Cayman Islands’ funds will, among other things, be able to invest in Italian bonds and securitisation instruments and receive interest payments gross of withholding tax, Scott said.
Additionally, they may benefit from full exemption from Italian tax on profits attributable to them where they own more than 5% of an Italian Real Estate Investment fund.
International standards
“The inclusion of the Cayman Islands on Italy’s whitelist echoes to the global financial services industry its recognition of our robust framework to combat corruption, money-laundering and tax evasion but as importantly, Cayman’s commitment to comply with international standards of transparency and exchange of information,” Scott said.
“It is encouraging to be recognised by many European countries and more recently Italy, on tax information exchange. We look forward to building a stronger partnership with Italy and other EU countries in an effort to combat financial crimes.”
Passporting
The inclusion on Italy’s whitelist follows the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) recent deferral of its recommendation on the Cayman Islands’ application for the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) passport.
“We are optimistic that the pending legislation for the Cayman Islands AIFMD regime will be in place late 2016/early 2017,” Scott said.
“Once the remaining legislation is enacted, we see no impediments hindering Cayman’s AIFMD passport application. The creation of this regime will offer wider opportunities for Cayman domiciled funds and managers in Europe.”
