Business in brief: New partner joins EY

EY Cayman announced the addition of a new partner, LaNishka Farrington-McSweeney.

She has more than 17 years of audit and assurance experience in the financial services industry, including extensive expertise in the banking sector, anti-money laundering and regulatory issues, the company stated.

“Having LaNishka join our team is so important as we help our clients respond to shifts and changes in the regulatory environment in order to effectively address the many challenges and opportunities they face,” said Mike Mannisto, EY Cayman partner and Banking and Capital Markets leader for the region.

Dan Scott, EY’s regional managing partner, added, “We are very excited to welcome LaNishka to our team as we continue to help clients build, grow and protect their businesses in Cayman, across the region, and globally.”

Ms. Farrington-McSweeney joins EY from another major audit firm where she was most recently an audit partner and the anti-money laundering solutions lead for the Caribbean region. She received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, is a licensed certified public accountant and a certified anti-money laundering specialist. She is also a member of the Cayman Islands Institute of Professional Accountants and the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants.

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Genesis expands its team

Marcus Parker and Dawn Howe joined Genesis Trust & Corporate Services Ltd on Jan. 2.

Marcus Parker is heading up the trust department at Genesis.

Mr. Parker is heading up the trust department and Ms. Howe is the co-head of the fiduciary services department and provides additional in-house legal support, Roger Priaulx, CEO of Genesis, said.

Mr. Parker was one of the founding partners of a boutique private client law firm in London before moving to Cayman in 2013 and becoming a full time professional trustee in 2015.

As a tax and trust lawyer, “Mr. Parker has been independently regarded as a leader in the private client industry for a number of years by Chambers and Partners, Citywealth and Who’s Who Legal,” said Genesis CFO J. Paul Drake.

“Dawn was a partner in the investment funds group at Walkers in Cayman and having been advised by Dawn for several years, as outside legal counsel, we appreciate why she is so highly regarded both locally and internationally. She has an in-depth knowledge of Cayman structures, with a particular focus on investment funds, which, together with her regulatory expertise, will make her a valuable addition to our team,” he added.

Dawn Howe is the new co-head of the fiduciary services department at Genesis.

Mr. Parker said he looks forward to “further developing the trust offering for global wealthy families with a particular focus on ‘troubled’ trusts, replacing incumbent trustees when trust litigation arises or there are other family disputes.”

Genesis was established in 1992 by the partners of KPMG in the Cayman Islands. In 1998, it became a fully licensed trust company regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. Genesis separated from KPMG in 2004 and now provides corporate, trust, fiduciary and accounting services to a global clientele.

Danesmead Partners appoints Brad Cowdroy as principal

Brad Cowdroy has joined alternative fund governance specialists Danesmead Partners in Cayman as a principal of the firm.

Mr. Cowdroy has almost 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry, having worked extensively with hedge funds, fund of funds and private equity funds across different alternative investment strategies and a range of fund structures. He has specific expertise within fund administration, accounting, valuation, investor communications and regulatory risk management.

Brad Cowdroy has joined Danesmead Partners.

Before joining Danesmead Partners, he served as an independent director for several years with ICG Management Limited, a Cayman Islands-based director services firm. Before this, Mr. Cowdroy held various senior hedge fund administration roles, including as director of Harmonic Fund Services where he co-managed the Hedge Funds Group and with Goldman Sachs in Cayman as vice president of fund accounting, overseeing one of their largest clients, a multi-strategy family of hedge funds.

Greg Bennett and Nick Gaze, co-founders of Danesmead, said, “We are very pleased to announce the addition of Brad to the Cayman team. Brad adds a huge amount of knowledge to the firm and having known him for many years we know the value he can bring to clients and the firm.”

Reportable jurisdictions under common reporting standard amended

The Tax Information Authority published a notice in the official gazettes, amending the reportable jurisdictions under the common reporting standard for the exchange of tax information. The notice supersedes a previous notice published by Extraordinary Gazette No. 49/2017 and adds Azerbaijan and Pakistan as reportable jurisdictions for reports due in 2018 onward and removes Kuwait from the list.

As a result, Cayman agrees to exchange tax information with 91 countries from either 2017 or 2018.