Offshore finance

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Originally published 09:03 p.m., February 9, 2004, updated 12:00 a.m., February 10, 2004

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Grand Cayman -- Some of you reading this maybe thinking, "Ah Cayman, isn't that the place with all the illegal financial activity?"

It is true Cayman is the world's largest offshore financial center, and the world's fifth-biggest financial center, even though it is in the middle of the Caribbean on a small, pleasant island with only 40,000 people.

But contrary to the mythology from movies and novels, Cayman did not become rich by catering to criminals. The truth is just the opposite. Think about it for a moment. If you were looking for a place to put your money, would you choose a bank run by incompetents or criminals in a jurisdiction run by the mob, or would you put your money in a bank run by honest and competent bankers in a country with the rule of law?

The fact is that big offshore financial centers, such as Cayman and Bermuda, and other big financial centers, such as Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S., are all characterized by having honest courts and competent administrators.

Most of the money in Cayman is institutional rather than individual, and it is more difficult for an individual to open an account in Cayman than in the U.S.

Cayman also has agreements with the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Justice Department for exchange of information on suspected criminals, tax evaders and terrorists. If you are a crook, it is not wise to try to open an account in well-run jurisdictions like Cayman and Switzerland, because neither the banks nor the governments will protect you.

Honest people, however, do benefit from reasonable bank privacy in these jurisdictions. Another fact is that more money is "laundered" in New York and London than in places like Cayman and Switzerland.

Many people think there are piles of cash and gold sitting in vaults in places like Cayman. Again, the fact is there is very little physical cash and almost no gold sitting in vaults in places like Cayman.

What Cayman and some of its competitors provide is a place for large companies and financial institutions to consolidate funds -- in electronic form -- without being taxed or subject to unnecessary costly regulation, until these funds are productively reinvested throughout the globe (which can be as little as a matter of seconds).

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