Above: US Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney

By Alexander Britell

A report by US-based ABC news focusing on Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romeny’s financial investments in the Cayman Islands displayed a “total misunderstanding of the role of the Cayman Islands’ tax neutral framework,” according to Cayman Finance, a private-sector group in the territory.

“All international investors are ultimately responsible for paying their taxes in their home country under their respective laws and there is nothing in the Cayman Islands’ laws that interferes with that,” said Richard Coles, Chairman of Cayman Finance, in statement.

“We do understand that this is election season in the US, and typically these types of reports surface as part of that process, but it is unfortunate that despite significant evidence to the contrary, journalists would continue to suggest that the laws of the Cayman Islands encourage avoidance of tax,” he said.

“In fact, our tax-neutral framework has played an important role in enabling ordinary Americans to efficiently invest their pension funds and many US corporations have been able to maintain their international competitiveness through the use of Cayman Islands structures,” Coles said.

Cayman Finance is a private-sector membership-based organization established to promote Cayman’s financial services industry.

An ABC report suggested that Romney, currently the leading Republican candidate, had millions of dollars invested in funds in the Cayman Islands.