Minister in Europe to tackle grey list issue
(CNS): Minister André Ebanks departed for Europe this weekend, heading a local delegation in the battle to finally get the Cayman Islands removed from the FATF grey list at a meeting in Paris next week. If he succeeds, this jurisdiction will likely also be removed from the European Union AML List in October.
Ebank will attend the FATF Plenary between the 19 and 23 June in Paris.
Before that, the team will attend various EU meetings to discuss anti-money laundering, tax, beneficial ownership and other matters with EU stakeholders. Between 12 and 16 June, Minister Ebanks, accompanied by legal adviser Karen Stephen-Dalton and Gene DaCosta, the government’s financial services representative in the UK/EU and in Asia, will meet with dozens of people from a number of relevant organisations and institutions.
“The ministry’s last visit to the EU was in November 2022, when we addressed the EU Parliament’s FISC Committee,” Ebanks said in a press release about the two-week trip. “However, there have been a number of financial services-related developments since then for government locally and in EU Member States, and we are looking forward to engaging with our counterparts on these important matters.
“Engagements such as this are vital to the Cayman Islands’ ability to participate intelligently and effectively in global regulatory discussions and cooperation initiatives, as well as commercial developments,” he explained.
The government will update the public on the FATF Plenary and the EU visit when the delegation returns home. Premier Wayne Panton will act for Ebanks while he is away.
Then on 19 June, Attorney General Samuel Bulgin and Anti-Money Laundering Unit Director Francis Arana will join them at the final FATF plenary, where the Cayman delegation will present the case regarding how the Cayman Islands has tackled the outstanding issues here relating to the investigation and prosecution of those involved in money laundering.
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Category: Business, Financial Services
Cayman refuses to tackle. That’s why we’re there.
Never going to happen and if there are changes Cayman will be in a black or grey list soon again anyway. This was always going to be a consequence of Brexit.
Thanks for that supremely ignorant analysis.
Not at all. Before Brexit the UK lobbied a lot for the OTs and it was effective. Now the UK is a third country the position is completely different. I think your vacuous comment says more about your ignorance about how Brussels works than anything else.
Brussels does not work. It’s bunch of left wing european technocrats.
More like a consequence of our not being able to demonstrate that we actively prosecute anyone for corruption, money laundering or conceals the proceeds of crime. Lots of rules, no prosecutions beyond street level offences. UK being in the EU before may have proteus us, but the fundamental problem is that we simply don’t do it and no amount of spin gets around that. Why we don’t do it is another question.
This. The FATF have presented, in bullet point form, the same list of things to do for years, through jurisdiction-specific reports and analysis (which go into depth), and via warning notices with explicit deadlines. Our continued residence on the list is not accidental or random. It’s a CIG regulatory problem and remedial action paralysis. There are known bad apples that need to be pruned from the trees, but our officials don’t even want to be seen to be holding clippers. This is the suicidal dance we are trapped in.
11.27 In other words ..if Cayman wants to come off ghat list we need to start charging some people with ginancial crimes ( doesn’t matter if there is any evidence) or we can impose income tax of at least 15% or more as dictated by the EU.
Especially politicians
just don’t tell them about our hospital sized laundry facilities……
Why are we bothering wasting valuable resources just because some tossers have us on a grey list. The US, UK and other so called onshore jurisdictions are bigger money launderers, they might want to try and sort their own $hit out first before forcing more red tape nonsense on us.
Yes, the predictable tough talk nonsense, but the stakes couldn’t be higher in the real world. Residents of this grey list (and you should see our company) either graduate off into compliance, or slide onto the black list abyss, where there is no more financial services or tourism industries anymore. It packs up, never to return. Banned from SWIFT and international settlements. You can’t wire money, book fund trades. You can’t even make a hotel booking using a major credit card. Game over.
This dude has no idea what he’s doing. This is evident by his going to Hong Kong and assuming blame for SVB bad investment decisions.
We’ll just imagine if Saunders went instead of “this Dude”..
This dude is Caymanian at least.
Got proof?
There are a ton more qualified Caymanians.
If you’re speaking of Andre you must be jealous of his well deserved success. He’s the best politician we have right now and the only one I trust. And I am not even from his district.
Take no notice, André. You’re doing a fine job – far better than any of your bumbling predecessors.
One of these bumbling predecessors happens to be Wayne Panton! You really made me lol with this one
So what? I stand by what I said.
Nail on head
all money enters Cayman through US and British/European correspondent banks! Who is doing the laundering? i assure you it ain’t Caymanians! All this pandering when Delaware and Belgium and Luxembourg ANN AND AND Just tell them to psss off! Cayman politicians have zero world skill, honestly, they are outclassed at every level.
It would be the nondomestic Cayman banks they are interested in.
CIG do not competently search for, or prosecute white collar financial or political corruption crime. This is local and running with abandon. Our Parliament, who didn’t even grasp that the USA Fed controls prime, are proudly defiant of any anti-corruption resistance. Lip service and token committees without any documented kills are why we all collectively have to reside on that list. That’s despite considerable exhaustive levels of professionalism and compliance exhibited by many – thank you to those who know who they are. It doesn’t matter when CIG undoes those efforts through indifference and obstruction.
Good luck Andre and company.
Cayman needs it.
Thank God we have someone like Andre representing us, and not an uneducated “minister” or Mac the genius.
Tank de Lawd Saunders him nat dere…
Easily resolve Cayman arrest and prosecute the top players around here that have been mired down and mix up with drugs and money laundering and corrupting the political process around here for years. Especially those greedy pariahs who are still extorting and blackmailing the government and private sector because they believe they have some indomitable right to do so and in order to maintain their family’s legacy and supremacy over their own Caymanians. only then will be off their so called list! Never happen!!!
If you have definite evidence then take it to the various authorities. Or are you simply spouting what you think must be happening? Mainly because you want a share.
Nailed it 9.38.
Confusing…is the stated FATF requirement that we send them more frequent flier politicians with rum cakes, or that we prove that we are catching and punishing white collar crooks as part of a functioning PCAMLCTF regime?
Bit of both no? As an outsider to the FS industry here the problem seems to be that we get no credit for “assists” where crooks are prosecuted onshore with information supplied by Cayman. Maybe a lawyer could comment; could we not automatically mirror onshore convictions and fines, even with little chance of enforcement, to at least get our rate up?
National Lampoon’s European Vacation remake will be lit!
More like planes trains & automobiles.
“Those aren’t PILLOWS!!”
😅🤣😅🤣