Editorial
Ensuring Transparency Throughthe Glass House
A groundswell of public opinion againstcontinuing efforts by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ofthe powerful G-7 countries, and the Organization for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD) to force feed their recommendationsfor stamping out money laundering on low-tax jurisdictions suchas the Cayman Islands, is gaining momentum in Caribbean offshorefinancial centres and in the United States.
To many Caribbean centres, the OECD's efforts appear more to befocused on turning these low-tax centres into their tax collectors,rather than a genuine effort to eliminate money laundering. Itis not only hypocrisy; it is unbridled imperialism.
It is understood that one Caribbean territory has even appealedto Japan to lobby the OECD on its behalf, to stop its actionswhich threaten to destroy the fragile economies of the region.
In the United States there have been hundreds of thousands ofangry responses to the OECD's "Know Your Customer" bankingrule, which makes customer identification a must and which wouldopen off-shore investors to scrutiny. To the ordinary citizenshue and cry, have been added powerful voices such as Rep. DickArmey.
Indeed, it appears that the International Counter Money LaunderingBill will not be passed by Congress in the short time remainingfor the present Clinton-led administration.
Against this background, one is therefore compelled to ask thequestion: What is Cayman's Negotiating Team doing in London?
More importantly, how sensible is it for an outgoing governmentto be negotiating matters critical to the future survival of theseislands, on its final days in office?
We submit that attention could well have been focused on moreburning issues here at home. Instead, many have been left on theback burner. With almost indecent haste, and certainly withoutthe fitting level of decorum, the business of the House endedearly without even a vote of appreciation for the Speaker, CaptainMabry Kirkconnell who has retired from public office.
The way the House ended its business will certainly be remembered;while not a disgrace, one cannot say it represents the good orderthat the Cayman Islands must continue to be careful to cultivate.
It is all the more reason that as voters go to the polls, theymust be mindful to choose their representatives carefully. Inthe years ahead, it will be the quality of its representationthat will determine how the Cayman Islands weathers its externaland internal threats.
There are those who are now jockeying for positions in the LegislativeAssembly and who are already serving notice of the kind of stewardshipthey will deliver, by issuing veiled threats to those who wouldcriticise their style of governance.
Cayman Net News, in its efforts to serve the people, just as electedrepresentatives are called to do, will rise to the challenge ofpolishing the glass house of power to ensure that transparencywill prevail.
The people of the Cayman Islands are deserving of nothing less.