Ian Huskisson from Travers Thorp Alberga in the Cayman Islands discusses the recent demise of the Caledonian offshore banking group as a result of "incredible government overreach" by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The BVI and Cayman Courts are usually the work horses of the Caribbean international financial centres. 2016 proved to be no different.

Observers of offshore financial centres will know that post 2008 they have been weathering a perfect storm.

It has become conventional wisdom to lay the ‘blame' for lawful tax avoidance firmly at the feet of the offshore financial centres.

A discussion on the Cayman Islands hedge fund transparency.

The new Law requiring registration and licensing of Directors of a regulated Cayman Mutual Fund is now effective.

The Insurance Law of 1979 laid the foundation for the Cayman Islands to become one of the world's largest captive insurance centres. Licensees are regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority ("the Authority").

During the last twenty-five years the Cayman Islands have developed into one of the world’s largest international financial centers, with more than 300 hundred active licences for banks and trust companies, 700 insurance companies and over 7,000 mutual funds. The stock exchange has approximately 1,000 listed entities with a market capitalization of over US$77 Billion.

The CIMA paper on proposed corporate governance expresses the intention that it will "enhance and clarify corporate governance standards and provide greater transparency in the financial services market".

The Exempted Limited Partnership Law, 2014 (the "ELP Law"), enacted on 2 July 2014 and now in full force and effect, repeals and replaces the Exempted Limited Partnership Law (2013 Revision).

The Cayman Islands, being a British Dependent Territory and not an independent country, cannot grant citizenship, which is governed by the British Nationality Act, but it determines its own immigration policies, which are contained in the Immigration Law, and the conditions on which any individual, partnership or company may carry on business.

The Cayman Islands is a well established and highly effective jurisdiction for this form of structuring.

All arbitrations where the seat of the arbitration is in the Cayman Islands, irrespective of where the parties are based, are governed by the Arbitration Law, 2012 (the 2012 Law).

A Trust arises when a person (called "the Settlor") places a binding obligation, duty or aggregate accumulation of binding obligations and duties upon another person (called "the Trustee") to deal with property of whatever nature, type and description which the Trustee has in his or its possession and over which he or it has control (called "the Trust Property") for the benefit of an identifiable person or class of person, charitable or otherwise (called "the Beneficiaries") of whom the Settlor

The Cayman Islands are a British Overseas Territory, with a stable democratic system of government and a low crime rate.

The Limited Partnerships Law of the Cayman Islands allows the creation of a limited partnership which is very similar to limited partnerships created in the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

For many decades the Cayman Islands has been one of the leading offshore jurisdictions for the establishment of private equity, private credit and hedge funds, and stands at the centre of their capital flows and sophisticated legal structures.

The motivation behind the introduction of the Mutual Funds legislation in 1993 was to follow through the recommendations of the Gallagher Report which stated that the Cayman Islands were in the forefront of the regulation of their financial industry and the operation of mutual funds was an area that had not been subject to regulation by any suitable authority.

The Cayman Islands are now among the world's leading offshore banking centres and have over five hundred (500) licensed banks and trust companies, including 45 of the world's top 50 international banks. Bank and Trust companies represent 65 different countries in the world, including the United States, Canada, the United kingdom, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, France, Brazil, Mexico and Portugal.

In 1971, the Government of the Cayman Islands enacted the Registered Land Law. This Law introduced a system of land registration which is accurate, efficient, and simple. This system is similar in a number of ways to the registered land system in the United Kingdom and to the Australian Torrens System (invented by Sir Robert R. Torrens, an Australian who on the 27th of January, 1858, introduced a bill in South Australia which later became in Australia The Real Property Act).