George Town, Grand Cayman, 23 September 2013

UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent comments in Parliament underscoring his belief that British overseas territories do not deserve the ‘tax haven’ label is music to the ears of the Insurance Managers Association of Cayman (IMAC).

After the G20 Summit in St. Petersberg, Cameron said: “I do not think it is fair any longer to refer to any of the overseas territories or crown dependencies as tax havens. They have taken action to make sure that they have fair and open tax systems.”

Rob Leadbetter, chairman of IMAC, applauded the Prime Minister for his candid comments and for his public appreciation of the considerable efforts the Cayman Islands and other crown dependencies have made to be at the forefront of international regulatory initiatives.

“It is wonderful to see acknowledgement by the UK Government that the standards not only met, but set by the Cayman Islands are recognised as being robust and exemplary”, said Leadbetter. “The Cayman Islands’ financial services industry, including captive insurance, has been built upon a philosophy of sound regulation and transparency and hearing this publically stated comes as a welcome validation of our efforts.”

The Cayman Islands has participated in every international regulatory initiative, based on a level playing field, for decades: it is on the OECD white list of compliant jurisdictions and is a member of the OECD Global Forum on Taxation, the OECD Peer Review Steering Group and the OECD Peer Review Group; it has ratified 31 Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) with other nations, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, the UK and the US with more underway.