Local lawyers join in the anti-corruption chorus

(CNS Business): With anti-corruption topping the news agenda this week as British Prime Minister David Cameron prepares to host a summit in London Thursday, the local legal profession has added its voice to the growing chorus about the ills of corruption and Cayman’s part in the fight against it. Endorsing a statement from the legal profession in the UK, The Cayman Islands Law Society and the Caymanian Bar Association issued a joint media statement Wednesday, maintaining that their profession was committed to the fight.

The leaders of both organisations said their members had played a key role in assisting the Cayman Islands Government to develop and implement legislation that promotes effective transparency and cross-border cooperation with law enforcement and tax authorities. The lawyers said the legislation meets, and in many cases exceeds, international regulatory standards and comparable regimes in G20 countries.

“Financial crime is a serious global problem that requires a unified legal and law enforcement response,” said Alasdair Robertson, President of the Cayman Islands Law Society. “The Cayman Islands legal profession is committed, alongside its colleagues in the UK, to fight against corruption in all forms.”

His colleague at the Caymanian Bar Association, Abraham Thoppil, added similar sentiments. “The Cayman Islands has a strong record of promoting transparency through close collaboration and compliance with the relevant global regulatory bodies, in line with international standards,” he said. “We, alongside our partners in the Cayman Islands, will continue to work to promote effective transparency and cross border cooperation in order to encourage global tax compliance and to ensure Cayman is trusted as a well-regulated, cooperative and transparent jurisdiction.”

The statement follows one from UK legal profession here.

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