(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has steered three amendment bills through parliament that pave the way for the governance of blockchain-type technology for investments. During the recent packed parliamentary meeting, Premier André Ebanks explained that the bills address past misunderstandings about what was needed to develop, expand and properly regulate and manage the digitalisation of elements of the modern financial services sector.
The Virtual Asset (Service Providers) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, theMutual Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and thePrivate Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which were all passed with unanimous support, establish a regulatory framework for the tokenisation of virtual assets, mutual funds, and private funds.
Ebanks, who is the financial services minister, explained that the legislation aims to maintain the Cayman Islands’ strong standing in the financial services sector while ensuring alignment with international standards and best practices. He said these legislative advancements reinforce Cayman’s established reputation as a well-regulated centre of excellence and innovation.
“Our financial services industry remains a cornerstone of Cayman’s economy and a key source of opportunity for our people. Ensuring that our regulatory framework evolves alongside global innovation is essential to maintaining the Cayman Islands’ reputation for integrity, stability and leadership,” he said following the passage of the legislation.
As he presented the bills to his colleagues, he said that getting it right had been challenging due to misunderstandings over what was needed to manage this rapidly developing area of financial business.
Early attempts at legislation had been greeted with pushback from the sector and something of a “civil war”, he said, which drove a more collaborative, ultimately successful approach to drafting legislation that would not only regulate but also enable the digitalisation of the investment sector and grow the business.
All three bills, he said, addressed the issue of tokenisation of investment funds, an emerging feature of the global investment funds sector.
“Tokenisation enables the equity interests, so for example, shares in a mutual fund and investment interest in a private fund to be represented in a digital form using what’s called the distributed ledger or blockchain technology while preserving the underlying legal rights attached to those interests.”
He explained that it is the exact same investment product that exists today, but instead of using Excel spreadsheets or some other similar type of electronic form, the sector is moving to the newer blockchain technology.
“The problem that we are seeking to solve is that, despite the fact that investment funds are beginning to use blockchain technology, which is the same technology used for cryptocurrencies, this is not a cryptocurrency. This is using the same technology but for a different purpose,” the premier added.
However, the issue had caused confusion and unnecessary delay for normal investment funds, he said. So the amending bills will ensure that the tokenised funds remain regulated under their established funds framework, while preserving the application of the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act to any entity that conducts standalone virtual asset services.
Ebanks said sorting out the misunderstandings had taken “a lot of work” for CIMA, Cayman Finance and the ministry amid concerns about unnecessary over-regulation. But he said the three entities had formed a small group, which had “got down to the root of it”, put an end to the crossfire and led to the bills that were before parliament.
See the premier present the bills in parliament below on 5 March:
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