Relationship dossier
Cayman Islands
United States
Relationship assessment
Practical financial and law-enforcement cooperation within a relationship shaped by Cayman’s status as a British Overseas Territory
Cayman Islands toward United States
+35Cayman authorities have cooperated with the United States on tax-information exchange, including through the Cayman Islands’ implementation of FATCA, and participate in law-enforcement cooperation. Cayman’s status as a British Overseas Territory limits the scope of its independent foreign policy.
United States toward Cayman Islands
+35The United States has established tax-information exchange arrangements with the Cayman Islands and entered into a FATCA implementation agreement with Cayman authorities. These arrangements support financial-information cooperation.
Overall relationship
+35The relationship is characterized by practical cooperation on financial information and law enforcement. Cayman’s status as a British Overseas Territory shapes the bilateral structure and limits the scope of its independent foreign policy; the relationship is not a conventional sovereign-state partnership.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory, and its government does not conduct an independent foreign policy. Cayman authorities have cooperated with the United States through tax-information exchange and law-enforcement arrangements, including implementation of FATCA. The relationship is shaped by practical financial and security cooperation, although the scope of the Cayman government’s independent role in these arrangements is limited.
Key developments
The United States and the Cayman Islands concluded a tax information exchange agreement.
The United States and the Cayman Islands entered into an agreement for implementation of FATCA.
Major uncertainties
- The extent of Cayman government participation in broader U.S.-Cayman law-enforcement cooperation is unclear.
- The current scope and implementation of bilateral tax and financial-information arrangements are unclear.