Public Management and Finance Act (2026 Revision)

Summary

This is the consolidated 2026 Revision of the Public Management and Finance Act, the primary statute governing how the Cayman Islands Government manages public money.

• Appropriations and budgeting: Framework for Cayman Islands Parliament appropriations, Cabinet budgeting powers, and the government's strategic and detailed budget planning cycle.
• Reporting: Government reporting requirements, both quarterly and annual.
• Duties of officials: Duties of the Minister of Finance, ministries, portfolios and their chief officers.
• Statutory authorities and government companies: Rules covering purchase agreements, ownership agreements and annual reporting.
• Finance and audit roles: The roles and powers of the Chief Officer of Finance and the Director of Internal Audit, and the independence, powers and reporting duties of the Auditor General and the Audit Office.
• Other matters: Accounting for trust assets, offences for breaches of the Act, and a Framework for Fiscal Responsibility (in Schedule 6) setting borrowing, net debt, debt-service and liquid-asset limits for government, along with historical transitional relief following the global financial crisis.

The Act applies to core government bodies (Cayman Islands Parliament, Cabinet, ministries, portfolios), the Office of the Ombudsman, the Audit Office, and statutory authorities and government companies (i.e. public bodies and government-owned entities), rather than to private-sector financial institutions typically regulated by CIMA. It is included among CIMA's published acts likely because of its role in the broader public financial governance framework rather than because it directly regulates licensees.

Because this is a lengthy, heavily cross-referenced statute (88 pages) and the middle portion of the operative sections was not fully reviewed in detail, this summary is based on the table of contents, preliminary and closing provisions, and the Schedule 6 fiscal framework excerpt. Readers needing precise obligations for a specific section (e.g. annual report content, budget statement requirements, Auditor General investigatory powers) should consult the full text via the source link.

Key obligations

• Ministries, portfolios and statutory authorities/government companies must prepare and submit annual reports as required by the Act (sections 44 and 52).
• Statutory authorities and government companies must enter into purchase agreements and ownership agreements with the responsible Minister/Cabinet specifying performance measures (sections 49-50).
• Chief officers of ministries/portfolios and of statutory authorities/government companies must comply with duties set out in sections 38-41 and 46-48, including maintaining proper financial management and reporting.
• Entities holding trust assets must separately account for them, maintain trust bank accounts, and properly deposit and transfer trust assets (sections 70-74).
• The Auditor General must exercise investigatory and reporting powers and report annually on the Audit Office and audited entities (sections 60-69).
• The Minister of Finance and Chief Officer of Finance must maintain the centralised accounting and banking systems and may require information from entities (sections 54-56).
• The Cayman Islands Government must comply with the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility borrowing, net debt, debt-service and liquid-asset limits set out in Schedule 6, subject to any transitional relief.
• Cabinet must ensure compliance with the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility under section 14A.
• Government must follow the prescribed budget process phases (strategic, detailed planning, Cabinet review, Parliament review, documentation) each budget cycle (sections 17-27).

Applies to

core government (Cayman Islands Parliament, Cabinet, ministries, portfolios), Office of the Ombudsman, Audit Office / Auditor General, statutory authorities, government companies

Deadlines

• end of Cayman Islands Government financial year 2015-16: Historical transitional deadline in Schedule 6, Annex D for the Government to return to compliance with net debt, debt service and liquid assets borrowing limits following the global financial crisis.
• commencing on 1st January, 2018: Definition of 'budget period' as a period of appropriation covering two financial years starting from this date.