, the ministry had also changed a text book and “challenged several instances where Cayman was spuriously referenced in episodes of a few sitcoms aired on popular streaming platforms”, though she did not detail these.
Rivers said that challenging the stereotypes that abound regarding the Cayman Islands, as perpetuated by the entertainment industry, would continue to be a key part of the ministry’s PR strategy. She said it was “up to us as a jurisdiction to challenge the stereotypes and help to educate the entertainment industry”. She said that careless comments harm the reputation of Cayman as they reinforce the myth that it operates on a shady level.
“To challenge every throw away negative comment about the Cayman Islands is a formidable task, but this government believes it is vital to do so in order to help minimise such references in the future,” Rivers told her colleagues in the House, adding that the idea to “take on Hollywood” as a
euphemism for mass media generally was necessary and it was having positive, tangible effect.
Defending a policy that had drawn criticism, she said the country might not be able to address or even identify “each and every spurious reference to the Cayman Islands”, but the ministry was going to take a defensive as well as a proactive stance defending and promoting the jurisdiction.
“We cannot sit back and let Hollywood or any activist lobby organisation define who we are or what we do,” the minister said.
Rivers told parliament that the ministry was working to strengthen its engagement strategy with targeted public relations and communications. It would be working with the CIGO in the UK and the Ministry of International Trade to determine how to effectively deploy additional resources overseas to promote and defend the jurisdiction, she said.
As she wound up the long address, which covered a myriad of issues, such as dealing with evolving international standards and regulatory reform, she said, “the good news about the Cayman Islands is often lost in the rhetoric and utterances of those intent on painting Cayman in a bad light”.
Rivers said the continued growth of the financial services industry year-over-year in real economic terms was a testament to the continued success of the Cayman Islands as a global financial centre.
“As a government, working in tandem with stakeholders, including industry as appropriate, we are committed and prepared to proactively and reactively respond to global developments, to ensure the continued success of the Cayman Islands for years to come,” she said. “The challenges are great and yes, the setbacks may come, but we have proven that we are up to the task to face them head on, and to overcome.”
See Rivers’ full 19-page statement in the CNS Library
Category: Business, Financial Services
If any of this is true, why has she not cited the text books, their authors, editors and publishers – and held up proof of these claims.
It should be easy, Tara. Hold up the first edition one hand and the revised edition in the other. If you’ve actually achieved this, it’s an enormous accomplishment and deserves to be peer-reviewed, recorded and lauded. What’s the name of the sitcom? Where are the revisions? Show the public proof of these accomplishments. Otherwise you’re just taking credit for singlehandedly carrying out the work and remit of Cayman Finance.
Why so many haters, tearing down Tara today, tearing down another person tomorrow and then tearing down our Government the next day after. Come on Cayman find some solutions and STOP doing this.. It does not make you look better and SH*T it does not make our Country look better. FIND A SOLUTION.
Here is the real perception problem: members of the. Cabinet believing that they have done something good for the Cayman Islands. Wake up call: you all are failures and it is a low, low class move to take credit for anything. You got played by international pressure and thus passed a whole bunch of legislation, which was of low quality content. Don’t ever disrespect the public again, claiming that you helped with public perception. You did nothing good and it is disrespectful to say you did anything, but take up space.
Here is the real perception problem: members of the. Cabinet believing that they have done something good for the Cayman Islands. Wake up call: you all are failures and it is a low, low class move to take credit for anything. You got played by international pressure and thus passed a whole bunch of legislation, which was of low quality content. Don’t ever disrespect the public again, claiming that you helped with public perception. You did nothing good and it is disrespectful to say you did anything, but take space.
Tara, you are as weak as the woman beaters that you work along side. Speak up woman, protest and have the speaker ejected from the house. Until then you are not worth listening to.
I wonder what she’ll do about the “perception” that she’s done sweet FA for WB?
I think she has not woken up from Dreamland and wants to live in Wonderland.;this is what she has done for 4 years. Maybe when they vote her out .. she will look for a job at Disneyland and then get voted to rule Disney world.
With Skylar Mack imprisonment her efforts were nullified.
So you had a pretty unrelated agenda to mention. You’re friend put a lot of people at risk.
How many dictators with blood on their hands have money in Cayman?
How many corporations have money here to avoid taxes at home, thereby shifting the financial burdens to poor and middle-income people?
Legal perhaps, but that means little when criminals write the laws they desire. Wrong is still wrong.
#lame
How many legislators in the Cayman Islands have blood on their hands from beating women?
I don’t know. Tell me.
50% of those in the LA!
How does the “dirty’ money get to Cayman, no-one is carrying suitcases of cash into the island nowadays.
It gets banked through onshore banks and then laundered onshore before being sent to Cayman.
Yet Cayman spends more on AML, CRS, FATCA and KYC than the onshore banks, where the criminals are laundering the money.
Onshore banking systems and jurisdictions need to get their own act together and stop blaming Cayman
The richest man in the world funnels his company’s money through here in a shell corporation to avoid taxes.
Hint: It is the same “rainforest” website you might have bought Christmas gifts from.
Hold up y’all she is not worthy of all a this press and your comments. Not worthy!
Wow she is just as dilusional as the other West Bayer the Dishonorable Bush.
If not for that film, Cayman would remain unknown.
And she’s the best we have? Words fail me. An enabler for violence against women.
Useless with a captain Y…..
The question that I have is who is there better to replace her? Names please. Tara is not to blame for Cayman’s bad reputation, the facts are.
Why would anyone do banking in an island (“that time forgot”) with a very small population, and that was until recently, in the middle of nowhere?
The common sense answer is that many would deposit (stash) money there to avoid notice. Why do people (and what sort of people) want their wealth and its source hidden? The logical answers to those question are the reason why Cayman’s financials have a bad reputation with people who are honest about their wealth, have nothing to be ashamed of about its source, and are willing to pay the lawful taxes imposed upon the wealth where it was earned.
No, you don’t understand why Cayman is an important banking and financial center.
The sea air and turtle meat contribute to a specialized development of brain cells which are used in counting. Cayman’s unique environment produces a population that is very good at accurately and swiftly counting things.
So, no, it is not a matter of having a quasi-sovereign ability to make rules that criminals and tax avoiders find attractive. Don’t be silly. It is the natural result of millions of years of evolution which produced the ideal environment for banking.
Contrary to what is being peddled here, Cayman was not blacklisted by the OECD. If you actually listen or read her Statement you will see that under her watch the OECD has given Cayman its highest ranking ever on both economic substance and automatic exchange of tax information.
Minister Rivers has done a tremendous job leading the Ministry during a very difficult time. I commend her and the Government for taking on the challenges and working to keep Cayman on the right side of international law and standards.
No, you’re correct it wasn’t, but Cayman WAS blacklisted by the EU as a direct result of failure of her Ministry to get legislation passed in time, for which she was given plenty of notice. All our competitor jurisdictions managed to get it done, but not Tara. She is incompetent as a Minister of Financial Services.
Every time she makes a pronouncement the industry winces.
And this is just her day job, let alone her lack of moral compass.
Hello.
Sorry but all the good you MAY have done relative to your ministry is wiped out by your complete acceptance and lack of action regarding the Speaker Mr. Bush and his tirade and assault of a woman.
I would have expected that someone as educated and christian as you claim to be would have been at the forefront of the crowd calling for his removal for criminal offenses.
But alas you have chosen to relinquish your principles and morals for another hopeful four years of doing nothing and self praise. You are keenly aware that without him supporting your re-election bid you will NEVER get back in the house.
Well I voted for her last election and my perception is I should have stayed home.
My family in the WBS district, who voted for her feel exactly the same way and will not vote for her again.
I have a similar feeling in regards to my vote in the last election in GTN…
Seriously cns where is the LOL button! She is claiming victory because she managed to get one ad pulled off the air? Nevermind that her ministry was responsible for Cayman being blacklisted so not sure she’s actually got a leg to stand on when it comes to fighting the “perception “ of the jurisdiction.
Cayman is not a corrupt haven for financial criminals.
But if you like to beat up women, you can be in charge!
How pathetic. Hey, Tara, wait until Hollywood finds out that it’s okay for government ministers to beat women.
Not just beating women..
UNSPEAKABLE: Confronting child sexual abuse in the Cayman Islands (FULL)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ftp3x-OYz0
I dont know if emoticons post but…..🤣🤣🤣🤣😳🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️
Yawn!
Delusional.
My exact description of her. Poor dear.
I guess she didn’t see NCIS NO this week then. She’s claiming victory for here shopping trips to Hollywood. Talk about gullible, believing that she’s put a stop to this. Don’t ever forget Ms. Rivers that a good reputation has to be earned and it will take many more decades for Cayman’s dirty dealing reputation to be expunged in the minds of Hollywood producers.
Heed!
It’s just the camera angle.
How dare she. For the first time ever, we were actually BLACKLISTED by the OECD, and after Tara had physically jollied over to Europe at great expense. There were three public published warnings at scheduled intervals prior to the blacklisting, listing exactly what the problems were, and the deadlines to comply. Despite those generous warnings, the Financial Services Ministry failed at every checkpoint to keep us off that list. The Bills that ought to have been tabled many sessions earlier, were not because the House wished to instead spend many days work time sloppily quoting Old Testament verse, and railing against loving same sex unions in committed Caymanian households. You can’t even make this stuff up. We will never again vote for Tara Rivers in West Bay South.
Never again from or any of my family, either.
I don’t know why any of you voted her into politics in the first place! She challenged a law that changes the face of who is Caymanian. Challenged who can run which in turns challenges who has a right to vote. She should have never gotten her time working in the UK as training. What a farce.
100%, as a member of WBS with two daughters I will not vote for Tara. Ever.
She ensured by her dilly dallying that we got on that blacklist.She knows very little and she and her staff ensured that we got in and stayed in trouble for months. If I had tears left I would cry for my country.
And once again you are peddling the propaganda. Cayman was not blacklisted by the OECD. If you actually listen or read her Statement (and not just rely on what the media lens of it) you will see that ynder her watch rge OECD has given Cayman its highest ranking ever in rekation to both economic sustandance and automatic exchange of of information.
Minister Rivers has done a tremendous job leading the Ministry during a very difficult time in our history. I commend her and the Government for taking on the challenges and working to keep Cayman on the right side of international law and standards.
We were blacklisted by the EU and her Ministry failed to get our laws changed in time for them to be considered despite ample warning of that deadline. The damage caused from that was significant (I witnessed some of it firsthand) was far more significant than changing some cheesy commercial watched by a couple slack-jawed yokels in middle-murica.
You obviously don’t know what you’re talking about.
And this is why I believe in separating the church from state.
She has been a train wreck as minister of education and now minister of financial services
Tara needs to go in 2021 she is a disgrace as a minister and her support for McKeeva shows she cannot be trusted. As a woman I cannot support her as she has failed all female voters with her silence
In West Bay North the battle cry is clear next election “ANBODY BUT TARA!”
West Bay South is the constituency she represents.
*supposed to* represent
Enjoy the time you have left in Parliament because in 2021 you and many others are done
5:37 pm
Is the disgraced Speaker fro WBW included? I hope so.
An awful lot of words but challenging + correcting Hollywood & ignorant media’s negative + factually wrong portrayal of Cayman + the financial industry is important.