During her first visit to London as Minister of Financial Services, the Hon. Tara Rivers discussed three key subjects – Brexit, beneficial ownership, and the EU screening process regarding non-cooperative jurisdictions – with UK officials and industry leaders.

The core of the visit, which was held the week of 10 July, was the pre-Joint Ministerial Council (pre-JMC) meeting with the Overseas Territories; and a Brexit Joint Ministerial Council meeting between the Overseas Territories and the UK.  Minister Rivers attended these meetings as part of the Cayman Islands delegation, which was led by the Premier, the Hon. Alden McLaughlin and included the Minister of Finance, the Hon. Roy McTaggart.

While in London during the week of 10 July, Minister Rivers also attended separately arranged meetings with other key financial services stakeholders.

'The Cayman Islands has always engaged with UK Government and industry on matters of bilateral and global importance', she said. 'During the week, we focused on reinforcing the strength of our financial services framework by clearly addressing the legacy myths  that affect our reputation among political leaders, and engaged in dialogue to build awareness from an industry perspective'. 

Minister Rivers noted that the Cayman delegation held valuable discussions, including about Brexit and the EU screening process, with Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon. Lord Ahmad was just named the Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

'He agreed that this is a particularly important time to dialogue with the UK and the EU, and encouraged Cayman to continue our cooperation and engagement', she said.

Cayman officials also held discussions about beneficial ownership and the EU process with an Isle of Man delegation, led by that UK Crown Dependency's Chief Minister Howard Quayle; and Minister Rivers and Dr Basdeo attended a breakfast briefing organised by Cayman Finance, which was hosted by the association's CEO Jude Scott.

'At the breakfast briefing, I gave industry an overview of what Cayman has accomplished, and discussed our planned, ongoing engagement with both UK and European officials, she said. 'The attendees seemed quite appreciative for these updates and the opportunity to dialogue with us in this manner.'

Minister Rivers, Dr Basdeo and Mr Scott also visited Minister Counsellor Jin Xu of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the UK, to discuss regulatory cooperation and China's 'One Belt, One Road' initiative.

'This was an opportunity to further strengthen the relationship with China, which has shown an increasing level of interest in how Cayman's financial services products can be of value to their economy', Minister Rivers said. 

'Overall, the visit was highly successful in terms of increasing understanding, and building and strengthening important relationships, in the UK'.


Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, spoke about Brexit and financial services matters with Cayman Islands elected officials, including the Minister of Financial Services the Hon. Tara Rivers. Cayman's officials were in London during the week of 10 July for the UK's pre-Joint Ministerial Council meetings.


Isle of Man's Chief Minister Howard Quayle, and the Cayman Islands' Minister of Financial Services the Hon. Tara Rivers, met in London on Monday, 10 July, to discuss international financial services matters that affect the UK's Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.


As part of her London visit, the Cayman Islands' Minister of Financial Services, the Hon. Tara Rivers, met with Minister Counsellor Jin Xu in the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the UK, on Friday, 14 July. The two talked about regulatory cooperation and China's 'One Belt, One Road' initiative.

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