The Cayman Islands (along with the United Kingdom, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, the British Virgin Islands and over 70 other countries) has committed to implementing the OECD Common Reporting Standard (“CRS”), which will require investment funds to collect tax identification and tax residency information from all new subscribers and transferees (including debt-holders and equity-holders) who become investors on or after Jan. 1, 2016 (collectively, “New Investors”). In order to facilitate the collection of this information, the Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (“DITC”) published, on Dec. 8, 2015, self-certification forms that can be used to collect the information required under CRS from individual and entity investors in Cayman Islands investment funds. Along with the publication of these forms, DITC announced that, while investment funds should strive to collect self-certifications from New Investors upon subscription, investment funds have 90 days from the subscription date to collect the necessary self-certifications.
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