Caribbean Review: A Caymanian Counter to Corruption in the Caribbean
Corruption may be a notoriously prevalent problem within many countries of the Global South but those like the Cayman Islands and their relatively new Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) are protecting public governance. Trends for public trust in the Caribbean and Latin American region (of countries with available data) are at approximately 36.3% according to an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) survey in 2022. This number, 11 percentage points lower than those measured a decade earlier, demonstrates a declining trend in public trust. For the Cayman Islands, a common Western perception evident within pop culture and movies is that the archipelago is a destination for money laundering and corruption but the Anti-Corruption Commission in the Cayman Islands was specifically designed to change this culture of negligence.
The ACC
The Anti-Corruption Commission was established after the successful passage in parliament of the Anti-Corruption Act (2008) which came into effect in 2010. Since then, the act has undergone multiple revisions and amendment additions to strengthen and consolidate its language and to bring it in accordance with various other laws. According to the Anti-Corruption Commission’s website its mission is, “To enhance the stability, prosperity and reputation of the Cayman Islands…with just, fair and effective investigations.” The ACC’s operational mandate possesses a range of powers and duties, including conducting investigations based on received reports of suspicion or the detection of potential crimes. The Commission may also arrest individuals who may have committed a crime or have generated reasonable suspicion of a crime.
To oversee the body of work completed by the Commission, the Anti-Corruption Law gives broad oversight authority to the Governor not only mandating that the Commission submit an annual report but that the Governor may give specific direction to the ACC in their investigations. While the latest 2023-2024 report of the ACC reported that no such direction from the Governor’s Office has ever been sent to the Commission, the provision allows a more ambitious and nefarious future Governor to do so and opens the possibility for an obstruction of justice. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) through a presentation by The National Anti-Corruption Commissioner of Australia, PLG Brereton, appropriate oversight mechanisms are recommended to include: an independent inspectorate, and parliamentary oversight through a dedicated committee. Not a singular person.
Although the ACC’s body of work in 2023-2024 seems bleak with a total of ten complaints received and two persons charged, the ACC does not have its own budget nor does it have a say in its establishment. Instead, the six-member Commission operates as part of the broader Secretariat, deviating from the apolitical and independent principles outlined for organizations like the ACC under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Anti-Bribery Convention—frameworks with which the Cayman Islands has consistently sought to align.
On International Anti-Corruption Day last December, Governor Jane Owen proclaimed the critical nature of the ACC and urged fellow Caymanians to, “unite to maintain Cayman’s strong reputation in this area.” But, with exacerbated staffing and funding obstacles that prevent the expansion of the ACC there seems to be a lack of commitment and action from the government in terms of rooting out perceived corruption. According to a 2022 study by the World Justice Project, their findings outlined that 83% of respondents to the 2022 survey believed that politicians and elected representatives were corrupt in some way. An overwhelming figure that highlights the years of erosion that has taken place on Caymanians and Caribbeaners public distrust of their governments.
Regional Cooperation
As a means to offset national vulnerabilities and capacity issues, the Cayman Islands is a member of the Commonwealth Caribbean Association of Integrity Commission and Anti-Corruption Bodies (CCAICACB) which includes ten representatives, with the expressed goal of establishing a unified approach, “through the exchange of expertise and information in the eradication and prevention of corruption”. The CCAICACB hosts an annual conference that is attended by stakeholders from across the CARICOM community to collaborate on best practices for the Caribbean. Customary from the previous nine conferences, issues of funding and capacity to increase the effectiveness of national anti-corruption commissions were of utmost importance for delegates given that Chairperson Lady A. Anande Trotman Joseph emphasized that delegates commit themselves to, “lobby regional governments for allocations of adequate budgetary support and resources.”
While the resulting Communique of the Conference was dominated by clauses outlining the essential nature that funding and resources have in the implementation of international best practices and the prosecution of high-level perpetrators, intriguingly, there included a clause regarding the usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a tool to fight corruption. The clause stated, “Encourage Caribbean Anti-Corruption stakeholders to explore and leverage the use of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence in the fight against Corruption.” While AI has been effective in supporting traditional anti-corruption practices including procurement integrity, compliance, fraud detection and anti-money laundering, its introduction presents its own set of challenges. Most notably, when utilized by a Commission full of lawyers, judges, investigators and others not affiliated with the world of technology, AI can become a useless advantage that worsens the digital divide.
In 2022, the Anti-Corruption Law received thirteen amendments that altered and streamlined the language within the law, yet, no changes were made to include provisions that would boost the power of the Commission, change its oversight to a parliamentary committee or express an interest in pursuing alternative technologies. They amounted to largely mundane changes that instead decentralized authority by handing them over to the investigating officer, an unaccountable part of the investigatory process, one that even the Governor maintains no direct control over. Changes that prevent the Cayman Islands from advancing to widely agreed upon standards in the international community and instead subjugates itself to small island authority.
If the ACC in the Cayman Islands is to gain the necessary capacity to go after high-level officials accused of corruption to prove to Caymanians and investors that it is capable of purging corruption then more autonomy and confidence must be provided to the Commission. The Cayman Islands’ ACC must be the prime proprietor of a “big ocean” not a “small island” state approach.
