There is no escape from the impact of the global financial crisis and,
like the rest of the world, Cayman has started to feel its full force
during the past year.
By way of background, the IOSCO Objectives and Principles of Securities
Regulation were endorsed by its member regulators of various securities
and futures markets in 1998, and generally are viewed by securities
regulators as the key international benchmark on sound principles and
practices for securities regulation.
There has been a great deal of attention focused on the Cayman Islands these past few months, more so than usual. Much of the debate as to what to do about the so called ‘tax havens’ has ranged from the White House, the G8 and the G20 to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
First the US housing market unexpectedly threw the asset-backed investment world into a tailspin. Now, seemingly adding insult to injury, a pair of decisions from a prominent New York federal court have raised quite a fuss by ruling that the Cayman liquidators of two Cayman-registered hedge funds would not be recognised in US bankruptcy courts.
Over recent years, the Cayman Islands has proven itself an increasingly popular jurisdiction of choice for the incorporation of companies owned or operated by parties in Asia, with the following being some of the key reasons for such popularity.
It has long been accepted that risk management is a core competency for generating absolute returns within a hedge fund strategy. Prior to the market downturn, hedge fund managers were able to diffuse investor requests for greater transparency in risk-management practices. However, investors, directors and regulators have been startled by the scope and magnitude of losses resulting from the market downturn and credit crisis, as well as recent breaches of fiduciary trust.
The US$50b fraud by Bernard Madoff’s investment advisory and broker-dealer firms had an equally outsized list of red flags. Several ways in which Madoff carried out his operations were not only highly unusual but also gave him more discretion over his operations and subjected his activities to less scrutiny than a typical investment adviser or broker-dealer. Notably
Typically an investor has to give prior notice of their intention to redeem their investment. The period of notice may vary depending on the nature of the funTypically an investor has to give prior notice of their intention to redeem their investment. The period of notice may vary depending on the nature of the fund and the assets that it has invested in.d and the assets that it has invested in. The redemption process is one of the major challenges currently facing...