Offshore News: August 2008
22.08.2008 The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has entered into an agreement with the French Banking Supervisor, the Commission Bancaire, which is the supervisory arm of the Banque de France. According to the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the DFSA by its Chief Executive, Mr. David Knott, and Mr. David Knott, and Mr. Jean-Paul Redouin, Deputy Governor of the Banque de France and Chair of the Commission Bancaire, they will share information and co-operate in the supervision of financial institutions.
It should be noted that the Dubai Financial Services Authority has recently been expanding its network of agreements with foreign regulators by signing Memoranda with Cyprus and South Africa in May 2008 and Belgium, Ireland and Malta in July 2008 The DFSA has also signed an Islamic finance agreement with Hong Kong.
11.08.2008 According to recent 2nd quarter figures from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA), a key milestone has been achieved by Cayman financial services industry. More than 10 000 investment funds have been registered in the Cayman Islands.
At the end of June 2008 there were 10 037 funds on CIMA's register, while there were 9 681 funds on its register at the end of the previous quarter and 8 972 at the mid point of 2007. So, the current annual growth rate is 12% in net new hedge funds, which is quite striking in the context of the sub-prime meltdown and associated credit crunch.
Mark Lewis, senior investment funds partner at Walkers, the leading offshore law firm said, "The 10 000 barrier has been breached as hedge funds continue to be formed in the Cayman Islands, which remains the clear jurisdiction of choice for investment managers and their advisers around the world."
06.08.2008 Two influential international anti-money laundering groups praised Hong Kong's regimes that are countering crime and terrorist-financing. These organizations are the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Money Laundering and the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG). On July 21, 2008, an evaluation report was published to comprise the comments made by the two groups. It praised Hong Kong's good legal structure, its conviction rate for money laundering, strong law enforcement, and clear guidelines for reporting suspicious transactions. The report said that the Hong Kong's supervisory regime for banking, securities and insurance sector has proved effective. The report also indicated a good development that was establishing the Central Co-ordinating Committee on Anti-Money Laundering & Counter Financing of Terrorism chaired by the Financial Secretary.
