Change in Effective Date for Basel II Public Disclosures (2021-05-28)

Summary

This is a general industry notice from CIMA announcing a phased implementation timeline for the Rules and Guidelines on Market Discipline Disclosure Requirements (Pillar 3), which were originally issued on 12 November 2020 and require banks incorporated and regulated in the Cayman Islands to publish Pillar 3 disclosure reports on their websites. Rather than requiring immediate public website disclosure, CIMA is splitting implementation into two phases to allow it time to assess and validate the quality of disclosures before they are made public.

• Phase 1 (1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022): Banks are only required to submit their disclosure reports to CIMA directly, not publish them publicly.
• Phase 2 (beginning 1 September 2022): Banks must publish the required disclosure reports on their own websites, ensuring they are clearly identifiable and readily accessible to users, as originally stipulated in the Rules and Guidelines.

The revised Rules and Guidelines were also issued via Extraordinary Gazette notice No. 45/2021 on 28 May 2021. The notice directs any questions to CIMA's banking contact email.

Key obligations

• Banks incorporated in the Cayman Islands and regulated by CIMA must submit Pillar 3 disclosure reports to the Authority only during Phase 1 (1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022).
• From 1 September 2022 (Phase 2), banks must publish their required Pillar 3 disclosure reports on their own websites, ensuring the reports are clearly identifiable and readily available to users.

Applies to

banks incorporated in the Cayman Islands

Deadlines

• 1 September 2021: Start of Phase 1 implementation; banks begin submitting Pillar 3 disclosure reports to CIMA only.
• 31 August 2022: End of Phase 1 period.
• 1 September 2022: Start of Phase 2; banks must begin publishing Pillar 3 disclosure reports on their websites.