Cayman finally off FATF AML grey list

| 27/10/2023 | 90 Comments
Cayman Islands delegation (L-R) CIMA Head of the Fiduciary Services Division Rohan Bromfield, AML Unit Senior Policy Analyst Simone Ebanks, CIMA MD Cindy Scotland, FS Minister André Ebanks, and Attorney General Samuel Bulgin

(CNS): The Cayman Islands has finally been removed from the Financial Action Task Force(FATF) anti-money laundering “grey list” after more than two years of trying. The jurisdiction was listed in February 2021 due to a failure to successfully prosecute or sanction those involved in financial crime. FATF announced the decision to de-list Cayman following the 25-27 October plenary in Paris.

Financial Services Minister André Ebanks, who was in Paris for the session, said it had taken two years of sustained hard work and engagement, locally and internationally, with the public and private sectors working together since the FATF grey listing in 2021.

“Team Cayman faced this challenge with faith, competence and dedication,” he said. “We had a shared determination to step out from under this shadow as soon as possible, and today, we have done exactly that… Compliance with the FATF standard helps protect all of us as we conduct everyday business, whether that’s banking, purchasing local goods, or donating to charities.”

This completes Cayman’s participation in FATF’s 4th-Round Mutual Evaluation process. The 5th Round process starts in 2025, with Cayman expecting its evaluation in 2026.

Attorney General Samuel Bulgin said officials are monitoring and anticipating changes to the FATF standard and evaluation methodology to ensure local policies and legislation align. They are also “monitoring changes to the FATF evaluation methodology, to assess how best to demonstrate the Cayman Islands’ effectiveness in implementing the standard”.

Bulgin and the minister said that lessons learned during FATF’s 4th Round are guiding preparations for the next round.

No one has ever confirmed why Cayman was unprepared for the listing, given the specific concerns about the detection of financial crime.

Bulgin, who plays a key role in maintaining the AML regime, said the importance of the removal could not be understated. “FATF’s decision confirms that our AML regime effectively deters, detects, arrests and prosecutes financial crimes in the Cayman Islands and that it also supports other countries’ efforts.”

Ebanks pointed to how the listing had led to improvements in the domestic AML regime.

“The FATF process is onerous, but what we initially saw as a challenge eventually came to be seen as an opportunity to prove ourselves,” Ebanks said. “Now, we have a stronger grasp on how to assess and incorporate international standards into our regime, and our inter-governmental approach locally has vastly improved our effectiveness in fighting financial crime, including internationally.”

The minister added that today’s outcome confirms the Cayman Islands’ reputation as a well-regulated jurisdiction in AML matters.

“We have demonstrated that we are a global partner in financial services. And with this tremendous achievement, the Cayman Islands is on the move, looking to bolster our commercial offerings for sound business and our corresponding compliance regime,” he added.

Meanwhile, Premier Wayne Panton, who was in the Cayman Islands when the delisting was confirmed, said it was a “culmination of the tireless efforts, advocacy and diplomacy” by the countless public servants involved, as well as the minister and the attorney general.

“Our financial services industry also gave their full cooperation, walking every step of this journey with us, and our public has been very supportive of our progress in meeting the FATF standard,” he said, adding that it was a reinforcement of the sound reputation of the Cayman Islands.

Various players in the offshore sector here also welcomed the delisting. Cayman Finance CEO Steve McIntosh said the regulatory and legal framework is one of the key reasons why asset managers, investors and others have full confidence in doing business here.

“The FATF process recognises that the Cayman Islands not only has one of the highest levels of technical compliance with global anti-money laundering standards, but also that they are effectively applied in practice,” he said, despite it taking well over two years to prove that point.

“Standard setters such as the FATF and the European Union have meticulously reviewed Cayman’s regulatory capacity and practices and confirmed they meet global standards for transparency, anti-money laundering, and tax good governance at least on par with, if not better, than most major economies.”


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Category: Government Finance, Politics

Comments (90)

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  1. This is all about competition. says:

    People really don’t understand that this is all about competition. The Cayman Islands has more stringent AML laws and regulations than any other nation on earth. It is the competitor nations, the FATF’s and OECD’s own member nations, that put Cayman on these “lists” and they do so to stifle competition. Their own member nations are the biggest facilitators of tax avoidance for citizens of other nations and puts the Cayman Islands squarely in competition with them. This is the same old, time-worn trick of “Hey! Look at what those people over there are doing!”. Keeping the scrutiny and attention off themselves. Same old BS. 3 of the FATF’s own member nations are not fully compliant with their own recommendations! But are those countries grey-listed? No.

    https://caymanfinance.ky/2023/10/27/cayman-islands-successfully-completes-fatf-review-process/?utm_source=mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_term=Finance-and-Banking&utm_content=articleoriginal&utm_campaign=article

    • Anonymous says:

      What planet are you on bobo? Cayman has more stringent AML etc?…. You need to wake up and smell the coffee.

  2. Anonymous says:

    This stuff drives up the cost of living and cost of doing business which is probably the intended purpose. Tax structuring is a numbers game and the 15% Global Minimum Tax is really plus 9% for structuring costs. So that brings (on average) above 24% which starts to set the floor.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    Now we need to work on getting off the FML list.

  4. Anonymous says:

    What was the price is the question-

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  5. Bodden Esq says:

    Credit should be given where credit is due. Thank you Dwayne The Rock Seymour you have proven again that actions speak louder than words and you grabbed the bull by the horns wrestled it down and got the job done! I speak for everyone by saying we salute you once again. The future is bright with Sir Seymour behind the wheel!

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    • Anonymous says:

      The future is filled with comedy when Dwayne (Jon Jon) Seymour is behind the wheel: lookout light pole!

  6. Padlock Fish says:

    This will last until one our so called money laundering Realestate pioneers gets caught up in yet another scandal and maybe finally gets mentioned in the cover up !

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Kenny gonna take credit for this at his next Under the Sea tourism conference? (featuring King Triton and Ursula as honorable guest speakers)

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    • Anonymous says:

      The difference with Kenneth Bryan and Andre Ebanks is night and day. These Cayman Islands need more Andres to stand for election.

      Compare the two Ministers on:

      Integrity
      Honesty
      Maturity
      Competence
      Sensibility
      Experience
      Education
      Character
      Demeanor
      Relationships
      Accomplishments
      Making a positive difference for poor people
      Presentability
      Communications
      Representation
      Power of donors have over them

      Reply in the comments.

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  8. sandandkush says:

    With the Cayman Islands sailing away from the FATF grey list, perhaps Stripe will finally roll out the red carpet for our businesses. Meanwhile, PayPal can stop acting like a digital fortress where we can deposit but never withdraw.

    • Anonymous says:

      I think our banks might have a lot to do with why it’s so difficult to do stuff like that here.

      • Anonymous says:

        the local banking industry has everything to do with it. Fortunately for me i have found a way round it but that’s only because i have multiple PayPal accounts in Cayman and other courtiers’, you basically have to move it from one PayPal to another in another country which is linked to a bank account and then make a payment request to get it into a Cayman account. Same with my Revolut account, they are black listed in cayman but i can send mone to it using Moneygram or western union. the loop holes exist . The money can come back to your cayman account but you just have to take different routes.

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Now the EU has to go away and invent some new rules to hit Cayman over the head with. All the while … Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and Cyrus can continue with their anti-competitive tax and AML practices.

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    • Anonymous says:

      FATF 6th Round of Mutual Evaluation is coming up in the not-too-distant future. Soon there will be more international obligations to meet again.

  10. Anonymous says:

    We’re off the list at least for the next 6 years unless we do a major screwup of hitherto unknown proportions. And yes, the powers behind FATF are once again raising the bar for the Cayman Islands and some other territories that their non-transparent agenda is targeting.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    I’m interested in understanding the true sacrifices Cayman has made for this delisting. Does this imply that we can finally use eBay, Amazon, and other online platforms to list ourselves as sellers?

    Will we have the ability to access our UK and international stock accounts, and can we transfer funds from PayPal into our Cayman bank accounts?

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    • Anonymous says:

      That is because of the decisions of eBay, Amazon, Apple, etc. not because of anything done locally. Well, other than it is too expensive to get licensed for a small market.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Time for Andre to cross the floor and leave the yahoos he associated with behind. Smart guy obviously surrounded by weak dummies.

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    • Anonymous says:

      His heart is across the aisle anyway.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Can Andre just promise to work with whichever side is in power? We need him. Only smart one getting things done on any side of these MPs. Not to mention that he doesn’t pander to anyone…votes, politicians, anyone. Just head down doing work.

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      • Anonymous says:

        We had smart people before. Marco, Winston, Tara it’s just they got voted out by a minority of not so smart people.

        The talent is there.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Tara formed the fool in implementing the needed legislation. She was a nightmare for this country. All hail Andre

        • Anonymous says:

          Marco and Winston (but not Tara) were both very intelligent and capable MLAs. And, just for clarity sake, Winston was not voted out, but did not seek re-election in the 2017 election.

      • Anonymous says:

        The entire parliament spent a week’s worth of session time sharing their personal hatred of gay Caymanians, instead of passing the needed legislation that was required in time. There were many notices.

      • Anonymous says:

        A smart man with integrity. The best. Our next Attorney General please. PLEASE

        • Anonymous says:

          It would be most appropriate to have a very capable and intelligent multi-generational Caymanian (such as Andre) appointed as Attorney General.

          In addition, if the Cayman Islands is to effectively address policy-based issues pertaining to justice, we need a Ministry of Justice with responsibility for directing policy justice-based issues, which the Caymanian electorate democratically elects (rather than an Attorney General, who is appointed, not elected).

    • Anonymous says:

      Cross the floor to where exactly? The people that created this entire mess? It didn’t happen overnight.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Alden and Tara were who got Cayman on the list in the first place.

        • Anonymous says:

          Wayne Panton, who also shares responsibility for the Cayman Islands being grey-listed by the FATF, was the former Minister of Financial Services and Commerce with the PPM between 2013 to 2017.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    never should have been on the grey list in the first place

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    • Anonymous says:

      Financial services industry perhaps didn’t deserve it but politicians… whole other ball game, wutless and embarrassing ambassadors for the jurisdiction.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Congratulations to all the hard working men and women in the public and private sector who worked together to achieve this result.

    As our DG has stated many times, we achieve world class results working together.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    😂

  16. Anonymous says:

    Never forget that it was their sheer incompetence to pull their finger out and pass required acts in time (which they quite literally sat on) which got us into this mess to begin with.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yes but that was on the last government. Not Andre.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Andre did alright. Now, having addressed getting off the FATF grey-list, will Andre tackle AML regime errors that detrimentally affected Caymanians?

    • Anonymous says:

      “their” being the previous government at the hands of Alden.

    • Anonymous says:

      A smart man with integrity. The best. Our next Attorney General please. PLEASE

    • Anonymous says:

      PPM, under the advice and guidance of the Attorney General, who is also the legal advisor to the PACT government and current Legislature, made AML unlawful mistakes along the way, some which still require remediation.

  17. Anonymous says:

    Oh good now I can start a bank account with out providing a DNA sample. But I bet I’ll still have to pay bogus fees for monitoring and compliance.

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    • Anonymous says:

      And 10:41 be harassed by email for copies of light bills, sources of income blah blah blah for accounts with a couple of thousand dollars in them after several years of banking with a bank and being threatened with all sorts of dire consequence for failure to provide same. Meantime the tower block condos go up in South Sound and the apartment developments multiply all over the western part of the island, far more residences than there are people to live in them or afford them…..clearly money laundering schemes.

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    • Anonymous says:

      That’s all been around (because of the EU) for years and isn’t going to change, or there’d probably be another rug pull. Banking here is absurd anyway. They charge you to hold your money but don’t actually provide any service to justify their hideous fees.

  18. Anonymous says:

    so they bought the ‘financial services’ fairy tale?

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  19. Anonymous says:

    So none of these gazillion condos and apartments that are going up all about the place have any connection to money laundering entities? We can be assured of that now?

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  20. Anonymous says:

    Great now why don’t you fools stop letting international companies/criminal organizations avoid billions in taxes every year.

    Theses corporations exploited the tax free Cayman was given and they bought out the CIG.

    The list is stupid we(the community) sees no benefit of letting companies launder billions of dollars in Cayman every year.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Ignorance personified, 8:17.

      ….You probably think “tourism” is the strongest leg of the Cayman Islands’ economy…..

      Without the FS sector, you’d be back living in wattle and daub and I really hope you still have your turtling skills….

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    • Anonymous says:

      You should try putting brain in gear before opening mouth!!!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Downvotes shows you the level of awareness in Cayman.
      No one gives a fk.

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  21. Corruption is endemic says:

    How long before those Eurotrash buzzards put us on again?

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  22. Anonymous says:

    Well done Minister Andre Ebanks hopefully the next Premier is the next step for you. Let’s watch the expats on CNS try to down play the efforts of the hard working and dedicated teams that made this possible.

    We need a leader like David Burt of Bermuda and I truly believe Minister Ebanks is on that level and he is an educated man of colour. We tried the Pantons and McTaggarts aka Ole money white Caymanians out of touch the daily struggles of average persons living in this country.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Well done indeed.
      Andre if you are to be the next Premier, please don’t carry the PACT garbage , Kenneth, Seymour, Saunders, Mac , Bernie,Jay with you.
      I believe you are a principled man, and you should surround yourself with like minded people.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Really not sure why you had to bring race into this issue. As someone who has had the please of working with Roy McTaggart, Wayne Panton and Andre Ebanks, I take great offence to your characterization. Each of these individuals worked hard to get to the top of their respective professions and it has nothing to do with expats or being “white” Caymanians. I congratulate Minister Ebanks for all his hard work and I agree that I would definitely like to see him as Premier one day.

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      • Anonymous says:

        This expat is and always was a supporter of André, who started out in a large law firm and I had the pleasure to work with. A humble, intelligent, honest and principled man who gets on and does his job. Exactly the kind of leadership Cayman needs, trouble is (as Wayne found out) it’s difficult to navigate when surrounded by sharks. We need more like André.

    • Anonymous says:

      Might as well throw a bit of racism in there eh? ‘Educated man of colour’?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Why would expats downplay it? Andrea and his team did great work.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Andre is a far cry from being the leader you described! He watches too many Obama speeches

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    • Anonymous says:

      Agree congratulations Andre and Team.
      Also agree Andre would be an excellent Premier so long as he dumps the disgraceful uneducated PACT baggage.
      I do however disagree about your expat comment.
      Everyone stands to gain from this, don’t be bitter.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Pray tell us all what the colour of Andre’s skin has to do with anything. You sir or madam are a racist and a disgrace to Cayman.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Andre appears to be the only one, well done to him. The rest of your post is disgusting! Now who is the racist!

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    • Anonymous says:

      LMAO ‘man of colour’ What era you living in?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Not as ‘black’ as man standing next to him. LOL Neither black or white are colours. At least colour was spelt correctly.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Is he Latino?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Am an educated woman who looks like that…(but prettier)..after an hour in the sun LOL

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    • Anonymous says:

      Good old fashioned race politics. A proven strategy for success the world over…… said nobody ever.

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    • Big Bobo In West Bay says:

      3:09, What the hell does race have to do with this?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Uneducated comment; “man of colur”.

      Andre is his own man and can succeed in any company.

      The very last thing we need to do is to follow Bermuda in any way manner what so ever…they are on a downward trajectory, we are not.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Sir Alden McLaughlin did an excellent job over 8 years as Premier. He is not ‘ole money white Caymanian’. And by the way – McTaggart has never been Premier. But yes – Panton is failing miserably as Premier.

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      • Original Poster (We are coming get ready) says:

        I stand by my statements. The facts are there. Panton and McTaggart are the same side of the coin. They are privileged, connected and apart of the very secret society that most of you despise but since they are White Caymanians and yes there are many out who claim to be white due to their skin colour. Bermuda is the standard of where the Caribbean should be and the leader is man of colour that is sharp mentally and has integrity. I know it hurts the expats and self proclaimed white Caymanians. The AG is not a policymaker so to put him in the same category as the Minister of Finance speaks to the intellect of the norm commenters on here. There are more educated men and women of colour who are focused and ready to change things and get the work done. Some of yall better prepare yourselves we all know it agitates you to see a man of colour get things do and you do have to ammunition to criticize. You would think it would be more than 51 comments for such a groundbreaking announcement but speaks volumes. Once again Panton and McTaggart are one and the same power-hungry and privilege with ties to the Lodge but never hear about it because it’s those two.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Caymanians are white. They are the original settlers. We don’t need that American racist crap here.

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        • Anonymous says:

          What an utter racist you are.

          Is Alden White? Is McKeeva White?

          Cayman is and always has been a multi-ethnic Island, and the political failures have involved those of every hue. I am sorry that doesn’t suit your prejudice and envy.

          As for wanting to me more like Bermuda, do you really think national debt of 3.5bn USD and a shrinking population is so enviable?

          You clearly don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. One can only be tahnkful that you aren’t running for office.

        • Anonymous says:

          I guess you are referring to Jon Jon………….

        • Anonymous says:

          Freemasons. Premier Panton has already publicly admitted this at UCCI, when he ran in the 2013 elections (where he successfully gained a seat in the Legislature and the Cabinet.

  23. Anonymous says:

    First, well done to the team.

    Secondly, watch how quickly absolutely nothing changes.

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    • Anonymous says:

      What exactly is it you think should change?

    • Anonymous says:

      Well there wasn’t anything wrong (compared to any other financial centre) in the first place so nothing should change.

      They’ll have us back on for some ridiculous reason or another eventually but let’s enjoy hopefully a couple years of the status quo.

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  24. Anonymous says:

    Well done Andre.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Well done to all those hard working people in the financial services industry who are responsible for this de-listing

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