Parliament passes eight bills, including power to freeze foreign-controlled licences
Cabinet gains authority to suspend new Local Companies Control Licences as MPs also ban disposable vapes and back a sovereign wealth fund study.
The dominant business story is legislative. Cayman News Service reports that the government steered eight bills through a four-day sitting of Parliament, while Health Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks withdrew two pieces of public and environmental health legislation, saying they needed more work. Among those passed, Cayman Marl Road reports, is legislation giving Cabinet the power to temporarily halt the granting of new Local Companies Control Licences, a measure intended to widen opportunities for Caymanian-owned businesses.
Also through: a ban on the sale of nicotine products to under-18s and an outright ban on disposable vapes after a six-month transition, with vaping in public places prohibited immediately, per the Cayman Compass and Cayman Marl Road. Parliament backed a plan for a sovereign wealth fund, with a working group to examine how it would operate, and passed amendments to US mutual legal assistance rules setting conditions for recovering damages and legal costs, both reported by the Cayman Independent. MPs also unanimously supported a private member's motion from Dwayne Seymour seeking tougher penalties for child sexual offences, the Compass reports.
On financial services, the Cayman Independent reports the jurisdiction has entered the assessment phase of its CFATF evaluation, hosted a regional meeting on money laundering and terrorist financing, and that Cayman reinsurers are challenging a proposed US capital requirement on the grounds it could misstate underlying risk. The Spectrum 2026 conference drew more than 225 attendees, according to the Compass.
On public finances, Finance Minister Rolston Anglin told Parliament that 573 stamp duty waivers worth CI$10,308,536 were approved for Caymanian buyers between 1 May 2025 and end-August, with still no duty waiver policy for developments, CNS reports. The welfare bill continues to climb, supporting around 1,800 families, and the Finance Committee is to consider extra spending requests.
In appointments, Robert Tatum has been promoted to Director of the Central Procurement Office, succeeding the retiring Taraq Bashir.