Cayman Islands introduced new legislation to protect personal information

The Cayman Islands, like many other small island states whose main income is provided by the financial sector, consider it of utmost importance to maintain its reputation as a reliable and law-abiding jurisdiction that complies with all international standards in the fight against money laundering, tax evasion and corruption. . Or, at least, those that do not go against the interests of customers.
The Cayman Islands in this regard – a very successful jurisdiction. Its success in achieving transparency was appreciated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other international organizations.
The Cayman Islands have concluded tax information sharing agreements with authorities in nearly 90 different countries, including the United States, under the FATCA. In addition, the Cayman Islands are among the first to begin the automatic exchange of tax information within the framework of the OECD single standard (CRS).
All this makes the Cayman Islands an extremely attractive first-class jurisdiction in terms of international business. The authorities of the islands are not going to stop there – in September of this year, the updated legislation on the protection of personal data will come into force when it is processed and transferred to another jurisdiction.
Offshore Cayman Islands: Will the Cayman Islands offshore jurisdiction suit you?
Constructive dialogue between the authorities of the Cayman Islands and the UK
The press release issued by the Government of the Cayman Islands on May 11 of this year lists the main measures that were taken as a result of close and fruitful cooperation with the authorities of Great Britain. They are aimed mainly at compliance with international standards in the field of transparency, anti-corruption and money laundering. At the same time, special attention is paid to respecting the privacy rights of honest and law-abiding clients.
It should be noted that this press release was published the day before London hosted the first-ever international Anti-Corruption Summit. And of course, on the eve of this event, it was important to show the solidarity of the authorities of the Cayman Islands with international standards designed to combat corruption.
First, the authorities of the Cayman Islands expressed their readiness to begin negotiations with jurisdictions that are taking part in the Big Five initiative – in the exchange of information on beneficial ownership. The ultimate goal of the negotiations will be the conclusion of bilateral agreements.
Secondly, it was decided to abolish the issue of bearer shares.
Finally, it was decided to replace the Law on confidential relations (secrecy), which was in force until September 2016, with the new Law – The Confidential Information Disclosure Law. The new law, according to the authorities of the Cayman Islands, contains a deeper understanding and definition of mechanisms for the exchange of confidential information between the relevant institutions.
But in the new legislation, special attention is paid to the human right to privacy, as one of the fundamental rights. This aspect is completely analogous to European Union legislation.
The idea of ​​sharing information about beneficiaries received international support.
8 principles of data protection, which is based on the new Data Protection Act of the Cayman Islands
caymans-irl In accordance with the basic principles of data protection, the following requirements should be met:
Personal information is processed fairly and only if all the necessary conditions are met, for example, if consent is obtained or there is a legal obligation, or it is necessary to fulfill the conditions of the contract, of which the person is a party. Separate conditions apply to sensitive information;
information can be obtained only for one or several stated legitimate goals and cannot be additionally processed in any way incompatible with these goals;
personal information must be adequate, relevant to reality and not beyond the scope of the need for the purpose for which it is collected;
personal information must be accurate and, if possible, relevant;
personal information should not be stored longer than is necessary for a specific purpose;
personal information must be processed in compliance with the rights of individuals, in accordance with the provisions of the bill;
personal information must be protected by appropriate technical and organizational measures aimed against unauthorized or illegal processing, as well as against accidental loss, destruction or damage to the information carrier;
personal information should not be transferred abroad if the country or territory that requested the information cannot provide an adequate level of protection of the rights and freedoms of the subjects of personal information.