Cayman Islands Removed from Anti-Money-Laundering "Grey List"

Citing "2 years of sustained hard work and engagement, both locally and internationally," Cayman Islands officials embraced the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) removal of the jurisdiction from its anti-money-laundering (AML) "grey list."

The FATF, an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 to develop policies to combat money laundering, had determined that the Cayman Islands' AML regime now meets the global standard. The Cayman Islands was added to the FATF grey list in 2021 and given a list of action points to satisfy to become FATF compliant.

The FATF announced its decision to remove the Cayman Islands from the grey list following its October 25–27 meeting in Paris.

"The importance of this achievement simply cannot be understated," Cayman Islands Attorney General Samuel Bulgin said in a statement. "FATF's decision confirms that our AML regime effectively deters, detects, arrests, and prosecutes financial crimes in the Cayman Islands and that it also supports other countries' efforts."

"Yes, the FATF process is onerous, but what we initially saw as a challenge eventually came to be seen as an opportunity to prove ourselves," Minister of Financial Services and Commerce André Ebanks said in the statement. "Now, we have a stronger grasp on how to assess and incorporate international standards into our regime, and our intergovernmental approach locally has vastly improved our effectiveness in fighting financial crime, including internationally."