Cayman Formalizes Regulatory Cooperation With Dubai Regulator
Tuesday, April 05, 2011

The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has formally established bilateral ties with the Dubai Financial Services Authority through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – a landmark agreement that will enhance regulatory cooperation between the emirate and the Cayman Islands.

The signing, by CIMA’s Managing Director, Cindy Scotland on March 30, was lauded by the Cayman Islands’ Premier, McKeeva Bush who attended the ceremony as part of a state visit to Dubai.

“The MOU with the DFSA reinforces the regulator-to-regulator cooperation which the government of the Cayman Islands fully supports,” said Bush. “As I have previously stated, there are many synergies between our jurisdictions and I am proud to have been able to be a part of this solidification in our ongoing relationship with Dubai.”

This agreement - which boosts the number of MOUs and similar accords with which CIMA has with international counterparts to 21 - will govern cooperation and the exchange of information between the organisations; something that had already been taking place on an informal basis.

Signing on behalf of the DFSA, Chief Executive, Paul Koster, added: “The DFSA is pleased to have entered into this formal arrangement with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. Both authorities are integrated regulators striving to embrace best practice and seeking to reflect the resolutions of the international standard-setters.”

The DFSA is the independent regulator of all financial and ancillary services conducted through the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The DFSA’s regulatory mandate covers asset management, banking and credit services, securities, collective investment funds, custody and trust services, commodities futures trading, Islamic finance, insurance, an international equities exchange and an international commodities derivatives exchange. In addition, DFSA, like CIMA, complies with the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision and is a member of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).

As is the case with CIMA, the DFSA is also a signatory to the multilateral MOU with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), and has a number of other agreements in place. The DFSA has over 50 bilateral memoranda of understanding with regulators in jurisdictions across the world including the UK, Jersey, Isle of Man, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal and Malta.

Scotland concluded:

“We see this MOU as reinforcing our strong international cooperation regime and further demonstrating our commitment in this area. CIMA is pleased to formally recognise the cooperation that has existed between our jurisdictions and we look forward to continuing that. This MOU will create a framework that will facilitate greater assistance between us - the regulators of financial services in Cayman and Dubai - with regard to effectively carrying out our duties.”

In addition to the DFSA, and IOSCO, CIMA has bilateral and multilateral MOUs and other information-exchange agreements with financial regulators in Argentina, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, the Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jersey, Malta, Mexico, Panama, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the UK, and the USA. The multi-lateral agreements include one with four USA federal banking regulators and another with eight Caribbean banking regulators.