The Cayman Islands is the world’s fifth most important financial centre after London, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong. It has just under 300 active banks, more than 750 insurance companies, primarily captives underwriting the risks of their owners and associates, and more than 8,000 active mutual funds.
As a domicile for captive insurance companies, it is second only to Bermuda. It is also a leading jurisdiction for specialised financing methods and in recent years has become the jurisdiction of choice for the establishment of capital markets vehicles that are used to under-write reinsurance risk. To date it has licensed 27 insurance-related companies described as alternative financing vehicles, which is a large proportion of the total number created worldwide.
