Jamaica National Money Transfer, MoneyGram, and QuikCash have established new arrangements that will allow them to continue providing remittance services for Cayman Islands customers; and Western Union remains in fruitful discussions with interested parties, with the view of re-establishing operations as soon as possible, said Ministry of Financial Services and Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) officials.

Fast Funds has advised CIMA that it will suspend its money transfer services, effective today.

'I think the community is well aware by now that all interested parties, and particularly the money services businesses (MSBs), have been working diligently to resolve this issue', said Minister of Financial Services Wayne Panton.

'However, what the community may not realise is the complexity of meeting the commercial needs of the MSBs, banks, and customers, while also ensuring that the new arrangements meet global standards. This required careful consideration of all factors, and both the Ministry and CIMA are glad that remittance services will continue to be available for persons in Cayman who rely on them'.

CIMA's Managing Director Cindy Scotland said the Authority has reviewed the arrangements, and noted that MSBs will be fully supervised by the authority, as they were previously.

'CIMA's regulation is vital from a reputational standpoint, because our role is to provide the necessary independent oversight of the MSBs' operations in order to mitigate risks', she said.

Throughout the process, CIMA has assessed the possible options under consideration against the local requirements and global standards that must be met. 'This is essential in order to maintain and uphold the high level of confidence that persons have in Cayman as a well-regulated financial services centre', said Mrs Scotland.

Both Minister Panton and Mrs Scotland thanked the MSBs for their efforts in this matter.

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