Offshore bills raising fees open for last public input

(CNS): A dozen amendment bills to implement the UPM government’s additional revenue-raising measures from the offshore sector and a bill to implement Phase 2 of the regulatory framework for virtual asset services in the Cayman Islands have now been published in the Gazette. These bills are now open for the last round of public consultation and people are asked to contact their MP directly with questions, concerns or feedback before the bills are debated in parliament and likely passed next month.

As of Tuesday, no other amendment bills relating to the National Conservation Act or immigration legislation or a referendum law had made it to the government’s Gazette to meet the constitutional 28-day period of final consultation required on all legislation before it is debated in parliament.

The government has not yet set a date for its December meeting, but time is running out for any more laws to make it to the December session of the parliament if they are to comply with the constitution, given that Christmas is just five weeks away.

Since the UPM is now in the minority after the shocking resignations of four members last month, it will need the support of the opposition to steer any new bills or amendment bills through the House. Deputy Premier Kenneth Bryan had indicated that he was still hoping to pass the more controversial amendments and the referendum bill at the next meeting, regardless of the controversies surrounding all of them.

Whether the government decides to have another meeting in January or February remains to be seen, but as the elections will be on 30 April, the governor must prorogue parliament by 4 March to pave the way for candidates’ Nomination Day on 5 March and the start of the official eight-week general election campaign.

The offshore bills appear to be set for safe passage, even though Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, who will now be bringing these pieces of legislation, had criticised her former deputy and financial services minister, André Ebanks, over some of them before he resigned. However, she will need all these laws to pass to support the spending in what was her 2025 budget plan.

The bills were developed following a comprehensive review of fee structures by the Ministry of Financial Services and Commerce, the General Registry and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). The review found that some fees had not been adjusted in five to ten years or more. The industry’s feedback on the regulatory revenue proposals was also sought.

“These licensing regimes will give CIMA greater powers for supervising these activities and provide greater clarity for industry operating in the jurisdiction,” officials from the financial services ministry stated in a release about the bills

All of the bills listed below can be found on the Government Gazette.

*         Companies (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024;

*         Exempted Limited Partnership (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024

*         Limited Liability Companies (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024;

*         Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024;

*         Partnership (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024;

*         Building Societies (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024;

*         Monetary Authority (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024;56

*         Insurance (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024;

*         Companies Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024;

*         Securities Investment Business (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024;

*         Mutual Funds (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024;

*         Private Funds (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024; and

*         Banks and Trust Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2024

The Virtual Asset (Service Providers) (Amendment) Bill, 2024 is to provide the regulatory basis for phase 2 of the Cayman Islands’ virtual asset service providers (VASPs) regime, which relates to the Introduction of a licencing regime for trading platforms and virtual asset custodians.

These licensing regimes will give CIMA greater powers to supervise these activities and provide greater clarity for the industry operating in the jurisdiction.

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