Private Sector Oversight
C3 faces fine over CI$500K of missing fees
(CNS): The utilities regulator, OfReg, is looking to fine local telecommunications company Infinity Broadband Ltd, known as C3, for failing to pay its annual fees and comply with the obligation to submit financial reports. In a press release this week, the regulator said it had issued repeated enforcement notices but the company had not met […]
MPs to grill fuel suppliers on price
(CNS): Chris Saunders MP (BTW) successfully steered a motion through parliament last month to establish a select committee to determine how the price of fuel is arrived at here in the Cayman Islands. He said there is at least $2 charged on every gallon sold that, to date, has never been explained. Although this was […]
OfReg finally makes telecoms warn of outages
(CNS): More than six years after the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg) was established and over three since the auditor general raised the alarm about its numerous failings, officials have confirmed new rules that require licensed telecommunications companies to notify customers of planned outages. They must also now submit detailed reports on why communications […]
Chairmen appointed to NRA and OfReg boards
(CNS): Mark Parchment, a local financial and development consultant, has been appointed as the National Roads Authority chairperson, and attorney Samuel Jackson is the new chairperson of the OfReg board. The NRA seat has been vacant since Gilbert McLean was appointed but declined to take up the job in February. Rudy Ebanks, the former OfReg […]
CIMA warns of economic risk linked to climate
(CNS): Climate change is expected to increase risks within the financial system in many ways, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority said in a report assessing the stability of the local economy and salient trends. Local institutions face acute and chronic climate-related risks potentially causing “dire economic consequences”, CIMA warned, as the regulator seeks ways to […]
Maples wins legal battle over CIMA’s AML rules
(CNS): In a complex legal ruling, a Grand Court judge has found largely in favour of financial services group, Maples, after it challenged the regulator, CIMA, over new rules surrounding the recording of clients’ details under regulations rolled out in 2020 as part of the enhanced local anti-money laundering regime. The ruling comes against the […]
Minister aims to improve utility provision
(CNS): Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks, who has taken over responsibility for OfReg, the beleaguered utilities regulator, has said he wants to ensure its remit is clearly defined and it is empowered to deliver on that remit so that it can improve the utility services delivered by operators. OfReg oversees water, fuels, energy and telecommunications, which […]
Bank violated law over vaccine related data
(CNS): In September 2021, CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank (Cayman) informed its staff that they would be required to prove they were vaccinated against COVID-19 and produce a weekly negative PCR test or go on unpaid leave. However, after two employees complained to the Office of the Ombudsman, the OMB conducted an investigation and found that the […]
Ebanks quits OfReg council, refusing to be ‘seat warmer’
(CNS): Just a few months after George Ebanks was appointed as chair of the Consumer Council, created to advise the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg) and feed in consumer concerns, the local businessman has resigned, saying he refuses to be a seat warmer and describing the council as a “cheap employee” of the regulator. […]
Consumer Council chair commits to representing people
(CNS): George Ebanks, the chair of the newly established Consumer Council, has told CNS that he is committed to consulting with the public and ensuring their concerns are conveyed to the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg), which created this new body to protect the rights of consumers. Ebanks said he would not allow the […]
Ministry breached data law with vaccine prize draw
(CNS): As the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) marks International Data Protection Day this Saturday, it has revealed some of the details of its work this year in that area of its remit, including an own motion investigation (OMI) into a data protection complaint about the government’s “vaccine challenge” event, in which the ministry failed […]
