Cayman Islands Set to be Delisted by October After Fully Implementing Anti-Money Laundering Regulations

Background

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has confirmed that the Cayman Islands has fully implemented the action plan agreed upon with the global standard setter for anti-money laundering. This significant step marks the end of two years of increased monitoring and brings the island nation closer to being removed from the grey list.

History of Grey Listing

In February 2021, the FATF placed the Cayman Islands on its grey list due to concerns over its anti-money laundering regime. However, after addressing three key recommendations from a Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) mutual evaluation report in March 2019, the island nation has now substantially completed its action plan.

Key Areas of Improvement

FATF president T. Raja Kumar praised the Cayman Islands for making substantial progress since being grey listed, citing effective proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for anti-money laundering compliance breaches as a notable area of improvement.

Delisting Process

As part of the delisting process, a team of experts will conduct an onsite visit to verify the measures put in place by the Cayman Islands. The visit is tentatively scheduled for late August or early September, with a report to be presented at the next FATF plenary in October 2023.

Reaction from Local Authorities

Cayman Finance CEO Steve McIntosh welcomed the announcement, congratulating the government delegation and agencies involved in achieving this milestone. Minister of Financial Services André Ebanks also expressed appreciation for their efforts, emphasizing that satisfying all recommended actions is a major step towards delisting but that continued focus was required to complete the process.

Conclusion

The onsite visit by the Americas Joint Group, a subgroup of the FATF’s International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG), will be the final step in the delisting process. The Cayman Islands looks forward to continuing its cooperation with the group during their visit and is hopeful that it will be removed from the grey list by October 2023.