Category: News

We are delighted to announce our Assistant Director Andrew Perkins most recent publication in the Law and Financial Markets Review entitled ‘Regulating virtual asset service providers in the offshore world: the Cayman Islands example.’

Mr Perkins Article seeks to firstly, outline the reasons why virtual asset service providers have embraced trading offshore. Secondly, evaluate the Cayman Islands legislative regime under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act and its associated regulations to test compliance with international regulatory standards. Thirdly, consider the international focus that the Cayman Islands attracts on issues of global taxation and the prevention of money laundering, and evaluates how Cayman has approached the new challenges presented by cryptocurrencies whilst demonstrating compliance with international standards. This article reaches conclusions as to how offshore regulators and their legal frameworks are going to need to adapt and keep pace with the evolution of cryptocurrencies so that they can protect the integrity of their valuable financial services industries.

This Article is the result of a paper delivered at the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies’ 2022 conference on Cryptocurrencies, Smart Contracts, and Alternative Payments for which Andrew thanks the Portfolio Of Legal Affairs for their support in attending.

Mitchel Davies BEM, Truman Bodden Law School Director stated that ‘Andrew Perkin’s very topical recent article published in the December 2023 volume of Law and Financial Markets Review explores why virtual asset service providers have identified the offshore services centres as attractive jurisdictions in which to do business.  In this context and in anticipation of the Cayman Islands having been removed from the FATF “grey list” in October 2023, Andrew explores how the Cayman Islands has responded to the new challenges represented by cryptocurrencies whilst continuing to be at the forefront of compliance with international standards.  This article is further evidence showcasing in the international arena the important cutting-edge academic research and publication being conducted by Truman Bodden Law School academic staff.’

LLM Course Leader and Lecturer Laura Panades presented her ongoing research on the legal history of Cayman.

Her conference talk, ‘Learning the ropes: a critical understanding on the foundations of offshore financial jurisdictions’, considered Cayman’s recent legal history.

Cayman’s decision to become an offshore financial centre in the 1960s changed our country’s course.

Declassified documents from the Cayman Islands National Archives can now help us tell the full story.

Thanks to those documents, Panadès is exploring the role of the UK-Cayman relationship in the years surrounding Jamaica’s independence.

The talk took place within the conference ‘Legal histories, local histories’, covering worldwide topics of legal history.

The Open University, the pioneer University for remote study in the UK, hosted this conference on 15-16 November 2023.

Dr Caroline Derry, Senior Lecturer at the Open University, was the conference convenor.

Speakers in Panadès’ conference panel covered the role of Governance and Finance in shaping legal history.

Last week Truman Bodden Law School students Thomas Peter Hoogaars (far left) and Nyasha Tapiwa Muhlanga (right) and Dena’e Solang’e-Dyer Alexander (far right) travelled with Truman Bodden Law School Assistant Director Andrew Perkins (left) to Nova South Eastern University in Ft Lauderdale to take part in the American Caribbean Law Initiative Moot. Tommy, Nyasha and Dena’e earned this opportunity by participating in the TBLS internal mooting competition in 2022.

The American Caribbean Law Initiative facilitates a collaborative relationship between legal institutions in the Caribbean and the United States and seeks to strengthen and develop legal relationships and give law students the opportunity to work collaboratively on legal problems. Tommy, Nyasha and Dena’e worked with students from the Hugh Wooding, Norman Manley, Eugene Dupuch, Nova Southeastern and Florida International University Schools of Law before presenting arguments to Justices and Members of the Florida Bar. Andrew Perkins noted that the TBLS were praised by the Justices and Attorneys for their thoughtful, well-reasoned and accurate submissions. Such feedback further confirms the Truman Bodden Law School’s position as a leading legal education provider in the region.

Speaking of the experience Tommy stated that ‘representing TBLS at the ACLI Moot Competition was a fantastic opportunity to test our advocacy skills against other law students from the Caribbean and the United States. The competition affirmed the quality of legal education that TBLS provides its students with as was evidenced by the positive feedback that we received from judges on the level of our advocacy skills.’

Nyasha thought that ‘representing Team TBLS in the American and Caribbean Law Initiative was an invaluable experience. It allowed me to refine my advocacy skills and learn about American Federal Maritime Law. I worked in a team with future attorneys from America, Trinidad, Jamaica, British Virgin Islands and Guyana. This has improved my collaborative skills which I believe are essential skills for my future as a lawyer.‘

Dena’e found that ‘getting the opportunity to participate in the ACLI has altered the way I view the law. Being surrounded by a group of exceptional law students and professors from around the Caribbean and Florida was a great learning experience on how similar as well as unique our legal systems are. It was an amazing opportunity to learn from our neighbours’.

TBLS congratulates Dena’e, Tommy and Nyasha on their accomplishments and for representing Truman Bodden Law School so proudly at this event. TBLS also passes their thanks to the Portfolio of Legal Affairs for making this experience possible.