Foreign Bank Accounts (2017-10-17)

Summary

This is a public notice issued by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) on 17 October 2017 warning about fraudulent emails being sent to clients of certain Cayman Islands banks. The fraudulent emails falsely claimed that CIMA had issued an 'edict' requiring all foreign bank accounts to be fully 'registered' with CIMA by 20 September 2016 or some other specific date.

• Clarification: CIMA never issued any such edict or registration requirement, and the emails are a scam.
• Audience: The notice is directed at the general public and bank clients rather than at regulated entities themselves.
• Regulatory effect: It does not create any new regulatory requirement, filing obligation, or compliance duty for licensees.

The practical content is a caution: recipients of correspondence purporting to be from their bank or from CIMA regarding account registration should verify authenticity before acting, since such communications may be fraudulent.

Applies to

banks, clients of Cayman Islands licensed and registered banks