Cayman Islands: Corporate Governance

When a majority shareholder sought to remove directors through an extraordinary general meeting, the board attempted to postpone the vote indefinitely using broadly drafted powers in the company's articles of association. The Cayman Grand Court was asked to determine whether such procedural mechanisms could be deployed to effectively neutralise fundamental shareholder rights, and whether directors could entrench themselves by blocking the very votes intended to remove them.

The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has introduced new enforceable AML and Sanctions Rules that consolidate key obligations from 245 pages of guidance into streamlined regulations. These rules, effective September 2026, introduce expanded requirements for compliance programmes, independent audits, and governance frameworks that CIMA-regulated financial service providers must implement.

The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has released its 2026 Thematic Review examining compliance practices at Class B(iii) and Class D licensed reinsurers, revealing that corporate governance weaknesses represent 68% of all findings.

Jersey and Guernsey have, over several decades, established themselves as highly credible, well-regulated international finance centres.

Financial service providers and international businesses operating through the Cayman Islands have obligations across automatic exchange of information regimes, economic substance and related reporting.

In its recent judgment Re New Ruipeng Pet Group Inc [2026] CIGC (FSD) 21, the Grand Court has provided helpful and welcome guidance on the factors...

In recent years, the virtual asset industry has experienced exponential growth, bringing about innovations in digital payments, tokenisation and decentralised finance (Defi).

The Cayman Islands is a pre-eminent offshore funds jurisdiction. In fact, with around 29,500 registered funds in 2023, Cayman accounts for 68% of funds set up outside of the United States.

On 31 July 2024, the Beneficial Ownership Transparency Act, 2023 (BOT Act), the Beneficial Ownership Transparency Regulations 2024 and related guidance came into force (together, the BO Regime).