The Cayman Islands introduced electronic company registration earlier this year – in Arabic. The Caribbean jurisdiction’s move is a neat illustration of just how far offshore business has come in a few years, from being focused on one small island, to competing for business on a global scale. With billions of dollars of assets under administration in these centres and a growing unease in the global economy, the tougher, more sophisticated regulatory regimes of the leading offshore centres are about to face their greatest test since the post-Enron fallout.
In many cases the biggest names in the offshore world: Appleby, Maples and Calder, Mourant, Ogier and Walkers have become world-class specialists in offshore finance, private banking, wealth management, trust administration, fund management and company service. Being able to offer trust and legal services under the same umbrella business has come to be expected of the bigger players.
