International Cooperation With Overseas Regulatory Authorities CIMA

CIMA's Cooperative Function

The Monetary Authority Act lists the provision of assistance to overseas regulatory authorities as one of the principal functions of the Authority. Such international cooperation takes place through the exchange of information, as provided for in the law and facilitated through memoranda of understanding and similar agreements, as well as through the Authority's active participation in international forums and initiatives.

Statement Regarding Access to Financial Information by Financial Sector Regulators and Law Enforcement

The Cayman Islands does not have financial institution secrecy laws that inhibit implementation of the FATF Recommendations, including access to, or obtaining of financial information by financial sector regulators and law enforcement.

The Confidential Information Disclosure Law ("the CIDL"), which is based on common law confidentiality principles, does impose certain statutory confidentiality obligations. However, this legislation contains a number of gateway provisions that specifically enable confidential information to be provided without contravention of the CIDL.

Additionally, the CIDL provides that the Law "shall not constitute a breach of the duty of confidence and shall not be actionable at the suit of any person" "in accordance with, or pursuant to, a right or duty created by any other Law or Regulation" (section 3(1)(j)".

For the avoidance of doubt, it should be noted that the CIDL gateways, along with the information sharing gateways under the Monetary Authority Law, allow for the provision of information to home country financial regulators relating to the operations of foreign banks' branches and subsidiaries located in the Cayman Islands. Consequently, Cayman Islands laws do not prohibit the provision or sharing of relevant information with foreign financial regulators for the purpose of consolidated supervision in accordance with the relevant Basel Core Principles for effective Banking Supervision.

Requests for Assistance from Overseas Regulatory Authorities

The Authority's Regulatory Handbook defines what constitutes an overseas regulatory authority (ORA) and the actions to be taken by the Authority upon receipt of a request for assistance from an ORA. The Legal Division and the Compliance Division work closely with the other divisions on the processing of requests for assistance to ensure that requests are handled in a timely and efficient manner and that they conform to the requirements of the Monetary Authority Law.

Memoranda of Understanding

The Regulatory Handbook also sets out the criteria for entering into a memorandum of understanding with an overseas regulatory authority. Such agreements are statements of intent setting out the terms and conditions of information exchange and investigative assistance between regulatory authorities.

Participation in International Bodies and Initiatives.

The Monetary Authority endeavours to fulfil its regulatory and supervisory mandate having due regard to international standards. CIMA is represented in various bodies including the:

Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF),
Group of International Finance Centre Supervisors (GIFCS), formerly Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors (OGBS),
Working Group on Cross Border Banking,
Caribbean Group of Banking Supervisors (CGBS),
Association of Supervisors of Banks of the Americas (ASBA),
Group of International Insurance Centre Supervisors (GIICS),
International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS),
Offshore Group of Collective Investment Scheme Supervisors (OGCISS), and
International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

The Authority is also participating in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Information Framework Initiative under which statistical information is provided to the IMF.

Such participation seeks to ensure that the Cayman Islands is kept abreast of the developments affecting offshore centres and that the jurisdiction plays an active role in international regulatory developments.

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