Economists, of which I confess to be one, always create models based on a number of assumptions to explain behaviours of the markets. So far so good right? But the problem is more often than not these assumptions are beyond the realm of the possible, and due to a failure to create better models, we end up accepting the only available models and forget the assumptions on which it was built.
It is fortunate that Mark Carney, who moves from the governorship of
the Bank of Canada to that of the Bank of England in July 2013, is no
stranger to political minefields.
Now that the US election is over, the focus in Washington has moved
to the US’s budget deficit and its “fiscal cliff”. At press time, it’s
uncertain whether the US will jump off of the cliff, or find a solution
which involves restructuring taxes and spending.
At Cayman Finance, we’ve been watching the United States presidential
election carefully, and observe the disappointing, though somewhat
predictable, distortion of the facts by some US politicians and media,
regarding the financial services industry in Cayman.
There seems to be no let up from the tidal wave of international legislation in the pipeline this year from both sides of the Atlantic, targeting the financial services industry. Senators Carl Levin and Kent Conrad’s newly passed Highways Tax Bill and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) are the ...
In a further affirmation of the Cayman Islands’ compliance with
international standards of transparency and tax information exchange, a
new report points to the jurisdiction’s continuing improvements.
The appointment of Richard Coles in April as the chairman of
Cayman Finance marked not only a new chapter in the organisation but also a
renewed commitment to developing a closer working relationship with the Cayman
Islands government.
The criticism to which the offshore centre is routinely subjected has
now reached a crescendo in the wake of the regulatory response to the
financial crisis and the hunt by domestic Treasuries for tax revenues to
meet the burgeoning deficits of many G20 countries.
The word of the day is regulation. How could it not be? The formidable PR machines of the EU and US governments tell us so. Basel III, we are told by a triumvirate of US regulators, provides a “more stable banking system less prone to excessive risk”.
In light of the readily verifiable standard setting advances made by the
Cayman Islands with respect to all crimes anti-money laundering and tax
transparency, a recent outburst from Senator Dorgan on the floor of the
Senate erroneously describing the Cayman Islands as a...
The boom years in Cayman perhaps made it too easy to ignore rumblings
from uninformed pro-high tax journalists and politicians. The flow of
business during those times turned to a flood as Cayman took a dominant
position as a domicile for offshore funds, debt structures, corporate
structures and trusts.
Having achieved White List status in August 2009 after signing its 12th
Tax Information Exchange Agreement with New Zealand, the Cayman Islands
has since signed its 14th bilateral TIEA in October, this one with the
Netherlands, in an attempt to stay ahead of the OECD’s shifting
goalposts.