Insights

All Cayman Islands “4(4)” funds must now register with CIMA

Investment Funds

All Cayman Islands “4(4)” funds must now register with CIMA

The Cayman Islands government has passed the changes to the Mutual Funds Law, which we covered in our prior alert on this topic. These previously-exempt, mutual funds must now assess their operational structures and advisors and register with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) before 7 August 2020.

EU List of Non-cooperative Jurisdictions for Tax Purposes updated: BVI moved to whitelist, Cayman faulted for not delivering on time

Regulatory and Tax

EU List of Non-cooperative Jurisdictions for Tax Purposes updated: BVI moved to whitelist, Cayman faulted for not delivering on time

The European Union today updated its List of Non-cooperative Jurisdictions for Tax Purposes. While Cayman finalised its legislation earlier this year to regulate private investment funds and updated the Mutual Funds Law to complete the regulatory framework covering other collective investment vehicles, the EU determined that it failed to implement measures relating to economic substance in the area of collective investment vehicles within the agreed timetable (December 2019), and therefore “did not deliver on the commitment on time”, and thus was placed on the blacklist.

Economic substance in the BVI: a guide for directors and operators of BVI companies and limited partnerships

Investment Funds

Economic substance in the BVI: a guide for directors and operators of BVI companies and limited partnerships

The Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, 2018 was introduced in the BVI, effective 1 January 2019, to address the concerns of the EU Code of Conduct Group and the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices regarding economic substance. Related amendments to the Beneficial Ownership Secure Search System Act, 2017 will implement an economic substance reporting regime. Harneys has issued this guide to assist directors and operators of BVI companies and limited partnerships.

Cayman Islands private funds must now register with CIMA

Investment Funds

Cayman Islands private funds must now register with CIMA

The Cayman Islands government has passed the Private Funds Law, 2020 (Law) which requires closed-ended funds to now register with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). In conjunction with the Law, the government has also passed regulations which clarify the scope of an “alternative investment vehicle” and a “restricted scope private fund”.

Significant updates to the BVI Regulatory Code 2009

Regulatory and Tax

Significant updates to the BVI Regulatory Code 2009

The BVI Financial Services Commission, in its January 2020 newsletter to the industry, set out some useful timelines for licensees to comply with under the Regulatory Code 2009 (as amended).

Creditors’ interest duty: What to do and when to do it

Litigation, Insolvency and Restructuring

Creditors’ interest duty: What to do and when to do it

It has long been established that company directors come under a duty to take creditors’ interests into consideration when their company is in ﬁnancial difﬁculty or enters what is commonly referred to as the “zone of insolvency”. The recognition of this duty arose as early as 1976 in the Australian case of Walker v Wimborne and was subsequently adopted by a number of common law jurisdictions throughout the 1980s.