Mark Fagan: The success of Cayman is down to the ease of doing business here and the ease of setting up funds. We have the first mover advantage which we intend to keep, and this depends on how we respond to these regulatory changes. We don’t want to impose overly burdensome regulations that are going to result in its becoming more difficult and onerous to set up funds in Cayman. Transparency is a good thing, but over-regulation can be harmful.


Susan Lock: There is obviously regulatory fatigue and overload at the moment. It’s true that the Cayman Islands’ solid reputation was built on sensible and reasonable regulation but now it seems that much of it is being imposed on us from outside jurisdictions. That makes it an interesting time.


Cayman’s challenge is implementing legislation that has, essentially,


been imposed on it while not gold-plating this additional regulation and for us still to find inventive ways to remain on top of the market and flexible.


Gauk: To stay on top, we need to stay the course and refine. A manager is not going to change its jurisdiction unless something drastically wrong occurs here or another jurisdiction does it much better. They just want to focus on investing and profits rather than worrying about domiciles.


John Ackerley: Bermuda has been making a big push for this business and there is speculation in some circles around how that could impact Cayman. Should we be concerned about that?


Gauk: I do think that other offshore jurisdictions are now essentially equal to Cayman on what they can offer from a time to market and a cost perspective. For example, Bermuda is closer to New York and a traveller can clear US immigration in Bermuda. But even if Bermuda was otherwise equal, Cayman has the advantage of still being the jurisdiction of choice. Funds don’t want to be answering questions on why they have switched jurisdictions.


Paul Harris: Reporters often ask me why Cayman is so popular. I could talk about the absence of taxes, the professional expertise and many other things. But other jurisdictions also have those. What I actually say is that they come here because they have to. It is because it’s acknowledged that Cayman is the top of the tree for funds. If they are not here, investors would question why they are not.


The one thing that could alter that is the cost. All the new regulations


coming in have the potential to hit costs. All of these things have to be added up; we have to keep a very watchful eye on that.


Is it a level playing field when


competing with other jurisdictions? Rogers: Other jurisdictions are in the same position as we are in relation to FATCA, but where we face a challenge is that the costs associated with compliance are layered on top of what are seen by some to be the relatively high fees we have here.


Fagan: Costs are creeping up incrementally. Eventually, it will become an issue.


“I don’t imagine any public database is going to be used to send positive messages about the jurisdiction. Implementing a database does seem very reactive and ultimately not very helpful.” Susan Lock


4 CAYMAN FUNDS | 2014


Phil Dickie: Regardless of costs, a real benefit of doing business here is the people. There is real critical mass, with some very talented people working here. And people are very collaborative. Having worked in other jurisdictions, I was very surprised upon arriving in Cayman to find that everyone works for the greater good here, and industry participants also work closely with the legislators and regulators.


This means we’re able to put out a really good product that meets


our users’ needs and to respond to changes dynamically in a short time frame. Not many other jurisdictions can do that and it gives us a competitive edge.


We’re not resting on our laurels but we are continuously refining and


addressing user needs. There are issues around things such as cost but the very fact that we’re all having these discussions and working


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