Business
Changes made as beneficial ownership regime reworked
(CNS): Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly presented changes to beneficial ownership legislation to parliament when it met for the last time before the elections. While the Beneficial Ownership Transparency (Amendment) Act, 2024 was passed less than a year ago, the government continues to rework the law to help shape this delicate new regime that allows increasing access […]
CUC says bills are getting cheaper as fuel rates fall
(CNS): Grand Cayman’s power provider has said that residents have seen a fall in their January bill this year by around 16% compared to the first month of 2024. CUC said the investment it has made in the transition to a renewable, resilient and affordable energy system is now showing up in bills. Residential customers […]
UPM accepts motion to regulate real estate agents
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government accepted a private member’s motion last week to regulate and limit the number of non-Caymanians who can be licensed as real estate agents. The motion was brought by Bernie Bush and supported by Chris Saunders. Putting his case for the motion to his colleagues, Bush said there were some significant […]
Supermarket drops plastic bags but no sign of wider ban
(CNS): More than seven months after the government’s last indication that it was still working on a single-use plastic ban, first raised by the then PPM coalition some seven years ago, Foster’s Supermarket has made a decision to get rid of plastic bags from all its stores and is selling reusable bags at 25¢ instead. […]
DoT signs $26M deal with US advertising agency
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism (CIDOT) has signed a more than $26.2 million contract with Harmelin Media to take care of its US media planning and buying services for the next five years. According to a release from the CIDOT, the Philadelphia-based agency will be responsible for providing “overall strategic guidance, data-driven insight […]
Visitor numbers in 2024 edged closer to 2019 record
(CNS): Almost 438,000 people visited the Cayman Islands in 2024 as overnight guests, even though the airport was closed on several occasions because of bad weather and storm warnings. While this fell short of 2019’s record-breaking number of stayover tourists, the figure was the third-highest since records began and 2% more than in 2023.
Absence of data undermines proposal for cruise vote
(CNS): All relevant information and data on the plans, location, costs and environmental impacts relating to any proposed cruise berthing facility should be released to the public before the country is asked to vote on such a project, according to local activist group Cruise Port Referendum (CPR) Cayman, which disputes the need for such facilities. […]
Finance leader laments lack of investment in sector
(CNS): Around 58% of people who took part in a local survey in 2023 said that they had a negative or neutral view of the financial services sector. Yet the industry employs thousands of Caymanians in well-paying jobs and contributes half of all government revenue. Cayman Finance CEO Steve McIntosh recently said that even though […]
Mac begs opposition to support the UPM’s bills
(CNS): McKeeva Bush MP has made an unabashed appeal to PPM Leader Joey Hew and other opposition members to attend the parliamentary Business Committee meetings ahead of the scheduled session this month and help get the referendum bill and changes to the conservation law on the order paper for debate.
C3 secures legal hearing over CI$1.4M unpaid fees
(CNS): Internet provider Infinity Broadband, known as C3, the only locally-owned communications company in the Cayman Islands, is locked in a legal battle with the utilities regulator, OfReg, over CI$1,400,000 in unpaid fees. C3 believes the government hasn’t properly legislated to collect this coercive revenue from ICT firms, which it contends is a 6% tax […]
High street banks expected to cut interest rates
(CNS): Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Limited is the first of Cayman’s high street retail banks to announce an interest rate cut following the reduction in the US Federal Funds Rate yesterday by a quarter point. Butterfield said it will cut its Prime Rate for US and CI dollar lending for residential mortgages, consumer loans and corporate […]
