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ASSOCIATES Taking it offshore Justine Plenkiewicz has found her place in the sun working at the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. J BY B ILL ROGERS ustine Plenkiewicz has found a le- gal career that might seem like an oxymoron. She is chief policy and development officer with the Cay- man Islands Monetary Authority. And you may ask yourself, what, they have a monetary authority down there? After all, to many people, the mere men- tion of the Cayman Islands conjures im- ages of intrigue, shady transactions, and the concealment of ill-gotten gains. That's a common misperception, Plenkiewicz says. "A lot of people think offshore financial centres are free-for- alls, with no regulation. That's actually very far from the truth." Indeed, part of her job is to make sure the various funds, insurance companies, and banks situated on the idyllic Caribbean islands are operated safely and soundly, and that everything is above board. Financial entities set up shop here not to hide anything, but rather to take ad- vantage of a very legitimate benefit — tax neutrality. It's not about skulduggery. "We don't tolerate money laundering, terrorism financing, or other criminal activities," she says. "Part of my job is to make sure money launderers and ter- rorist financiers stay as far away from this place as possible. That's something I personally work on a lot. I help draft policies and make sure everything meets international standards. We're keeping a close watch." The other major advantage is that setting up there is much quicker and less expensive than onshore, which flows from certain entities being subject to a lighter regime. Recently the Cayman Islands were scrutinized by the Financial Action Task Force, an international body that assesses "I like it down here. The pace of life is a lot slower. The people are extremely friendly. It's very pleasant." anti-money-laundering regimes around the globe. (The organization was featured in the James Bond movie Casino Royale, with the character Vesper Lynd working for them to ensure Bond adequately man- aged MI6's funds.) The Caymans passed 14 JUNE 2008 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com muster, Plenkiewicz says. "We did well." So if you're planning to show up in Grand Cayman with a duffle bag of cash, you might want to think again. "The bank might not even let you open an account," Plenkiewicz explains. "But