Overseas Territories press UK for public backing on financial services
Bermuda summit prompts joint call for London's support, as Walkers Professional Services moves on a Luxembourg acquisition and CIMA warns over an unregistered firm.
Britain's overseas territories are urging the UK to take a firmer public stance in support of their financial services industries following a regional summit in Bermuda last week, the Cayman Compass reports. The call lands as Cayman's own service firms continue to expand offshore: the Cayman Independent reports that Walkers Professional Services is to acquire Luxembourg firm Value Partners, a deal that would take its network to 10 financial centres.
On the regulatory side, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has issued a fraud warning over a firm called AIX Secure SPV, which claims a Cayman connection but is not registered with the authority, according to the Cayman Independent. Separately, Cayman Marl Road reports that a 61-year-old Grand Cayman resident was detained in Honduras last week on suspicion of money laundering after authorities allegedly found US$11,800 in cash she could not account for, citing Honduran media reports.
Immigration policy is in play. Minister for Caymanian Employment and Immigration Michael Myles wants permanent residency applicants to show more meaningful involvement in Caymanian culture and community under proposed changes to the PR points system, Cayman Marl Road reports, while Opposition MP Kenneth Bryan has backed a crackdown on marriages of convenience, calling for transparent legislative frameworks. The Public Accounts Committee heard that the islands went a decade without a national health plan, with a replacement policy expected to clear Cabinet in 2027.
In tourism, Margaritaville at Sea will add Grand Cayman to new Galveston sailings, the Cayman Independent reports, and the Compass notes Cayman appears to be following a global shift back toward travel advisors. Cayman News Service reports that no hurricane has yet formed in the Atlantic this season, the longest such gap in the satellite era.
Elsewhere, employers were urged at a Beacon Farms symposium to give recovering addicts a second chance, Dart named its 2026 scholars, and Logic raised CI$10,000 for Inclusion Cayman.