CAYMAN 2012 - HFMWeek

CAYMAN 2012
FINANCIAL SE RVICES
CRITICAL ADVANTAGES
RICHARD COLES TALKS TO HFMWEEK ABOUT HOW CAYMAN FINANCE’S ROLE HAS EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS AND WHY THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST ATTRACTIVE PLACES FOR FUND MANAGERS
Richard Coles
is chairman of Cayman
Finance. Mr. Coles is an
experienced lawyer both
in England and in the
Cayman Islands, being
a solicitor admitted in
England, a Cayman Islands
Attorney-at-law and Notary
Public. He was for six years
the Attorney General for
the Cayman Islands, a
member of the Cabinet
and Legislative Assembly
and a government minister
having been appointed
to that position on the
recommendation of the
British Government.
HFMWeek (HFM): Why was Cayman Finance formed
Richard Coles (RC): Cayman Finance was created to
promote the development of the Cayman Islands Financial
Services Industry through cooperation and engagement
with domestic and international political leaders,
regulators, organisations and media.
A key part of our overall purpose is to promote the integrity
and transparency of the industry by legislative and
regulatory enactment and to encourage the sustainable
growth of the industry through innovation, education and
integration.
It is worth mentioning that as
one of the world’s leading offshore
financial centres, the Cayman Islands
has always served as a strong
leader in the offshore world and in
the Caribbean region in terms of
our innovations. Examples include
being one of the first jurisdictions
to focus on captive insurance
and in particular healthcare captives,
being the first to introduce
legislation and regulation geared
specifically towards offshore
hedge funds, serving as the first
president of the Caribbean Action
Task Force, the regional arm of the
FATF, through our Financial Secretary
and in other areas. We felt
we needed to support these efforts
by having an organised mechanism
to maintain continuous promotion and protection of
the interest of our industry.
From a domestic perspective, we also felt it was important
to have a cohesive partnership among the local financial
industry which joins together the various stakeholders
to assist with the promotion of one of the primary sectors
of employment of the Cayman Islands’ economy.
HFM: Why should fund managers consider Cayman
when wishing to establish an offshore fund
RC: There are quite a few advantages to fund managers
when using the Cayman Islands, though I will focus on
four key aspects.
The first of these is that the Cayman Islands offers a
uniquely qualified professional infrastructure for fund
THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
HAS ALWAYS SERVED AS
A STRONG LEADER IN
THE OFFSHORE WORLD
AND IN THE CARIBBEAN
REGION IN TERMS OF
OUR INNOVATIONS
”
managers. We have many of the world’s best lawyers, accountants,
independent directors and access. This range
and depth in quality is one of our key attractions to fund
managers.
Another key benefit is that setting up a fund can be done
very quickly in Cayman and our experience shows that this
advantage can be critical when clients are looking to capitalise
on a market opportunity.
The third aspect, which in my opinion is key to professionals
such as fund managers, is that the Cayman Islands
fund product and brand is known worldwide as a respected
jurisdiction for the vast majority
of hedge funds. The confidence this
brings to investors in a fund, due
to their knowledge that the fund is
licensed and regulated to high international
standards, remains one of
our key advantages, in my opinion.
Finally, fund managers know
that when they choose to do business
in the Cayman Islands, not
only do they have access to a wide
range of professionals, but they can
also carry out other business as we
are uniquely the only offshore centre
which can boast simultaneous
leadership positions across several
industries, including captive insurance,
banking, hedge funds and securitisations.
Bearing in mind that
many fund clients are also seeking
out wealth management and other financial services, this
breadth of financial services provides a ‘one-stop-shop’
feature opportunity for these managers. It has been one of
the key aspects of the competitive edge that we possess as
a financial services jurisdiction.
HFM: What are the challenges that will come with regulatory
changes in Cayman in 2012
RC: We do not anticipate any significant regulatory
changes in the short term. The jurisdiction underwent
significant enhancements to its regulatory framework in
the early 2000s. These changes focus mainly on improvements
to the jurisdiction’s anti-money laundering regime,
but also included enhancements to other regulatory legislation
and policies in accordance with international stan-
HFMWEEK.CO M 41