Welcome to the IIA Cayman Islands Chapter!

Welcome to the IIA Cayman Island Chapter

The Cayman Island Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) was founded in August 2010 and formally recognized by the IIA in April 2011.  The Chapter signed a compact agreement with the Institute in 2013 to formalize the role of the Chapter.  The Chapter now has 58 members, serving in the public sector, utilities, professional firms, and commercial organizations. 

The current leadership team was voted into place in May 2021 and aims to build on the work of previous teams and to cooperate with other chapters in the Caribbean to leverage the skills, knowledge and experience that is available in this region.  In this regard, the Cayman Islands Chapter has already cooperated with the Trinidad & Tobago Chapter on learning opportunities.

The IIA in Cayman

The three Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman) form a self-governing British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean Sea.

The 264 km3 (102 square mile) territory is located to the south of Cuba and northeast of Honduras, between Jamaica and Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.  The capital city is George Town, Grand Cayman, the most populous of the three islands.  Current population of the territory totals approximately 65 000 inhabitants.

The tourist industry is aimed at the luxury market and caters mainly to visitors from North America.  Total tourist arrivals exceed 2 million annually (pre-pandemic), with more than three-quarters from the US.

The economy of the Cayman Islands is based mainly on the tourism and financial services sectors, together representing 50–60 % of the territory's gross domestic product.  With no direct taxation, the islands are a thriving offshore financial centre.  More than 65,000 companies were registered in the Cayman Islands as of 2017, including more than 280 banks, 700 insurers and 10,500 mutual funds.  A stock exchange was opened in 1997.  Nearly 90% of the islands' food and consumer goods are imported.

Chapter Officers

As we are all aware 2020/21 was a challenging year. The impact of a global pandemic affected, at least temporarily, the way that we all lived our lives – from shopping for groceries, entertaining ourselves, exercising, and to how we performed our business/employment responsibilities. For many, it meant the loss of income or job and for others, it had health repercussions and, unfortunately, many around the world lost loved ones in very emotional circumstances.

The Cayman Islands Chapter of the IIA was also impacted, in that the activities of the Chapter were somewhat restricted and the opportunities to engage with the membership were limited due to governmental restrictions. However, the Chapter rose to the challenge and a number of events were arranged using the technology that people had used only to a limited extent before the pandemic. Looking back at the activities that were arranged, the Chapter can be very proud of what it achieved in a very short period of time and how it provided CPE opportunities to its local membership.

I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of all members in the Chapter to thank the outgoing Officers and Board members for their significant contribution over the past two years and in bringing the Chapter to where it is today. We trust that they will continue to be actively involved in the Chapter and to further the objectives of the Institute of Internal Auditors in the Cayman Islands. In addition, the Chapter would like to thank the Caribbean Utilities Company Ltd. which kindly offered its generous sponsorship for the 2020/21 year.

At the end of May 2021, elections took place to vote in the new Chapter Officers and Board. The new team is very enthusiastic and hopes to build on the significant progress that previous officers and Boards have achieved. Some of the outgoing officers continue to be involved in the new team and we thank them for again volunteering their time, experience and expertise.

The success of the chapter depends very much on how engaged its members are and, with this in mind, I would encourage you all to get involved in Chapter activities and events and, if you wanted to get more involved, there are always volunteer opportunities available in helping undertake the administration of the Chapter.

In 2021/22, the Chapter will be focused on communicating more frequently with its members and if you would like to see particular activities/subjects being addressed, please inform any of the Officers, Board members or myself. Alternatively, you can make suggestions/requests by e-mailing the chapter e-mail box at Chapter503@iiachapters.org.

Thank you for your support in 2020/21 and I hope that our paths can cross at Chapter events on a regular basis in 2021/22.