CFATF evaluation enters assessment stage as permit revenue misses target
Premier André Ebanks tells Parliament the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force assessment has begun, while work permit income falls CI$6.5m short.
Financial services dominated the day. Premier and Financial Services Minister André Ebanks told Parliament that the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force evaluation has moved into its assessment stage, the Cayman Compass reports. Separately, the Cayman Independent reports that work permit revenue has fallen CI$6.5m short of its annual target, described as a setback to efforts to build new revenue streams.
Several legislative changes moved through Parliament. A revised law will give the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority greater control over its management committee structure and introduce a fit-and-proper test for its chief executive, according to the Cayman Independent, which also reports that Cabinet has been given power to freeze new local companies control licences, with the Opposition questioning the guardrails around any moratorium. The same outlet reports Cabinet has gained flexibility to update building codes while wider planning rules remain under parliamentary scrutiny. MPs also unanimously backed a confidential sex offender registry, the Compass reports, revisiting legislation first proposed 17 years ago.
On tourism and development, a Dart executive told the Cayman Independent that summer visitation defied the traditional slowdown, helped by shifting US travel patterns. The Compass reports that the restored beach at the Grand Cayman Marriott is showing visible erosion as the sand settles, though officials say it is behaving largely as expected, and that Environment Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks says Little Cayman cannot obtain UNESCO Heritage Status without a new development plan.
In public administration, the Ministry of Health has opened consultation on a mandatory National Cancer Registry, which Cayman News Service reports would require doctors and dentists to report diagnoses within 14 days. CNS also reports a further CI$130,000 for national CCTV expansion and that Customs and Border Control has resumed vehicle insurance checks at the port. Aerial mosquito spraying pauses for two weeks amid an upsurge in numbers.