Part two
From Tortugas to Caimans
Christopher Columbus called the islands, ‘Las Tortugas’ after noticing the teeming population of turtles in the surrounding seas. It was his fourth voyage in search of a New World, and the year was 1503. But he did not, however, touch the Grand Cayman, the biggest of the three islands. Instead he stopped at Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, the two tiny ones.
It was in fact Francis Drake who not only landed at the bigger island of Grand Cayman but also named it Cayman after another marine creature, an alligator called ‘Caiman’ sighted in sizable numbers in the vicinity.
The immediate follow up of this discovery was that the ships sailing in this area found a new anchorage, essentially to stock up on turtle meat, delicious and rich in protein. Sadly though predictably, the turtles were hunted with such abandon and ruthlessness that their population rapidly dwindled. The poor turtles were decimated and continue to face existential peril reaching almost extinction till a massive program was launched to save them.
Ruefully, the plight of the caimans turned out to be even worse as they were also hunted and practically exterminated. Just a few survive today mostly in the protection of Zoological Parks.
Pristine to Paradise
Cayman remained uninhabited except for the turtles, alligators and iguanas until the 1660s. Pirates, including the dreaded and much feared Blackbeard, Lowther, and Henry Morgan, used the islands as a base from which to attack the galleons bound for Europe as also to stock up water and turtle meat.
The treaty of Madrid in 1670 decreed the island to be a British territory. The earliest settlers who came around 1730, were believed to be the deserters from Oliver Cromwell’s army in Jamaica. In 1802 the population of the island was 933, half of them Britishers and the other half of African descent. For over 150 years the inhabitants largely survived on farming, and trading turtle meat with passing ships and witnessed a placid but static passage of time and events.
But in 1950s and 60s, things in the islands began to move dramatically. The first bank-Barclays Bank-was opened in 1953 and the first dive center in 1957. In early 60s, legislation taking advantage of the absence of taxation offered a slew of advantages. And Cayman Islands was suddenly on the world map, as a tourist and diving destination but more importantly as an international financial center. And it has not looked back since then. From a subsistence economy in 1950s to enjoying the highest standards of living in the Caribbean, from a population of under 10,000 in 1970 to over 60,000 today, it is now home to people from over 120 different nationalities. In 1970 just 403 visitors came here, today it lures more than 2.3 million visitors every year with its sunny shiny beaches, immaculate order; and a luxurious opulent living.
But be it for a few months or a lifetime, there are compelling reasons to choose Cayman to live, invest and grow. As Cayman is one of the world’s leading Offshore Financial Services Centers, the opportunities are as plentiful as they are diverse- investment, career advancement and one of the best standards of living in the region.
Indians In Cayman
At the end of 2019, around 1,000 Indians resided in the Cayman Islands, making up around 2.6% of the total population and 3% of the expatriate population. Most of the community is employed in the hotel and hospitality industry, or in security-related organizations. A small number are doctors, chartered accountants, and other professionals. Interestingly, The Caymanian Government was the first foreign government to officially recognize Indian medical degrees, a move to attract Indian medical professionals to the island.
This minuscule community of just over a thousand manage to send every year over US $2.5 million to India making it the ninth largest destination of remittances from Cayman Islands, according to he Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA).
But more interestingly, with $3.82 billion of investments, this famous offshore tax haven was the fifth largest source of FDI for India in FY22, up from being the sixth largest in FY21.
National Stock Exchange of India has a total market capitalization of roughly 3.5 Trillion US$ which translates to roughly 2700 US$ per Indian. In other words, an average Caymanian citizen has an investment in India one thousand times more than an average Indian in his own country.
Trade Vs Investment
Bilateral trade between the Cayman Islands and India totaled US$3.54 million in 2015–16, declining from $6.75 million in the previous fiscal. It has been one-sided. India has not made any imports from the Cayman Island since 2013–14, when it imported $10,000 worth of residue and waste from food industries, and prepared animal fodder but has been exporting in small quantities non-railway vehicles and spare parts, medical and surgical instruments, iron and steel articles, pharmaceuticals, and electrical machinery and equipment.
But there has been a dramatic increase in the Foreign Portfolio Investments(FPIs) from Cayman Islands over years. It stands as the second largest source of FPI after Mauritius, growing by four times between 2018 and 2021. Database, a company that compiles data on such investments showed that FPIs from the Cayman Islands jumped to 33,242.24 crore in 62 NSE listed companies by the end of FY 21 from 8,732.53 crores in 28 listed companies. This data only reveals the investments where an individual had a holding of more than 1%.
Among listed Indian firms, IndusInd Bank had the highest Cayman FPI of 12.83% at the end of FY21, up from 1.13% in FY18. Next is Lemon Tree Hotels, with 9.05% in March 2021 from 2.06% in the same period of 2019 and no holding in March 2018.
But many of these financial manoeuvres are far from transparent and above board, raising red flags regarding suspected round tripping and money laundering.
scribo ad LX 