Cayman Islands: Confusion Over Same Sex Marriages

Cayman Islands lawmakers and UK officials have both assured the public that neither same sex marriages nor any union similar to them will be legally allowed under the country’s constitutional reform plans.

Education Minister Alden McLaughlin said during a press conference last week that one of the reasons to change the current constitution was to allow elected leaders more control over legislation.

“So that we don’t have to live in fear or concern about the input of EU directives or specific UK legislation relating to things like civil unions,” Mr. McLaughlin said.

UK Parliamentary Under–Secretary of State Meg Munn previously said Britain has no intention of forcing Cayman to accept civil unions or civil partnerships, even though she is personally in favour of allowing such arrangements to exist.

However, despite claims from both sides on the issue, the phrases “civil partner” and “civil partnership” actually do appear in legislation that has recently been gazetted in the Cayman Islands.

The British Nationality (British Overseas Territories) Regulations, 2007 set out certain guidelines for how a person applies to be registered as a British Overseas Territories citizen. It essentially advises governments in overseas territories on how those matters should be handled in accordance with the British Nationality Act of 1981.

The government intends to prohibit same sex marriages by amending the Cayman Islands Marriage Law to reflect that marriage here will be considered solely the union of one man and one woman.

However, it’s not known whether such an amendment would legally prohibit the formation of civil unions, or any other legal arrangement similar to marriage.

There has also been some confusion over whether government would attempt to ban same sex marriage in a bill of rights. Mr. McLaughlin said that would be handled under the Marriage Law, not in any human rights section of the constitution.

“One wouldn’t put that (language outlawing same sex marriage) in a bill of rights,” he said. “A bill of rights is about affording people rights, not ––– making prohibitions about various things.”

Precisely what language might be placed in the constitution regarding marriage isn’t certain. The first summary of constitutional proposals released by government said “the right to marriage between members of the opposite sex” would be considered.

Bill Clinton Evades Taxes With Sketchy Account in Grand Cayman

In recent weeks, reports from the USA suggest that the fight between the two hopefuls, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, has included a number of robust, vocal attacks on the use of the Cayman Islands by US citizens and US companies to avoid paying US federal taxes.

The Cayman Net News Online published a story about former President Bill Clinton's "substantial financial stake in three Cayman Islands-registered investment entities."

They were referring to President Clinton's investments with Yucaipa Companies, a Los Angeles-based holding company founded in 1986 by self-made billionaire and former grocery store bag boy, Ron Burkle. The investments, according to the report, "are believed to offer the former president a fairly risk-free potential yield in the order of tens of millions of dollars."

The Cayman Islands have no domestic taxation system, but President Clinton is still liable for U.S. taxes on income earned through Yucaipa's investment funds.

"The crucial, and as yet unanswered question," said Cayman Net News, "is whether the money in the funds represents a salary, taxed at a potential high of 35 percent, or equity compensation, which could only attract 15 percent taxation."

Yesterday afternoon the Clintons released their tax returns, perhaps answering the crucial question.

We say "perhaps," because we have no expertise in tax law.

But a cursory look at the Clintons' 2005 return finds a $5,000,000 payment from "Yucaipa Global Opportunities Fund I" reported on Schedule E, "Income or Loss from Partnerships and S Corporations."

Bloomberg News dug through the tax returns and found $15.4 million in income from Yucaipa since 2003. Reporter Ryan J. Donmoyer calculates that it was twenty percent of Mr. Clinton's income during that period.

Mr. Donmoyer got some tax lawyers on the phone and reports that they think "the Yucaipa partnership income for Bill Clinton looks to be a form of salary because it was in round numbers for most years."

Documents show that Yucaipa paid the ex-president $1 million in 2003, $4 million in 2004, and $5 million in 2005, and Bill reported $12,674,668 in income from Yucaipa between 2001 and 2006.

Tom Ochsenschlager, vice president of taxation at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, told Bloomberg News that "the flat amounts received from Yucaipa are odd" and agreed with other experts that it indicated Bill Clinton was paid for performing a service.

Apparently, if that money was a salary, President Clinton owed 35 percent of it in income taxes. And that's not what he has paid, apparently.

It looks like the whole time that Hillary Clinton and her husband have been telling anyone who'll listen that they didn't want George W. Bush's tax cut, they've been evading taxes with a sketchy partnership in the Cayman Islands.

If the usual pattern holds, Bill Clinton will spend the next week thunderously denying that he did any favors for Dubai or any of Ron Burkle's other interesting partners. He'll also be trying to deflect continued negative attention away from himself, and Hillary's Democratic run against Obama.