The Cayman Island Financial Services Association (CIFSA) says that the Cayman Islands authorities are working closely with the Italian financial regulators investigating the alleged Parmalat fraud.
Formed in December 2003 to promote the integrity and quality of the Cayman Islands financial services, CIFSA has become concerned about the damage the Parmalat affair has inflicted on the reputation of the Cayman Islands for probity.
“The alleged Parmalat fraud appears to have taken place in Italy, just as the Enron fraud occurred in the US, and BCCI in the UK,” says Eric Crutchley, Director of CIFSA. “No regulatory authority can control how legitimate services are used for illegitimate means if the intent to defraud is present, and we can only empathize with the other well- regulated jurisdictions who have become embroiled in this debacle. As with our colleagues in other regulated markets in Italy, the UK and/or the US, we see this as an abuse of our financial system. We sympathise with the other jurisdictions, companies and people caught up in this difficult situation and hope that the investigations will bring justice to the many people around the Parmalat empire who have been wronged in this process.”
CIFSA says that, in common with the other jurisdictions involved, the Cayman financial community was shocked by the news that an international company of Parmalat’s standing would engage in such activities. However, whilst the investigation is underway, CIFSA says it is unable to discuss the Parmalat enquiry in any detail.