Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the incidence of financial crime in the Cayman Islands.

The Government, including the Treasury, works closely with the Cayman Islands to share lessons learned and best practice on financial crime matters. As part of the UK’s G8 action plan to prevent misuse of companies and legal arrangements, the Government has committed to support all the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to publish Action Plans setting out the concrete steps, where needed, to fully implement international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force. They have published these action plans, and have committed to carry out their National Risk Assessments. The Cayman Islands is also a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), the Caribbean regional body responsible for assessing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing. The UK is an observer to CFATF.