Cayman needs to bolster its financial services sector or risk the islands’ future prosperity, the head of Cayman Finance has said.
Steve McIntosh, the organisation’s CEO, said that the next government should treat financial services, Cayman’s biggest earner, on an equal footing with other industries such as hotels and restaurants and balance the demands of the sector with the promotion of Caymanians in the workplace.
He said, “It can be done, it has to be done. If the financial services industry doesn’t get back on track … Cayman will be a very different place from what it is today.”
McIntosh said Caymanians should be supported if they wanted to enter the sector, which generates half of government’s revenue and allows the territory to function without measures such as income tax.
But he highlighted that, in the field of accountancy, for example, demand for staff far outstripped what Cayman could hope to supply.
McIntosh said, “We also need to be realistic about the outcome of these efforts in the short and medium term and allow companies to hire those workers overseas when Caymanians are not available.”
McIntosh was speaking at the Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Economic Forum on Friday, run under the theme of “Cayman 2035”, held at the Kimpton Seafire Resort and Spa.
He said many of financial services’ major problems were internal, not the work of external forces.
McIntosh added new technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) should be invested in and government’s support organisations such as the General Registry and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority should be properly financed and staffed.
He said, instead of asking “what is the minimum amount of funding? We need to ask companies what they expect”.
McIntosh added Cayman had to “meet these expectations, give them the resources they need”.
He warned the audience, “If we decide not to give them the resources … we need to accept we are going to upset our customers.
“As you all know as business leaders, disappointed customers are not a recipe for financial success.”
He added: “By upgrading our systems, investing in technology and enhancing the resources available to these critical institutions, we can ensure the Cayman Islands remains a leading financial centre.”
But McIntosh said that tourism, although a smaller contributor to Cayman’s prosperity, was given a 40 times bigger share of the financial pie for promotional efforts and work permits were cheaper and more plentiful.
He added, “Work permit fees in financial services are five times higher than in tourism and workers in financial services earn more and spend more in the economy.”
McIntosh said financial services was a knowledge-based industry and staff could be located anywhere and work remotely, unlike hotel workers.
“Yet, a combination of work permit fee increases, recruitment restrictions and technological innovation, making it easier to work remotely off island, are holding financial services recruitment back”, he added.
“The huge opportunity we have is to do a much better job of workforce planning, to do everything we possibly can to support Caymanians who want to work in the sector so that every Caymanian who is willing and able to work in the industry has the opportunity to do so.
“That is, and will remain, priority number one. But we also have to be realistic about about the inherent, mathematical limitations of these efforts and allow financial services companies to hire the people they need from overseas, just as we do for our hotels, restaurants and every other sector of our economy.”
McIntosh added extra cash would also help the sector expand areas such as reinsurance and fintech.
He said: “Cayman Finance has made significant strides in raising the profile of our financial services but, with increased support, we can amplify our efforts and further solidify our position as a world-class financial centre.”
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