The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) has recently imposed USD365,000 in administrative fines on an asset manager for breaches of the AML Regulations, serving as a timely reminder on the value of effective compliance and the importance of registered entities having effective anti-money laundering policies and procedures in place.
On 7 July 2020, the Private Funds Law, 2020 (PF Law) was amended to vary the definition of a “private fund” by clarifying the definitions of certain entity types and extending the scope of the PF Law to additional entities.
The deadline for registration under the PF Law remains 7 August 2020. We recommend that all Cayman Island investment vehicles be re-assessed to ensure compliance particularly considering the new Administrative Fine regime. Open-ended mutual funds and hedge funds are unaffected.
The Monetary Authority (Administrative Fines) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020 was enacted on 26 June 2020 extending the ability of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) to impose significant fines.
It is now also an offence for knowingly or wilfully supplying false or misleading information to the Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority (TIA).
As referenced in our updater on new registration requirements for Cayman Islands investment funds, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) has published new rules governing the segregation of assets and the contents of offering documents and marketing materials for regulated funds.
The new rules apply to mutual funds that are regulated under the Mutual Funds Law (as Revised) and private funds registered under the recently promulgated Private Funds Law 2020.