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Once again it is election time in the US and once again the Cayman Islands are labelled a “notorious tax haven” by US media, suggesting that something untoward is going. For the campaign-media machinery it does not really matter whether facts are replaced with emotive language; after all in political campaigns perception is reality. The fifth annual Ernst & Young global hedge fund survey “Coming of Age” compiled by Greenwich Associates sees, amid the trends of consolidation of the industry, greater institutionalisation and greater transparency, diverging investor and fund manager views not least with regard to independent oversight. Three of the top ten costliest natural disasters for the insurance industry occurred in 2011. The hit to the operating performance of reinsurers points to higher rates in 2012, but long-term relationships between insurers and reinsurers might suffer and price increases would be difficult to pass on to consumers, say Garth MacDonald of Island Heritage and Bart Hegdes of Greenlight RE. In the year just begun, investors face economic headwinds in nearly every corner of the globe. All eyes are currently focused on the euro zone, where austerity measures are being redoubled to combat crushing debt loads. International financial centre law firms are positioning themselves to take advantage of new emerging markets in Asia and South America. The Journal spoke with Diarmad Murray, global managing partner at Walkers about the effect this has on the firm’s business in the Cayman Islands.
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