#dax basdeo

Marco Archer (CNS): In a recent straw poll of CNS readers, Marco Archer, the CEO of the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange, was the favourite candidate to be the next deputy governor. For the poll, we picked seven senior civil servants who we believe are likely candidates. However, we added Archer as a wild card candidate after he was cited a number of time in comments as someone outside the inner…

UK fire chief to stay despite succession promise

Chief Fire Officer Paul Walker

(CNS): More than five years after Premier Alden McLaughlin refused to endorsethe recruitment of a foreign chief fire office at a Legislative Assembly Finance Committee hearing, the contract for the latest CFO recruited from the UK has been extended for another two years in the face of unfulfilled succession plan promises. The one-year contract for CFO Paul Walker…

Cayman tops TJN 2020 Secrecy Index

Alex Cobham, Tax Justice Network chief executive

(CNS): The Cayman Islands government hit back at the Tax Justice Network after it topped the TJN Financial Secrecy Indexthis year for the first time, which happened on the same day that Cayman became the only UK Overseas Territory to be blacklisted by the European Union. Officials here criticised TJN’s methodology and accused it of ignoring the…

Prison to use IDC as jails overflow

HMP Northward

(CNS): With more than 220 men crammed into HMP Northward, which is supposed to have a maximum capacity of 212, prison authorities say they will be transferring some low-risk inmates to the Immigration Detention Centre at Fairbanks in an effort to ease the overcrowding at the men’s jail. Northward has been bursting at the seams for some time now and the prison population shows no…

Still no succession plan in fire service

(CNS): Two years after the current fire chief was drafted into Cayman from the UK, with the remit of sorting out the succession planning and talent management to pave the way for a local senior fire officer to take over the top job, there is still no succession plan in place. A multitude of problems have been revealed in a review of the Cayman Islands Fire Service, which was conducted by…

PA law not followed in Archer’s appointment

Marco Archer (CNS): Deputy Governor Franz Manderson confirmed that the process set down in the new Public Authorities Law, which came into force on 1 June, was not followed by the Cayman Stock Exchange Board when it recruited its new CEO this year. Marco Archer, the former finance minister who lost his seat in the May General Election, was announced as the new CSX boss in September after “a…

Beneficial owner access opens to UK

(CNS Business): Legislation came into effect this weekend that will allow UK law enforcement authorities to access details of the beneficial owners of all financial entities registered in the Cayman Islands. Officials said the new technology-based system enhancement to the beneficial ownership regime will allow those with legitimate rights or reasons to have access to do so in a more efficient…