The Cayman Islands is the one of the most dynamic and sophisticated financial centers in the world, ranking number five directly after New York, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. The financial services industry in the Cayman Islands is supported by all of the major accounting firms and sophisticated legal profession. Additional attributes are:
- The world´s fifth largest financial center.
- First class business infrastructure.
- Broad scope of financial products.
- The 2nd largest offshore insurance center.
- Home of 80% of the world´s mutual funds and hedge funds.
- Favorable economic advantage.
- Sound regulatory policies.
- Statutory confidentiality provisions.
- Forward looking legislature.
- Stable political climate.
- Same time zone as the Eastern USA.
- Excellent communications.
- Easily accessible from North America and Europe.
FATCA Regulations
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was introduced by the United States (US) in 2010 as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act with the purpose of reducing tax evasion by their citizens. Hence, its introduction the US FATCA program has taken a worldwide approach, and many countries and jurisdiction have implemented the system and accepted regulations.
On November 2013, the Cayman Islands joined many countries and jurisdictions in an effort to promote financial transparency and fight tax evasion thru a global standard. For Cayman this was a bold step moving forward as one of the first tax haven countries to adopt these regulations. Now in 2015, the Cayman Islands continues to be one of the best places to establish an Investment Fund and is also becoming the center for the trading industries, which are bound to conduct trade transactions worldwide. This is a new beginning to shift current perspective about the financial role the Cayman Islands have in world economy. With solid, transparent and clear laws and regulations already established and implemented, Cayman is ahead of most jurisdictions bringing additional stability to the country and working towards financial growth.
The Cayman Islands is an established worldwide financial center, the region´s banking infrastructure consist of proven network of international financial institutions that conduct gold and silver transaction on a global basis.
World Trade Fund has chosen Cayman Islands because it is already well developed as an international financial center. For 25 years the government has welcome offshore business, and has created a world-standard regulatory structure to discourage money-laundering and other criminal activity. The Cayman Island has the largest offshore banking sector, and are second only to Bermuda as a captive insurance center. Mutual funds and Hedge 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. 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.
The Cayman Islands are the 5th largest banking center in the world, with $ 1.5 trillion in banking liabilities. There are 279 banks, 19 of which are licensed to conduct banking activities with domestic and international clients, the remaining 260 are licensed to operate on an international basis with only limited domestic activity. Financial services generated CI$ 1,2 billion of GDP (55% of the total economy), 36% of all employment and 40% of all government revenue. It has branches of 40% of the world´s 50 largest banks. There are number of services providers. These include global financial institutions as HSBC, UBS and Goldman Sachs; over 80 administrators, leading accountancy practices, and offshore law practices.