Dear Cayman Finance Members,

Cayman Finance is excited to not only embrace a new year but also a new decade. The past year has been a challenging, yet rewarding one, as the organisation elevated its game to promote and protect our industry and jurisdiction. At Cayman Finance, we remain committed to protect, promote, develop and grow the Cayman Islands Financial Services Industry through excellence, innovation and balance.

Looking back on 2019, I am proud of the work undertaken by Cayman Finance including:

  • Hosting the 6th Annual Cayman Finance New York Breakfast Briefing and inaugural Cayman Finance New York Reinsurance Roundtable.
  • The culmination of three years' work with Oxford Economics on Tax Neutrality Research with a comprehensive research paper and an executive summary, both of which will soon be publicly available. In addition, we have developed the Cayman Islands Tax Neutrality Overview based on in-house research.
  • Producing an updated suite of collateral including booklets highlighting how the Cayman Islands extends value to countries around the world. A total of four jurisdictionally-specific booklets were produced in 2019: USA, EU, UK, and Brazil.
  • Making submissions to two important OECD global consultations, in which we clearly articulated the benefits of Cayman's tax neutral status and why this should be preserved in future taxation models.
  • Coordinating various consultations with industry to provide feedback on legislation and regulation to the Cayman Islands Government and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.
  • Participation in a panel discussion at the UK Labour Party Conference, in which our CEO competently spoke about the important role the Cayman Islands Financial Services Industry plays in extending value to the UK, including higher returns for UK pensioners.
  • Working with the Cayman Islands Government on its remediation response to the recent CFATF Review and assisting with addressing any identified gaps.
  • Participation in events hosted by the US-based Managed Funds Association, which included speaking opportunities and exhibitor space.
  • Creating pathways into the industry for talented young Caymanians through the Cayman Finance Student Education and Work Experience Programme.
  • Engagement meetings with various industry stakeholders in the US, UK, Europe and Brazil.

The above list is not exhaustive but merely a snapshot of work undertaken by Cayman Finance on behalf of our members over the past 12 months.

Going forward, there will be challenges but we continue to work assiduously to ensure the value the Cayman Islands Financial Services Industry extends to clients and others across the world are well understood. To that end, we are at an advanced stage of planning for our 7th Annual Cayman Finance New York Breakfast Briefing and 2nd Cayman Finance New York Reinsurance Roundtable to be held in January. We are delighted to once again have the Governor, Premier, Minister of Financial Services, Attorney General, and officials from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority joining us for these events. Important industry meetings are being coordinated to coincide with our New York events.

Our team is also working on enhanced messaging and collateral that highlights the important role Cayman plays in global finance, while upholding the highest international standards.

In the year ahead, we will be leveraging recent research done on Tax Neutrality to underscore the beneficial role the Cayman Islands Financial Services Industry plays in international finance and the tremendous value provided to economies around the world.

I am proud of the work undertaken by our team and industry volunteers with the various initiatives and workstreams undertaken in 2019 and stand committed to working with them in the year ahead to ensure the Cayman Islands maintains its position as a leading international financial centre.

I appreciate the great commitment of our membership and their enormous contribution to the quality of our output to assist the industry. I look forward to us all work together in 2020 and beyond to build on the successes of the past and make 2020 and the new decade another successful one not only for Cayman Finance and our members but also for the wider Cayman Islands for which our industry is the main driver of economic growth. Let us also keep clients at the heart of the work we do as provide a blend of excellence, innovation and balance to ensure the Cayman Islands is unwavering as the premier global tax neutral financial hub.

Conor O'Dea

Chairman, Cayman Finance