HSM LAW
HSM Celebrates Another Gold-Winning Year at Best of Cayman 2026
The HSM Group is proud to announce its outstanding success in the 2026 Best of Cayman Islands awards, achieving Gold medals across multiple categories: Law Firm Immigration Law Estate Law Corporate Services The Best of Cayman Islands is a vote-based Read more +
HSM Welcomes Three Interns to 2026 Summer Internship Programme
68 Fort Street, Grand Cayman (27 July 2026): The HSM Group is proud to continue its summer internship programme with three young professionals: Dimitri Seymour (Corporate/Compliance), Diego McLaughlin (Intellectual Property) and Alicia Allen (Intellectual Property). HSM’s Summer Internship Programme commenced Read more +
Trump v Barbara: Why Birthright Citizenship Still Matters in Cayman
A U.S. case with a Cayman history behind it At first glance, Trump v Barbara looks like a purely American case. It concerns President Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship under the United States Fourteenth Amendment. Cayman does not have Read more +
Cayman Islands Immigration Update – June 2026: An Act of Unintended Consequences, New Work Permit Conditions and Statistics
When the Cayman Islands Government proposed changes to the Immigration Law, released last year, there was one change that stood out and that was the proposed changes to Section 64 of the Immigration (Transition) Act (2022 Revision). This was the Read more +
Cayman’s Virtual Notary Regulations Due To Expire 16 April 2022
The Coronavirus pandemic, and subsequent lockdowns, required timely amendments to many Cayman laws and regulations to enable the business community to continue to function. One such innovative change was the passing of the Notaries Public (Virtual Conduct of Notarial Acts) Regulations, 2020 which when combined with The Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment Act), 2020 enabled persons to sign property related deeds or instruments remotely and removed the need for their physical presence before the notary.
HSM Property Partner Linda DaCosta explains that through video conferencing (Zoom, Teams etc.), lawyers in the Cayman Islands were for the first time permitted to meet virtually with clients to present passports and sign documents without compromising public health and safety. The amended law allowed unprecedented continuity and facilitated transactions effectively ensuring business generally and property transactions were still taking place during lockdown.
Unfortunately as of 13 April 2022, the Notaries Public (Virtual Conduct of Notarial Acts) Regulations, 2020 were stated to only be in effect for a period of 2 years and will expire on 16 April 2022. Whilst COVID related issues continue, it can only be hoped that the Regulations will be extended. Even in a post-COVID world the need for such a provision to assist the elderly and disabled is obvious. Further in a Green Cayman it cuts down on at least a few otherwise unnecessary car trips to the lawyer’s office.
There is still opportunity for further improvements. The amendments did not effectively allow for statutory documents to be executed remotely by a person located outside Cayman, we would like to see the scope extended to at least cover Caymanians overseas.
HSM stands ready to assist any clients with any appropriate notarial assistance and count five notaries amongst our team members. Notarial acts can be done either at our offices or remotely if the Regulations are extended. In cases of urgency or where clients are unable to attend our offices, we can also notarise documents at our client’s homes or at a hospital.
HSM hope that the Government will extend the Regulations and make the change a permanent one, embracing the electronic world we now live in.