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Starting a Company in the Caymans is a snap. Over 8,000 companies get registered every year. There is something here called "The Company Registry" which is really a one-stop shop. The staff there is extremely helpful and will guide you through the reporting requirements and various company structures offered here.

Essentially there are five basic types of companies which may be registered in Cayman: resident companies, non-resident companies, exempted companies, limited duration companies, foreign companies and segregated portfolio companies. Regardless of which type of company you incorporate, you may do so with members' liability limited by shares or by guarantee, as unlimited companies, or as non-profit organizations.

You could do all the work yourself but everything can be handled and papered at a reasonable price by one of the many professional firms licensed for this purpose. So WWMD? Hire a firm to handle it. This leaves more time for drinking mojitos on the beach. Remember, there is a lot of competition in Cayman for your business so I urge you to negotiate a good price for yourself.

Posted by Myron Gushlak at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I appreciate fine timepieces. To be perfectly clear -- a fine timepiece is made by hand. It has a "movement" made of around a hundred tiny pieces that are put together by hand by German and Swiss guys named Hans or Meyer. These guys have big white mustaches and fat sausage fingers. Hans and Meyer work on one timepiece at a time using tools that were also made by hand with techniques that were handed down father to son for over a hundred years. They rarely make more than a few hundred of a given timepiece before it is retired from production.

Watches are made of plastic or have plastic parts inside of them. They are put together by machines. Watches have a battery. Watches have a digital read out or glow in the dark hands. Watches have a brand name that people recognize. If you buy a watch, even an expensive watch, there is a good chance that you will run into another guy wearing your watch at a meeting or at a party. If I were to get a timepiece it would probably be a Patek Phillipe or A. Lange & Sohne.

Posted by Myron Gushlak at 3:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Arrggghhhh. The problem with the Treo 680 will not go away. Cingular gave me another phone but I'm willing to bet it will have the same problem. I looked at the other Cingular offerings -- the Blackjack and the Pearl, but am not ready to make the jump from Palm yet. The Blackjack is a brick, but the Pearl is a very nice looking phone. I'm not sure about the keyboard (two letters on each key), the battery life, or the ease of configuration on my email server though friends tell me "once you go black(berry) you never go back". I'm going to in Frankfurt in a few days and may pick up a Treo 750 GSM. I will keep you posted.

Posted by Myron Gushlak at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Why live and work in Grand Cayman? Because I can of course! It is actually a question I get a lot from people that have never been here. Besides the obvious -- it's a beautiful island paradise. It is also one of the world's premier international financial centers.

Unlike some of the other off-shore banking centers, the Cayman banking industry covers all bases: trusts, mutual funds, company management, structured financing, accounting, insurance and even listings.

Wait. Don't all of you move here at once or I won't be able to get table at Blue without a reservation. Damn! I had to open my big mouth.

There are also some smart people living here. It really is fantastic.

Posted by Myron Gushlak at 3:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been carrying a Treo 650 for the last two years and was definitely ready for an upgrade. The 650 was so close to being the perfect smartphone -- it is just a bit too big, the battery life a little too short, and it's operating system somewhat buggy (I had to reset it a few times a month). That's why I was so excited about the Treo 680. I preordered the sucker!

Unfortunately, the Treo 680 is barely an upgrade over the 650. The should have called it the Treo 655. Sure, the keyboard is a little better, and they ditched the antenna nub and made the form factor a little smaller but you pay for this with a shorter battery life. If you're a heavy user like me than this is a poor trade off. My biggest problem with the Treo 680 is that the cellphone mysteriously shuts off for no reason (Cingular is my carrier). I never know when this was happening and the only way I can tell is if I happen to notice that the upper-left corner of my screen stops saying "Cingular" and instead has a random collection of symbols and letters. The only way to get the phone working again is to pull the battery out. I went back to Cingular and they gave me a new handset and a new SIM card and the problem still exists. I'm ready to throw this thing against a wall. Unfortunately I gave me Treo 650 away. Let no good deed go unpunished right.

I'm thinking about getting the Blackberry Pearl.

Posted by Myron Gushlak at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friends and friends of friends alike (a.k.a. Strangers) are frequently asking me where they should eat when visiting the Caymans. I understand where they are coming from -- they are visiting for the first time and I have lived and worked here for over a decade or they know that I am a bon vivant and figure that I would only recommend the finest restaurants on the Island. These are safe assumptions. And generally I am happy to lend a hand, but I have been traveling a great deal recently and have been bothered with multiple calls to my cell phone. For some reason these calls always happen at the worst possible moments and I am often too rushed to give anybody a reasonable amount of attention. So, in the interests of ensuring at least one extraordinary meal on your trip, I present to you and yours my favorite restaurant in Grand Cayman: Blue

Blue at the Ritz Carlton Hotel should not be missed. Chef Eric Ripert has worked in several Michelin 3-star rated restaurants: including Le Bernardin in New York (which you will definitely hear more about when I get around to blogging on New York!)

The fish is caught and served on the same day every day and they have a formidable wine list -- which is something you really come to appreciate when you live on an island. My favorite dishes are the grilled Wahoo with passion fruit Bernaise and the Hake which is prepared with callaloo (a leafy green vegetable with a very unique flavor only found in the Caribbean), pumpkin and rum butter. My wife loves the lamb. I used to think she ordered it simply to bother me because eating anything other than fish at Blue should is criminal -- but she has had it a few times and she is not a masochist (despite what her mother told her on our wedding day) so it must be good. Blue is also legendary for their desserts. Debbie likes the rice pudding and my favorite is the chocolate tart.

For more information about Blue, visit http://www.ritzcarlton.com/resorts/grand_cayman/dining/venues/blue/menu.html

Posted by Myron Gushlak at 2:24 PM | Permalink