Cayman
is well-developed as an international
financial centre. For 25 years the government
has welcomed offshore business, and has
created a world-standard regulatory structure
to avoid money-laundering and other criminal
activity. The Cayman Islands has the world's
largest offshore banking sector, and is
second only to Bermuda as a captive insurance
centre. Mutual funds have been a more
recent success story, assisted by the
establishment of a stock exchange. Trust
management has always been a significant
activity. The islands also offer a shipping
registry. During 2003 and 2004, China's
explosive entry into world markets saw
the Cayman Islands emerge as one of the
primary routes for financial flows into
and out of the Chinese mainland.
During
2003, the Cayman government battled to
avoid inclusion in the scope of the EU's
Savings Tax Directive, but in the end
was forced to give in by the UK Treasury,
and applied the information exchange model
under the Directive from July 1, 2005.
This means that information about interest
on savings paid to citizens of European
member states is being forwarded to the
tax authorities of the member state in
question. The Cayman Islands authorities
have put a brave face on this development,
which they tried hard to avoid.
Most
sectors of the Cayman Islands financial
services industry had a good year in 2004
despite hurricane Ivan. CIMA Chairman
Mr. Timothy Ridley observed that: “We
are very encouraged to see the impressive
growth of the banking and insurance sectors
of international business in 2004, despite
the unforeseen burdens imposed by hurricane
Ivan. Our service providers and their
client base remain committed to the jurisdiction
as evidenced by the strong licensing and
registration activity in the final quarter.”
CIMA's
report for 2004/2005 showed continuing
growth in the jurisdiction's offshore
business sectors, with rapid growth of
securitization business being one of the
most marked features.
In
March 2010, the Cayman Islands Economics
and Statistics Office released a report
showing deterioration in the island’s
economy in all but the banking sector
in the third quarter of 2009 as a result
of the ongoing global financial and economic
crisis.
However
bank sector assets continued to grow,
albeit at a lower level than earlier in
the year, at a rate of 9.5% on Q3 2008,
as both net domestic and net foreign assets
continued to expand.
The
third quarter of 2009 saw a marginal improvement
in new company registrations, following
a severe drop recorded at the start of
2009. However, new company registrations
in the period were down 39.2% on the third
quarter of 2008, to total 5,840. A total
of 7,863 new companies were registered
in 2009, compared to 11,861 in 2008.
Mutual
fund registrations also fell during 2009
compared to a year earlier, with 9,523
new registrations, down from 9,870 in
2008.
This
section of the
site describes the most important types
of offshore business activity carried
out from the Cayman Islands.
Cayman
Islands Investment Fund Management
The Cayman Islands are now one of the
world's leading fund management centres
due to the welcoming regime, well-constructed
legislation, good reputation, and the
presence of the Stock Exchange, whose
regime is particularly well-suited to
mutual funds.
Under
the Mutual Fund Law 1996 (revised in 2007
and 2009), investment or mutual funds
with more than 15 members must be individually
licensed, or must be administered by licensed
mutual fund administrators. Licenses are
issued by the Governor in Executive Council
('ExCo') after scrutiny of the application
by the Monetary Authority.
In
November, 2003, CIMA introduced new mutual
fund regulations in order to make funds
domiciled in the jurisdiction more attractive
to Japanese fund distributors. Legal experts
explained that the changes were deemed
necessary, as although the Japan Securities
Dealer's Association had not objected
to the distribution of Cayman-registered
funds, the guidelines for the selection
of foreign unit trusts were vague with
regard to the required standards for foreign
regulatory regimes, meaning that some
Japanese fund distributors had opted not
to take the risk.
However,
CIMA included a clause in the new regulations
exempting existing Cayman funds registered
in Japan from the obligation to adopt
the more stringent rules if the fund manager
does not see the need.
In
the early years of the new millennium,
the Cayman Islands became the jurisdiction
of choice for the registration of hedge
funds. The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority
(CIMA) announced in mid-2006 that the
islands' hedge fund sector was continuing
to boom, with an additional 665 funds
having registered in the first five months
of the year.
The
SEC's new rules for hedge fund registration
in the US did nothing to lessen the attractions
of 'offshore' as an alternative domicile.
Many US fund managers now choose to register
their funds in Cayman, with actual management
sub-contracted to US or UK firms.
During
the year to the end of June 2007, the
number of active mutual funds regulated
by CIMA grew to 8,972 funds from 7,845
funds. In 2008, the number of registered
funds in the Cayman Islands broke the
10,000 barrier, but by the end of the
year the number of registered funds had
dipped to 9,780 (comprising 9,231 registered
funds; 510 administered funds and 129
licensed funds) as the hedge fund industry
fell victim to the volatile world financial
markets. There was a total of 9,486 mutual
funds registered in the Cayman Islands
at the end of June 2010.
See
Law of Offshore
for more details of the licensing and
regulatory process and Offshore
Legal and Tax Regimes for details
of fees payable.
The
Cayman Islands Stock Exchange opened in
July 1997 under the Stock Exchange Company
Law 1996, specifically targeted at mutual
funds and specialised debt securities
(SPVs). Funds of funds and umbrella funds
are both accepted, and there are no restrictions
on investment policies. Funds can be established
locally, or in a recognised jurisdiction,
meaning the EU, the USA, Japan, Switzerland,
Canada, and a number of other IOFCs. Listing
takes as little as 1-2 weeks. See Law
of Offshore for details of listing
requirements.
By
mid-2007, the CSX had more than 1,400
listings and a market capitalisation of
more than $123bn. New listings fell by
over 20% year-on-year in the 3rd quarter
of 2009, however.
The
Securities Investment Business Law, 2001
(revised in 2004) aims to regulate
the business of securities investment
in the Cayman Islands and provide an appropriate
structure for the regulation of securities
brokers, including market makers, arrangers,
investment advisors and investment managers.
The fundamental objective of the law is
to define activity that requires a licence
and then to ensure that such activity
is undertaken by fit and proper persons
in accordance with accepted supervisory
standards of conduct for securities investment
business. The Cayman Islands Monetary
Authority (CIMA) is directly responsible
for the licensing, supervision and enforcement
of such licences.
The
Securities Investment Business Law, 2002
(Commencement) Order 2002 came into force
from August 14th 2002. It obliged anyone
carrying on SIB to examine their status
under the Law and consider whether they
should apply for one of the exemptions
under the Law, or potentially be subject
to its licensing requirements.
With
effect from 4 March 2004, the UK's Board
of the Inland Revenue designated the Cayman
Islands Stock Exchange as a ‘recognised
stock exchange’ under section 841 of ICTA.
The term ‘recognised stock exchange’ occurs
throughout the Taxes Acts and in various
tax regulations. For example it is used
in the definition of a close company in
section 415 ICTA 1988, and in the definition
of investments which may be held in PEPs
and ISAs. The term is often used in the
phrase ‘listed on a recognised stock exchange’
or in similar or related expressions.
Firms listed on the CSX will now be able
to take advantage of the 'quoted eurobond
exemption'. As a result, interest paid
on securities listed on the Cayman Islands
Stock Exchange can now be paid without
deduction of UK tax. Similarly, securities
listed on the CSX are now regarded as
'qualifying investments', allowing them
to be held directly in Personal Equity
Plans (PEPs) and Individual Savings Accounts
(ISAs).
In
March, 2006, offshore law firm Walkers
said that collateralized debt obligations
(CDOs) were being created at a record
pace in the Cayman Islands, with $125
bn of transactions in 2005. Walkers said
that more than 270 CDO transactions were
established in the Cayman Islands in 2005;
the number of CDOs issued in the Cayman
Islands grew more than 100% in the two
years previous to this.
"The
first Cayman CDO was issued in 1994, however
current stability in the corporate marketplace
combined with the lackluster performance
of debt and equity markets worldwide is
translating into a surge in demand for
CDOs of all types," Ian Ashman, a Partner
in Walkers' Structured Finance group,
said. "This type of vehicle is being used
in a wider range of transactions including
high volume commercial real estate deals
and middle market loans."
One
of the drivers for this growth was that
CDOs were being used in more ways than
ever before: as asset-backed securities,
commercial- and residential-backed securities,
balance sheet CDOs backed by pools of
commercial loans, high-yield bonds, leveraged
loans, and repackaged CDOs.
"There
weren't a lot of corporate credit roller
coasters in 2005, so CDOs performed well,
diversified, and became increasingly attractive
to investors and bankers," David Egglishaw,
Managing Director of Walkers SPV, a licensed
trust company wholly-owned by Walkers,
said. "And this seems to be just the tip
of the iceberg. The markets are much more
transparent and liquid and we expect to
see CDOs applied in increasingly innovative
ways in 2006."
The
Cayman Islands provide CDOs with a tax
neutral jurisdiction, a sophisticated
financial infrastructure that includes
major banks and accounting firms, and
therefore the ability to achieve measurable
savings which, in turn, are passed along
to investors.
Cayman
legal firms were indeed in great demand
from the issuers of structured finance
securities during the first six months
of 2006, underlining the Cayman Island's
pre-eminence as a jurisdiction of choice
for special purpose vehicles (SPVs) used
in securitisation transactions.
According
to UK data provider FactSet Global Filings,
leading Cayman Islands law firms Maples
and Calder and Walkers gave legal advice
on 147 asset-backed securitisation (ABS)
deals between January and June 2006.
Maples
gave advice on a total of 111 deals and
Walkers on a further 36 deals, while smaller
contributions from Mourant du Feu & Jeune
and Ogier pushed the total number higher
still. This compares with the combined
total of 92 from the three main Irish
law firms of A&L Goodbody, Matheson Ormsby
Prentice and McCann Fitzgerald.
The
process of asset securitisation involves
the sale of income-generating financial
assets (such as loans, trade receivables
and leases) by a company to a special
purpose vehicle. The SPV, which might
be a trust or a company, finances the
purchase of these assets by the issue
of bonds, which are secured by those assets.
Cayman
law firms were also dominant in advising
on collateralised deals during the first
half of the year with Maples and Walkers
advising on a combined 143 transactions
compared, compared with 77 from the main
Irish firms.
CDO
issuance continued to balloon during 2007,
with Cayman eventually responsible for
80% of the market; but when the sub-prime
mortgage crisis hit late in the year,
CDO issuance was an immediate casualty.
Such recovery in issuance as took place
in 2009 largely bypassed Cayman, with
its strong US links. Long-term, the Islands'
expertise in structured products will
ensure that the business continues, but
for the time being it is not the brightest
star in the Cayman firmament.
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Cayman Islands Banking
Cayman banks must be licensed under the
Banks and Trust Companies Law (2009 Revision)
(formerly the Banks and Trust Companies
Law 1995, as amended in 2001 and 2003).
The astonishing Cayman Islands banking
industry had 265 banks under the supervision
of the Banking Supervision Division at
the end of June 2010, of which 18 held
Class A licenses permitting local and
offshore business activity, while the
remainder hold Class B licenses,
permitting only offshore business - a
local office is allowed, but only very
limited transactions can be carried out
with Cayman Islands residents. Banks do
not need to be incorporated locally: a
foreign bank can register as a foreign
company and then obtain a license.
For further details of licensing requirements
and procedures and fees payable see Law
of Offshore and Offshore
Legal and Tax Regimes.
As
of September 2009, total assets were reported
at US$1.8 trillion, up 3.75% since the
same period of the previous year when
total assets stood at US$1.7 trillion.
A
very wide range of services is offered:
the 90,000 offshore companies registered
in Cayman include many treasury management
or investment management subsidiaries
of multinationals taking advantage of
the excellent banking environment and
absence of taxation. Evidently, private
banking is a major component of the industry:
asset protection rather than tax avoidance
as such is the driving force, so that
the stability of Cayman alongside stringent
banking secrecy and its sophisticated
investment environment are very attractive
to wealthy individuals, particularly those
from the US where Cayman has a very good
reputation.
Cayman
Islands' banks are supervised by the Cayman
Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA), which
concentrates on banks for which Cayman
is the home-country supervisor. CIMA recently
extended its bank inspection programme
to on-shore subsidiaries of Cayman banks.
Cayman
signed a Memorandum of Understanding on
cross-border banking supervision with
Brazil in 1999, and intended to create
a network of such agreements with all
the countries whose banking supervisors
evince interest in Cayman's banking sector.
Following
KPMG's independent report to the UK Government
on the regulatory regime in the Cayman
Islands and other offshore financial centres
in the autumn of 2000, CIMA made a ruling
on private 'shell' banks that have no
effective supervision because they are
not units of established international
banks, subject to stringent regulation
in their home jurisdictions. Such mainly
US banks had no physical presence in the
Cayman Islands.
In
2000, the Cayman Islands introduced additional
due diligence procedures for banks when
they were required to comply with fresh
Know Your Customer regulations. The original
deadline of December 31, 2002 for the
provision of information about customers
to the authorities was extended, and the
new rules came into force in March 2004.
The
due diligence rules require both new and
long-standing account holders in the jurisdiction
to provide proof of identity and physical
address, in addition to an explanation
of their banking activities. The rules
have provoked criticism from some quarters,
particularly from those who have banked
in the Caymans for many years, who argue
that they are intrusive and unnecessary.
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Cayman Islands Trust Management
Trust Management has been a major activity
in the Cayman Islands for 30 years or
more, and trust assets in Cayman now equal
or exceed banking assets. Originally the
trust was used primarily by wealthy individuals
from the major common law countries, but
it is now accepted as a major technique
of asset protection in all parts of the
world. Over the last 25 years the Cayman
Islands, perhaps more than some other
jurisdictions, have extended and adapted
their trust laws to accommodate this wider
market, which is not necessarily interested
so much just in tax avoidance, but also
in the efficient management of wealth
in a more general sense. See Law
of Offshore for a fuller treatment
of trust law in Cayman.
There
is a large and sophisticated community
of professional advisers on trust matters
in Cayman. Individuals can provide trust
services in the Cayman Islands without
registration, but companies offering trust
services must be licensed under the Banks
and Trust Companies Law (2009 Revision)
(formerly the Banks and Trust Companies
Law 1995, as amended in 2001 and 2003).
Foreign or Cayman-resident companies may
obtain licenses. These are issued by the
Governor, after the Monetary Authority
has accepted an application giving comprehensive
information about the applicant.
A
licensed trust company may be 'restricted'
or 'unrestricted'. 'Restricted' companies
require less capital, but are more strictly
controlled. See Law
of Offshore and Offshore
Legal and Tax Regimes for further
details of the licensing regime for trusts,
and fees payable.
Private
trustee companies have recently become
popular. In this arrangement, the trust
itself remains uncluttered by control
arrangements, which are exercised by the
private trustee company, which in turn
can be administered by a licensed trust
company. This form is particularly suited
to the larger type of family trusts with
multiple beneficiaries and objects.
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Cayman Islands Insurance
See Offshore Business
Review Insurance for a more
general treatment of captive insurance
companies.
The Cayman Islands insurance sector is
regulated under the Insurance Law 1979
as amended and revised in 2004 and 2008.
Class A insurance licenses cover domestic
insurance in Cayman itself; Class B licenses
cover Cayman or (registered) foreign companies
conducting external business; restricted
Class B licenses are for captives. Applications
for licenses are made to the Cayman Islands
Monetary Authority (CIMA). See Law
of Offshore and Offshore
Legal and Tax Regimes for further
details of the licensing regime, minimum
capital requirements and fee levels.
Legislation
in 1998 introduced a Segregated Portfolio
Company Law. The SPC is an exempted company
which may create one or more segregated
portfolios in order to segregate the assets
and liabilities of the company held within
or on behalf of the portfolio from the
assets and liabilities of other portfolios.
As originally passed, SPCs were available
only to certain types of insurance company,
but in 2002 amendments extended the provisions
relating to segregated portfolios to any
exempted company. In essence, the new
law provided that any new company may
apply to be registered as a segregated
portfolio company. A segregated portfolio
company must pay additional fees and must
provide notice to the Registrar of the
names of all segregated portfolio accounts
created.
The
changes allow an existing company to convert
into an SPC, although a number of criteria
will need to be met, including the written
consent of each creditor of the company
and the approval of the Cayman Islands
Monetary Authority (CIMA). An SPC is also
able to create separate portfolios by
reference to a series of shares, as well
as by reference to separate classes of
shares.
The improvement to the SPC structure,
adopted from Guernsey legislation, ensures
that there is no ‘flow over’ from an insolvent
cell to general assets. A key change for
mutual fund issuers is a provision that
secured creditors are able to enforce
their security against a segregated portfolio,
despite the existence of a receivership
order against that portfolio. This ensures
that a segregated portfolio is acceptable
to – and can be rated by – the rating
agencies in the same manner as an exempt
company.
In
2004 the Cayman Islands had the second-largest
captive insurance community in the world,
after Bermuda. The year 2000 saw 48 new
captives set up in the Caymans, bringing
the total to 535. By the end of 2002 Cayman
had 642 captives, having beaten Bermuda
into second place for new formations in
the year with 97 new companies.
Hurricane
Ivan in 2004 damaged the Cayman Islands
in physical terms, but did not halt the
expansion of the insurance sector. According
to CIMA, in the weeks that followed the
devastating hurricane, nine licences were
granted to captive insurance companies,
and the authority also issued an insurance
management licence to Strategic Risk Solutions
(Cayman) Limited.
There
were a total of 760 Class “B”
companies under the supervision of the
Insurance Supervision Division at the
end of June 2010, 4 less than at the end
of the previous quarter and 20 less than
in December 2009. Pure captives and Segregated
Portfolio Companies represent the two
main categories of Class “B”
entities, with 424 and 121 companies respectively.
In
June 2008, the Cayman government elaborated
on planned measures that would be taken
during the 2008/09 fiscal year to further
develop the reinsurance sector in the
Cayman Islands.
The
measures are based on recommendations
submitted to government on April 23, 2008
by the Reinsurance Task Force (RTF).
The
RTF's recommendations focused on promoting
commercial certainty for prospective reinsurance
firms, specifically through provisions
in Immigration Law via the business staffing
plan regime, as well as progressive approaches
to the regulation of reinsurance companies
in Insurance Law.
The
RTF also recommended that reinsurance
firms who wished to take advantage of
the Cayman Islands as a location enter
into a "social contract" with
the government on career, education and
training opportunities for Caymanians,
reflecting a partnership approach to joining
the Cayman Islands financial services
community.
The
RTF comprises senior and experienced figures
in the Cayman Islands insurance industry
familiar with the reinsurance sector as
well as members from government's Financial
Services Council.
"The
reinsurance business plays to Cayman's
natural strengths," commented Alden
McLaughlin, Minister for International
Financial Services Policy. He pointed
to Cayman's institutional business specialisation,
including a vibrant insurance sector;
existing professional infrastructure;
experience in reinsurance products (sidecars
and catastrophe bonds), and the presence
of the hedge fund industry – a natural
source of capital for reinsurers.
"We
hope to attract industry partners who
recognise our strengths and want to grow
their reinsurance business in a conducive
location," said Minister McLaughlin,
adding: "We also want to attract
firms who will generate substantial activity
for and in our financial services sector
and who are willing to provide new careers
and training opportunities for Caymanians."
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Cayman Islands
Ship Management and Operations
See Offshore Business
Review Shipping for a more
general treatment of offshore shipping
registries.
The
Cayman Islands operates Registers of Shipping
and Civil Aircraft. George Town is a Port
of British Registry. Over the years, Cayman
has been included in most English merchant
shipping acts, with the result that it
is a Category 1 registry, entitled to
register all classes of vessel.
The
Cayman Islands Shipping Registry administers
Cayman registration, and has a full professional
staff for this purpose. The
Merchant Shipping Law (2008 Revision)
governs Cayman registration and lays down
fee levels according to tonnage.
Aircraft
are registered under the (English) Aircraft
Navigation (Overseas Territories) Order
1989 (updated in
2007). The Civil Aviation Authority
of the Cayman Islands maintains the register.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority has discretion
over Cayman registration, and in practical
terms limits it to private aircraft.
The
Air Navigation (Overseas Territories)
Order 2007 came into force on January
9, 2008. The new Order consolidates the
provisions of the 2001 Order and its four
amendment orders and has also been substantially
restructured to make it more user-friendly.
A lot of the procedural and administrative
material has been removed, largely from
the schedules, and is now in the relevant
OTAR Parts. A number of new provisions
have been introduced, including those
relating to regulation of corporate operations,
and provisions have been introduced to
enable Governors to give instructions
concerning the equipment, performance
and manner of operation of aircraft. Some
changes have also been made to the airworthiness
requirements; in relation to permits to
fly; and in respect of the introduction
of requirements for safety management
systems.
In
mid 2008, the Cayman Islands Shipping
Registry had over 1,700 vessels on its
books.
The
Merchant Shipping Law of 1997 together
with its amendments was commenced in July
1999 to revise, streamline and update
the previous law. The law was based mainly
on the United Kingdom ("UK")
Merchant Shipping Act, 1995, the UK Aviation
and Maritime Security Act, 1990 and the
UK Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security
Act, 1997. It also embraced up-to-date
convention requirements together with
a number of innovations that address some
of the specific needs of the Cayman Islands.
These included: wider ownership, extended
demise charter, enhanced mortgagee protection,
registration and mortgage of ships under
construction, mandatory minimum insurance,
anti-piracy measures and clearer exercise
of due diligence in the registration,
deletion and representation of ships.
The provisions of a number of ILO Conventions
were also incorporated, covering the engagement
and welfare of seafarers, recruitment
and placement of seafarers, regulation
on hours of work and rest, and living
and working conditions of seafarers.
A
similar revision exercise has taken place
with the Merchant Shipping (Marine Pollution)
Law. This Law places all applicable aspects
of marine pollution into one comprehensive
and up-to-date body of law. It incorporates
relevant aspects of UNCLOS, MARPOL, the
Intervention Convention, OPRC 90, the
London Convention on dumping of wastes
(including its Protocol of 1996) and the
Hazardous and Noxious Substances Convention.
Some applications that have a broader
reach than strict pollution issues have
been included in the Merchant Shipping
Law. Examples include the Civil Liability
Convention and the Fund Convention.
The
third body of principal maritime legislation
introduced was the Admiralty Jurisdiction
Law, which came into effect in 2003. It
was based on the UK Supreme Court Act,
1981 and incorporated the Arrest Convention
of 1952. It operated as part of the Cayman
Islands Grand Court Law and Rules.
In
July 2004 it was announced that the Cayman
Islands' shipping registry was fully compliant
with the International Maritime Organisation’s
International Ship and Port Facility Security
Code. These international maritime security
measures entered into force on July 1,
2004 and are designed to enhance maritime
security on board ships and at ship/port
interface areas. They were adopted by
a Conference on Maritime Security, part
of the United Nations, in December 2002.
The new chapter applies to passenger ships
and cargo ships of 500 gross tonnage and
above, including high speed craft, mobile
offshore drilling units and port facilities
serving such ships engaged on international
voyages.
In
2005 a Maritime Authority Law was passed,
creating the Maritime Authority of the
Cayman Islands (MACI), a body which incorporates
the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry,
Cayman’s Port State Control and Marine
Casualty Investigation arms into one entity.
In
2007, Cayman maritime legislation was
amended with the aim of improving the
services provided by the CISR. The amendments,
which were welcomed by MACI, included
changes to the Merchant Shipping Law (2005
Revision) or MSL 2005, and the Maritime
Authority of the Cayman Islands Law, 2005,
(MACI 2005). Under the revisions, the
range of countries in which a person or
other entity may be eligible to own a
Cayman Islands ship was extended by including
those countries which are listed under
the Third Schedule to the Cayman Islands
Money Laundering Regulations. Ship-owning
entities in those countries are now able
to register ships in the Cayman Islands.
Prior to the amendment, qualifying countries
only included the 25 European Union countries
and their 50-plus overseas dependencies,
countries and territories. Two additional
Ports of Registry (The Creek and Bloody
Bay) were also added to that of George
Town.
Other
amendments to MSL 2005 included the introduction
of updated terminology with respect to
UK Overseas Territories and references
to seafarers; the revision of existing
provisions regarding seafarers' wages
to maintain the appropriate level of protection
under international requirements, ensuring
that Cayman continues to meet its international
obligations; and the introduction of provisions
to ensure that the Cayman Islands are
able to take full advantage of emerging
international requirements regarding the
levels of compensation available to the
Islands in the event of a ship-generated
major oil pollution incident.
CEO
of MACI and Director of the CISR, Joel
Walton, commented: "All of these
changes will allow MACI to operate in
a more efficient and effective manner
while continuing to give Cayman's shipping
sector a competitive edge globally."
In
2007, the United States Coast Guard (USCG)
awarded the Cayman Islands Qualship 21
Status, a maritime quality benchmark which
currently only about 10% of foreign ships
entering US waters meet.
Qualship
21 is the USCG’s matrix system of
extending recognition to “foreign”
ships, which fly the Flag of a state which
has demonstrated a good safety and pollution
prevention record with respect to its
ships. Ships in the Qualship 21 system
are required to undergo significantly
less Port State Control inspections by
the USCG whilst in US waters.
Essentially,
the Qualship 21 system “rewards”
good ships thereby contributing to the
elimination of substandard ships.
In
a move to further expand its global network,
in January 2009, the Cayman Islands Shipping
Registry (CISR) named Mr. Martin Chu as
its first representative in Hong Kong,
opening up a new location for the CISR.
He joined the Registry as CISR Business
and Technical Consultant Far East. Hong
Kong marks the ninth location in the world
to have CISR representation, and brings
to a total of three representatives to
the Far East for the CISR, a division
of the Maritime Authority of the Cayman
Islands (MACI). Commenting on his appointment,
Mr. Chu stated: "It is widely acknowledged
that the Cayman fleet quality is benchmarked
as a leading industry standard and I am
delighted to be given the opportunity
to join the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry
to contribute to its continued success.
The
appointment was announced six months after
MACI appointed Ms Evelyn Soon to be the
Singapore Representative of the Cayman
Islands Shipping Registry (CISR).
In
April 2009, the top management of the
Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands
visited France to sign an agreement with
Bureau Veritas (BV), the French classification
society.
"We
have official affiliations with seven
global Class Societies to ensure our ability
to meet the needs of our valued clients
on a worldwide basis, and also to keep
Cayman at the forefront of the international
maritime safety arena," explained
MACI CEO, Mr A. Joel Walton, head of the
Cayman delegation
In
May 2009, the CISR announced that it had
relocated its Mediterranean representation
to the Principality of Monaco with effect
from May 1, 2009.
"Expansion
over the past two years has been significant
to the CISR," explained Mr Joel Walton,
CEO (Designate) of the MACI and Director
of CISR.
"In
order to strategically place ourselves
for the convenience of our clients, we
opened our first representative Mediterranean
office in Cannes and it was very well
received. However, in order to expand
our services, we decided to move our representation
to Monaco, where we have a large client
base, once accommodation and representation
services there could be secured,"
he added.
Walton
went on to explain that Monaco, with its
wealth of financial services and international
high net worth individuals, is a natural
fit for the CISR, remarking:
"It’s
where we always intended to be, but it
was very difficult to find the right fit
initially, so we went a little further
afield, locating in Cannes when we first
had the opportunity."
The
Cayman Islands Shipping Registry has representation
in nine locations globally: George Town,
Grand Cayman Head Office; European Regional
Office, Southampton, UK; London; Ft. Lauderdale;
Monaco, Athens, Singapore, Hong Kong and
Tokyo.
Also
in May 2009, it was announced that the
CISR had attained "White List"
status under the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding
on Port State Control (MOU).
This
particular MOU has been signed by 18 countries
including Japan, Australia, New Zealand,
China, Canada, Chile, Republic of Korea
and the Russian Federation.
Previously
on the "Grey List", the MACI
had worked arduously to achieve the top
ranking by diligently upgrading and improving
the calibre of its worldwide fleet of
vessels.
"This
is a great achievement for us, and, more
so of our Safety and Survey Division,
although the entire organization contributed
to this success," said the MACI's
CEO, Mr. A. Joel Walton.
"Tokyo
is one of the most important MOUs internationally,
and brings further recognition to the
high standing of the Cayman Islands Shipping
Registry," he added.
Later
that month, the top management of the
Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands
signed an agreement with Registro Italiano
Navale (RINA), the Italian marine interests
classification society.
"In
order to effectively expand our capabilities
on a worldwide basis, we have official
affiliations with seven global Class Societies,
thus enabling them to act on our behalf,"
explained MACI CEO, Mr A. Joel Walton,
head of the Cayman delegation.
Mr
Walton added: "MACI has a broad global
network of Cayman Islands Shipping representatives,
in addition to George Town and UK-based
maritime professionals who travel extensively,
but our agreements with the various prestigious
classification societies give us even
more reach in effectively and efficiently
servicing our valued clients' needs."
The
Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands
(MACI) received news in June 2009 that
the CISR had maintained its prestigious
“White List” status on the
Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
on Port State Control.
According
to the MACI's CEO, Mr A. Joel Walton:
“Paris is surely one of the most
significant MOUs internationally, and
being on its “White List”
brings well-earned global recognition
to the high standing of the Cayman Islands
Shipping Registry”.
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