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Cayman Islander Jeffrey Webb has accepted the nomination to become the new president of CONCACAF, replacing Jack Warner as chief of the governing body for soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, the official said on Monday.

Webb said he had been nominated by 25 out of the 40 member nations in CONCACAF and would be formally voted into office at the body's congress in Budapest, Hungary, on May 23.

"I am humbled by the tremendous out pouring of support and encouragement received from so many of the member countries," he said in a statement.

"It is this unity of the CONCACAF that will champion our success, and if elected, it is my intention to build on that unity through collaboration, transparency, integrity, engagement, and accountability."

CONCACAF was thrown into turmoil after president Jack Warner quit amid allegations of involvement in a cash-for-votes scandal in the presidential campaign for world soccer governing body FIFA.

Warner's long-established right-hand man, American general secretary Chuck Blazer, also quit the body at the end of 2011.

Alfredo Hawitt of Honduras has served as CONCACAF's interim president since Warner's resignation.

Webb has held a number of positions with the Cayman Islands Football Association, including his current role as president, and has also served on several FIFA committees.

CONCACAF's congress will take place in Budapest, shortly before the full FIFA congress in the same city.

Link:
Cayman Islands chief set for CONCACAF top job

26 March 2012

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that it has established two memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), as part of its long-term strategy to improve the oversight of regulated entities that operate across national borders.

SECs supervisory cooperation arrangements are said to enhance its ability to share information about regulated entities, such as investment advisers, investment fund managers, broker-dealers and credit rating agencies.

Supervisory cooperation arrangements help the SEC build closer relationships with its counterparts to cooperate and consult on each others oversight activities in ways that may help prevent fraud in the long term or lessen the chances of future financial crises, said Ethiopis Tafara, Director of the SECs Office of International Affairs.

The SECs supervisory cooperation arrangements generally establish mechanisms for continuous and on-going consultation, cooperation and the exchange of supervisory information related to the oversight of globally active firms and markets. They enhance its ability to share information about regulated entities, such as investment advisers, investment fund managers, broker-dealers and credit rating agencies.

Such information may include routine supervisory information as well as the types of information regulators need to monitor risk concentrations, identify emerging systemic risks, and better understand a globally-active regulated entitys compliance culture. The MOUs also facilitate the ability of the SEC and its counterparts to conduct on-site examinations of registered entities located abroad.

The SEC entered into its first supervisory cooperation MOU in March 2006 with the United Kingdoms Financial Services Authority, but, following the recent financial crisis, the SEC has expanded its emphasis on this form of continuous supervisory cooperation in an effort to better identify emerging risks to US capital markets and the international financial system.

As part of this effort, the SEC has co-chaired an international task force in 2010 to develop principles for cross-border supervisory cooperation. These principles have since proven to be a useful guideline for structuring MOUs around the type of information to be shared, the mechanisms which regulators can use to share information, and the degree of confidentiality this information should be accorded.

The two MOUs reached this month follow on a similar supervisory arrangement that the SEC concluded with the Quebec Autorit des marchs financiers and the Ontario Securities Commission in 2010, and expanded to include the Alberta Securities Commission and the British Columbia Securities Commission last September.

The SEC attaches particular importance to the Cayman Islands as a major offshore financial centre and home to large numbers of hedge funds, investment advisers and investment managers that frequently access the US market, while ESMA fosters regulatory convergence among European Union securities regulators.

See the article here:
SEC Enhances Cooperation With EU, Cayman Islands

THAMER al Shanfari, the mega-rich former chairman of Cayman Islands-based mining company Oryx Natural Resources (ONR) believed to own the Glen Lorne house where crack units drawn from the police, immigration, Central Intelligence Organisation and Zimbabwe Revenue Authority flushed out two suspected diamond and gold dealers before deporting them, has threatened to use financial muscle to shut down the Zimbabwe Independent for reporting on the story which has angered him.

The Independent last week reported two senior Zanu PF politburo members, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Didymus Mutasa and his Indigenisation counterpart Saviour Kasukuwere, were linked to Israeli and Russian underworld gold and diamond dealers who were recently deported after a raid on their hideout in Harare's Glen Lorne suburb. The house is believed to be owned by Shanfari.

Mutasa and Kasukuwere confirmed going to the property located at Number 57 Follyjon Crescent during the January 3 raid. Mutasa however said he was only visiting, while Kasukuwere said he had gone there to meet some South African investors who wanted information on the indigenisation programme.

But those involved in the raid said the ministers were called by Russian national, Alexander Filegon alias Alexander Filatov and an Israeli Mike Raslan, who were accused of being diamond and gold dealers, to rescue them.

The story incensed Shanfari. In reaction, his lawyer Gerald Mlotshwa of GN Mlotshwa& Company Legal Practitioners initially called last Friday to complain but it was agreed that Shanfari, who was not part of the story besides mentioning that he owned the house and providing his background, wouldbe interviewed to give his own side of the story.

The Independent on Tuesday contacted Mlotshwa over the issue and it was agreed the interview would go ahead. However, midstream Shanfari dramatically changed and in subsequent conversations he exploded and threatened to close the newspaper.

Shanfari, instead of giving his own side of the story given the overwhelming public interest in the matter as shown by the involvement of two ministers, chose to threaten to close the newspaper and go after its journalists.

"You don't know who I am and what I do. You are fighting the wrong person and I will make sure your newspaper is closed," said Shanfari. "Do you know who I am? I'm going to go after you (Independent),"

He was particularly angered by a picture of his house which appeared in the paper showing part of his property which was raided by the police. He accused the Independent of being unprofessional for taking pictures of his house and "tarnishing his image".

"You guys are very unprofessional. Why did you take pictures of my house? I have reported you to the police," he said. "I will make sure your newspaper is closed."

Read the rest here:
Zimbabwe: Tycoon Shanfari Threatens to Close Independent

Washington, D.C., March 23, 2012 The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has established comprehensive arrangements with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) as part of long-term strategy to improve the oversight of regulated entities that operate across national borders.

The two memoranda of understanding (MOUs) reached this month follow on a similar supervisory arrangement that the SEC concluded with the Quebec Autorit des marchs financiers and the Ontario Securities Commission in 2010 and expanded to include the Alberta Securities Commission and the British Columbia Securities Commission last September.

The SECs latest supervisory cooperation arrangements will enhance SEC staff ability to share information about such regulated entities as investment advisers, investment fund managers, broker-dealers, and credit rating agencies. The Cayman Islands is a major offshore financial center and home to large numbers of hedge funds, investment advisers and investment managers that frequently access the U.S. market. ESMA is a pan-European Union agency that regulates credit rating agencies and fosters regulatory convergence among European Union securities regulators.

Supervisory cooperation arrangements help the SEC build closer relationships with its counterparts to cooperate and consult on each others oversight activities in ways that may help prevent fraud in the long term or lessen the chances of future financial crises, said Ethiopis Tafara, Director of the SECs Office of International Affairs.

The SECs approach to supervisory cooperation with its overseas counterparts follows on more than two decades of experience with cross-border cooperation, starting in the late 1980s with MOUs facilitating the sharing of information between the SEC and other securities regulators in securities enforcement matters. The SECs enforcement cooperation arrangements which now encompass partnerships with approximately 80 separate jurisdictions via bilateral MOUs and a Multilateral MOU under the auspices of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) detail procedures and mechanisms by which the SEC and its counterparts can collect and share investigatory information where there are suspicions of a violation of either jurisdictions securities laws, and after a potential problem has arisen.

In contrast, the SECs supervisory cooperation arrangements generally establish mechanisms for continuous and ongoing consultation, cooperation and the exchange of supervisory information related to the oversight of globally active firms and markets. Such information may include routine supervisory information as well as the types of information regulators need to monitor risk concentrations, identify emerging systemic risks, and better understand a globally-active regulated entitys compliance culture. These MOUs also facilitate the ability of the SEC and its counterparts to conduct on-site examinations of registered entities located abroad.

Although they are designed to achieve different things, enforcement and supervisory cooperation arrangements are complimentary tools. Supervisory cooperation involves ongoing sharing of information regarding day-to-day oversight of regulated entities. Enforcement cooperation MOUs, by contrast, help the Commission collect information abroad that is necessary to help ensure that the SECs enforcement program deters violations of the federal securities laws, while also helping to compensate victims of securities fraud when possible.

The SEC entered into its first supervisory cooperation MOU in March 2006 with the United Kingdoms Financial Services Authority. Following the recent financial crisis, the Commission has expanded its emphasis on this form of continuous supervisory cooperation in an effort to better identify emerging risks to U.S. capital markets and the international financial system. As part of this effort, SEC commissioners and staff co-chaired an international task force in 2010 to develop principles for cross-border supervisory cooperation. These principles have since proven to be a useful guideline for structuring MOUs around the type of information to be shared, the mechanisms which regulators can use to share information, and the degree of confidentiality this information should be accorded.

Additional information about SEC cooperation arrangements with foreign regulators can be found at: http://www.sec.gov/about/offices/oia/oia_cooparrangements.shtml

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See the article here:
SEC Establishes New Supervisory Cooperation Arrangements with Foreign Counterparts

GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS--(Marketwire - March 21, 2012) - Tethys Petroleum ("Tethys" or "the Company") (TSX:TPL.TO - News)(LSE:TPL.TO - News) announces a significant increase in its reserves in oil and gas in Kazakhstan as reported in a new reserve report.

Total Net Oil and Gas Reserves (barrels of oil equivalent: BOE)

Consisting of:

Net Oil Reserves:

Net Gas Reserves:

Oil Reserves

The upgrade in oil reserves comes as a result of the successful 2011 Kazakhstan drilling campaign including the Doris appraisal wells AKD05 and AKD06, and the successful AKD03 exploration well, which discovered the Dione field.

The extensive remodeling work subsequently carried out has provided invaluable data that points to a stratigraphic channel model for the Cretaceous sandstone rather than a simple structural model. The validation of this model through further appraisal success would result in a very significant further upgrade in the reserves.

The next appraisal well, AKD07, is expected to spud in Q2 2012 and will be located to the south-east of the original AKD01 discovery well and will target 3P reserves at the Cretaceous Aptian sand level in what is believed to be a channel sand system, whilst simultaneously targeting an exciting exploration prospect (named "Dyna") that has been identified on the new seismic data from a bright amplitude anomaly at a slightly shallower level and is interpreted to be part of a different, larger sand fan system. The prospective resource for this new target will be disclosed after the completion of a new independent Kazakhstan Resource Report, which is expected to in Q2 2012.

Additional exploration/appraisal prospects have been identified using the newly interpreted 3D and 2D data. This data has led to the identification of a number of other attractive exploration prospects at the Doris reservoir levels and other horizons. All these will be included in the new resource report.

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Tethys Petroleum Limited: 2011 Reserves Report