The US may be suspicious of the probity of offshore centres but most of the islands are already compliant with international regulations and in many cases surpass US lawIf you are a tourist swinging in a hammock beachside somewhere in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Bahamas or the British Virgin Islands (BVI), life is probably very tranquil. But if you are a bank, insurance company or any other financial institution with a base in one of these four island countries, life has been anything but of late.

First up, there were the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) initiatives on money laundering and harmful tax competition to contend with. Next came the catastrophic events of 11 September, followed soon after by a couple of giant-sized corporate scandals. And then, in the meantime, there has been prolonged economic downturn in the US to worry about.