Cayman Islands Offshore Intelligence Guide
Population: Circa 25,000

Currency: Cayman dollar (US$1.20)

Government: No formal political parties (National Team Coalition 9, independents 6)

Regulator: Inspector of Financial Services is Mrs Jennifer Silbert, Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, PO Box 10052APO, Elizabethan Square, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands BW1 Tel (345) 949 7089 Fax: (345) 949 2532.
Live Companies: Circa 40,000 (1998)

Bank Deposits: Circa $500bn (Dec 1996)

Collective Investment Funds (1998): US$200bn

Captives (1998): 458

Overview Cayman is able to provide the offshore investor with the full range of regulated professional services including law firms, fiduciaries and company managers, international banks, accountancy firms, fund adminstrators and insurance managers. The legal market is to an extent controlled by the two leading firms of Maples and Calder and W S Walker & Company. Cayman remains a leader in banking with all the major international private banks represented. There are currently 592 licensed banking institutions (as at 7 May 1998) with assets of $503 billion. These figures speak for themselves and show that Cayman, unlike some other offshore jurisdictions, has not shied away from an open policy towards international banking. Promoters of invetsment funds can also rely on a solid professional base to administer their funds.
The Legal Profession
Legal and Constitutional Regime in Brief
The Cayman Islands (Consitution) Order 1972, issued by Her Majesty's Privy Council under the UK West Indies Act 1962, provides the current consitutional framework. As a British dependent territory, there is, in theory, no limit to the UK's parliamentary authority which may be imposed on the Islands, although they possess a unicameral legislative assembly of 18 elected members, including the Financial Secretary, the Attorney-General and the Administrative Secretary, serving a four-year term. The Governor, who is appointed by the Crown, is responsible for defence, foreign policy, internal security, civil administration and aspects of finance policy.
Policy is devised by an executive council made up of three official members appointed by the Governor and four members elected by the legislative assembly. The current Governor and President of the Executive Council is John Owen. The Governor, who is advised on policy, usually consents to the policy proposals unless it falls exclusively within his remit as Governor.
The Cayman Islands have their own independent judiciary with a court of first instance, the Grand Court (High Court) and appeals to the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal and, finally, to the Privy Council in London. In accordance with the Cayman Islands (Consitution) Order (as amended) and the local Interpretation Law (1995 Revision), the legal framework in the Cayman Islands is a combination of English common law and statutory law (local enactments and UK legislation extended to apply in Cayman). The local Contracts Law (1996 Revision) and the local Sale of Goods Law (1997 Revision) both expressly provide that the rules of English common law continue to govern contractual relations.