Cayman issues self-certification templates and participating jurisdiction list

The Cayman Islands Ministry of Financial Services’ Department for International Tax Cooperation (DITC) on 8 December 2015 issued an industry advisory regarding the ongoing implementation of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) in the Cayman Islands. The advisory issued two new templates; the entity self-certification form and the individual self-certification form for compliance with the CRS and both US and UK FATCA. These forms may be used in their current format, or modified, as necessary.

Also issued was the list of crs participating jurisdictions for the coming year.the advisory also notes that cayman’s crs guidance notes will be published in q1 2016 and will be limited to the practical aspects of the crs that are specific to cayman, as the oecd crs commentary and frequently asked questions on the OECD website are comprehensive.

According to Trinity, an independent third party administrator active in the Cayman Islands, investors should note the following dates:

1 January 2016 – New investor on-boarding procedures to be in place.

30 April 2016 – Notification by Reporting Financial Institutions via the TIA’s portal are due.

31 December 2016 – Pre-existing high value individual account holder due diligence must be complete.

30 April 2016 – Notification by newly created Reporting Financial Institutions via the TIA’s portal are due.

31 May 2017 – First reporting date for Reporting Financial Institutions under CRS as it relates to the 2016 year.

31 December – 2017 – Pre-existing lower value individual account holders and entity account holders due diligence to be completed.

Reporting Financial Institutions should be working on their CRS compliance programs now in advance of the 1 January 2016 on-boarding requirements for new accounts says Trinity.