Financial Services Minister André Ebanks remains cautiously optimistic that Cayman may soon be removed from the Financial Action Task Force grey list, saying that the jurisdiction has “put in the work” required.
In just under two weeks, the FATF plenary will be held in Paris and, on its conclusion on 27 Oct., many within the industry believe Cayman will be removed from the list of non-compliant countries.
Ebanks, speaking with the Cayman Compass Thursday morning at the start of the two-day Caribbean Regional Compliance Association (CRCA) annual conference held at The Ritz-Carlton, said while the final decision resides with the FATF, he is believes Cayman is in a good position following September’s onsite visit from the FATF Joint Group.
“Although the decision is not in our hands, it is with the FATF, I’m proud of the work that Cayman has done to get this far. We have done our homework and… we will hopefully be removed from the grey list,” he said.
Last month Elisabeth Lees, a former prosecutor who was the coordinator of Cayman’s national Anti-Money Laundering Steering Group, said she believed the island is likely to be removed from the list of non-compliant countries at the next FATF plenary in Paris.
Cayman will attend plenary
Ebanks said he, along with Attorney General Samuel Bulgin, among others, will be attending the Paris plenary, which runs from 23-27 Oct.
At the plenary, he said, there were will be proceedings at which he will have to represent Cayman and speak to certain aspects of the local process at the beginning of that week.
Following this, he said, there will be policy sessions where representatives can see how standards have evolved and developed.
The full plenary session will take place on 27 Oct., where the final decision will be made.
Ebanks, delivering opening remarks at the compliance professionals conference, praised their contribution to Cayman’s assessment and the protection of the financial services industry.
He said more legislative changes are in the pipeline to secure the local industry, including the virtual assets framework, consultation for which is set to commence by year’s end.
The minister said he was “incredibly proud” of the compliance officers.
“They are the gatekeepers, they are the foot soldiers that read the compliance standards, adapt to compliance standards, motivate compliance within their firms. They’re a crucial part of the compliance framework and when I say we, I’m talking about the entire region,” he said.
Sandra Edun-Watler, chair for CRAC 2023, welcomed the minister’s support.
Edun-Watler, like Ebanks, said she remains hopeful of Cayman’s removal from the grey list.
“I was optimistic from the beginning when we did the first interviews. So to know that we were on the grey list, knowing the kind of work we did was a bit of a blow for us, but we worked hard and it’s a matter of telling our story to people to understand what we really do here in Cayman Islands, to break that perception,” she said, adding that she is very hopeful and excited following the recent meetings with the private sector.
“We should have a positive result,” she added.
Edun-Watler said the conference, which featured discussions on emerging trends, AI and compliance standards, was an ideal opportunity for learning and exchanging professional experiences within the industry.
“We deal with anti-money laundering, we deal with terrorist financing, proliferation financing, which is mass weapon production, and also sanctions. With these recent sanctions on Russia, we’ve had to deal with all this. We protect our businesses to make sure that they’re doing work with good clients,” she said.
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