By Wendy Lee  |  Harney Westwood & Riegels

OVERVIEW OF M&A ACTIVITY –

Despite signs of a stabilising economy, the Cayman Islands witnessed a 1 per cent decrease in new company registrations in 2012 compared to 2011; 8,971 new companies were incorporated compared to 9,064 a year earlier. However, even with this decline, as of 31 December 2012, there were a total of 93,612 active Cayman companies, almost on par with the 93,693 Cayman companies that were active at the end of 2008 (which was the highest number of active Cayman companies recorded on a year-end basis to date).

The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), an instrument for tracking the shifts in competitiveness of global financial centres, published in the first quarter of 2013, recently placed the Cayman Islands as the fourth highest-ranking offshore jurisdiction – a fall of one place in both the offshore and overall jurisdiction GCFI rankings published during the same period a year earlier. According to the GFCI 13, the Cayman Islands increased its overall financial centres ranking, moving up three places to 41 from a ranking of 44 in the GFCI 12 published six months earlier in September 2012.

Originally published in The Mergers & Acquisitions Review – August 2013.

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http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-mergers-acquisitions-review-seve-94869/