Banking Statistical Digest Now Available

(Grand Cayman – Tuesday, 14 March 2017) The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) is pleased to present the 2015 Banking Sector Statistical Digest and Prudential Surveillance Report. This second volume of the Digest provides readers with valuable insight, through detailed analysis, of the distribution of assets and liabilities within the banking sector and across various sectors of the economy. The Digest includes a breakout of exposures to residents and non-residents of the Cayman Islands.

The positions of Cayman Islands licensed banks in comparison to other companies within their corporate group in various countries, depict the importance of the Cayman Islands as an international financial centre.   

The stability of the Cayman Islands banking sector is highlighted by the reported financial soundness indicators for the entire banking sector. These indicators show that the sector remains generally stable and well capitalized across the Category ‘A’ and Category ‘B’ banks.   

Reports show that Category ‘A’ banks conduct business in the domestic and international markets with both residents and non–residents while Category ‘B’ banks engage in international business and limited domestic activity with other entities incorporated within the Cayman Islands. 

The Digest also confirms that banks continue to be profitable despite the low interest rate environment over the 2011-2015 periods. The Cayman Islands maintains a dominant position as an international banking centre, ranking 7th and 6th in terms of cross-border assets and liabilities, compared to previous ranking of 6th and 5th respectively. At the end of December 2015, cross-border assets were US$1.14 trillion and cross-border liabilities were US$1.15 trillion. 

A copy of the Banking Digest can be found here.