Cayman Finance condemns ComplianceAid

The chief executive officer (CEO) of Cayman Finance has expressed disappointment that ComplianceAid, a company that provides anti-money laundering and compliance training, has taken comments made in a US Department of State Report out of context. 

Jude Scott, the CEO of Cayman Finance, said that the recent report listing Cayman as a ‘country of primary concern’ was taken out of context by ComplianceAid for opportunistic reasons.

According to Scott, ComplianceAid took the information from the annual report and implied that there was primarily a problem in the Caribbean, when the report being referred to actually listed 50 plus countries around the world.

“It appears that ComplianceAid has chosen to sensationalise media reports to negatively focus on Caribbean countries for the purpose of increasing attendance at ComplianceAid’s upcoming conference in Miami,” said Scott.

He added: “This list of countries actually included all 8 of the G8 countries in the same category as the Cayman Islands and other Caribbean countries. The article by ComplianceAid was deceptive at best and this type of behaviour intentionally, or unintentionally, by conference promoters should never be encouraged.”

The 2015 international narcotics control strategy report categorises Cayman as a major money laundering. However, it explained that “a government (e.g. the US or the UK) can have comprehensive anti- money laundering laws on its books and conduct aggressive anti-money laundering enforcement efforts but still be classified a major money laundering jurisdiction. 

“In some cases, this classification may simply or largely be a function of the size and/or sophistication of the jurisdiction’s economy.” 

Scott added: “The success of the Cayman Islands as a leading international financial centre with strong and sophisticated banking and other financial industry services seems to have contributed to Cayman’s continued inclusion on the lists.”