I was pleased with the way Lord Blencathra, who was appointed as the Cayman Islands representative in London, conducted himself during his visit last week to the Cayman Islands.

Speaking at a press conference, along with two of the three MPs from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) who were also visiting, Blencathra said that he had been appointed because of his 27 years of experience in the UK parliament and government as well as his knowledge of both the British and European political landscape.

“Although people might ask me what it was it that I knew about the Cayman Islands,“ he said, “I have had many other people to help me with that, but I am in a very good position to defend Cayman’s interests where it is needed. I have not been employed to be an expert on Cayman. My goal is to promote the quality of the financial services industry. In Europe, in particular, there are plans for the introduction of various regulations that could threaten Cayman and it was in that arena where there was work for me to do.  I can open some doors to get Cayman’s voice heard on the technical matters relating to such initiatives.

“All of the initiatives that have been written about in the international press, from those impacting fund management to solvency issues, could, if interpreted strictly, pose a threat to this jurisdiction and may limit the ability of Cayman-based firms to compete and sell their products in Europe. Cayman has to guard against these threats and negotiate in the right places and all of this was against a backdrop of threats coming from the United States as well.”

I hope Lord Blencathra is as good as his words and I expect to hear a lot more from him as he battles with the uninformed. It will be a very hard road.

Graham Brady, chairman of the Cayman Islands APPG, said there was a mismatch in the popular imagination in Britain about the Cayman Islands with the reality that they had encountered during the visit and it was clear people needed to know facts about Cayman.

Shout the truth Mr. Brady, loud and clear.