Caymans Move Against Money-Laundering

The Cayman Islands government has passed four anti-money-laundering bills in an effort to confront critical scrutiny by international financial regulatory agencies and the U.S. Treasury Department. The bills were hurried through parliament despite objections from some members and lawyers that they were not given enough time to examine or debate the bills. One of the measures allows the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority access to private banking information without having to obtain a court order, which is now required. Other bills address the use of computers and electronic mail for banking transactions. In addition, parts of the Code of Conduct for the banking industry have been made mandatory by law, rather than voluntary. The Cayman Islands, a tiny British territory in the Caribbean, is the world’s fifth-largest banking center with more than $500 billion of assets at its 590 banks and trust companies. Passage of the new laws came just a week after the U.S. Treasury Department issued an “advisory” to U.S. banks about the Caymans’ lack of money-laundering regulation, and a month after the Financial Action Task Force, a Group of 7 watchdog, listed the territory as lacking in financial controls to deal with criminal money-laundering.