Cayman Attorney General Resigns Under Pressure from the Government

On March 7, 2003, the tax media reported that the Attorney General of the Cayman Islands, David Ballantyne, has tendered his resignation, effective March 15. After a no-confidence motion against the Attorney General due to his role in the collapse of the Eurobank money laundering trial (e.g., particularly the use of undercover sting operation in Cayman banks, the objection of financial intelligence information from such undercover sting operations, and the lack of disclosure or misdisclosure during the trial proceedings), Mr. Ballantyne had briefly returned to Cayman after a period of leave to resume his duties, although the approval of the Caymanian authorities. In a letter released on March 3, 2003, Mr. Ballantyne announce that: “under other circumstances I would have been prepared to continue. Recent events, however, and the way in which they have been handled have lead to a situation where I have decided, on terms acceptable to me, to leave office.” During the first week of February 2003, Mr. McKevva Bush, Cayman Leader of Government Business, demanded that Ballantyne resign and accused the U.K. of trying to destroy the Cayman financial industry due to Cayman competition with them. Mr. Bush also said Mr. Ballantyne initiated the Eurobank case and was responsible for its oversight. Mr. Bush also demanded the extradition of the former Financial Reporting Unit head for his involvement in the Eurobank case.