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Cayman Islands Information

General Info

The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory comprising three islands, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman in the northwestern Caribbean 500 miles south of Miami, Florida, with a population of approximately 60,000.

The Cayman Islands has a British parliamentary style of democracy. This comprises an elected Legislative Assembly, an Executive Council and an independent Judiciary.

The Executive Council is composed of elected and official members and forms the Government of the Cayman Islands. The official members are appointed by the Governor, and the elected members who form the majority are chosen by the Legislative Assembly. Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom appoints the Governor. The Governor presides over Executive Council and must take the Council's advice on all matters other than defense, external affairs, external security, the police and the civil service.

The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority ("CIMA") is the regulator of all banks, mutual funds, trust companies, insurance companies and insurance company managers, company managers and fund administrators licensed to conduct business in the Cayman Islands.

The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange (CSX) was established in 1997 and provides a listing facility for all types of securities particularly mutual funds and specialist debt securities such as CDOs and CBOs.

In 1999 the CSX received recognition from the London Stock Exchange and in early June 2001 became the first offshore exchange to join the Intermarket Surveillance Group (ISG). The ISG was formed in 1983 by the major US securities exchanges as a self regulatory organization committed to confidential market information sharing and for regulatory purposes. In early spring 2001, Euroclear agreed to allow CSX listed funds to participate in FundSettle.

FundSettle is an internet based platform launched in November 2000 specifically designed for high volume cross-border fund transactions. It is available at no cost to the fund and provides a centralized point of communication between distributors, fund managers and transfer agents. Listing requirements and take over rules are based on United Kingdom rules.

Stuarts is a listing agent for the Cayman Stock Exchange.