After a summer break, the IFC world was back in full swing in September, with plenty going on around the jurisdictions to keep corporate and finance communications professionals on their toes.

Here’s the Crystal team’s regular snapshot of some of the trends, highlights and news stories from around the jurisdictions this past month…

• Cayman: work permits and employment rules continued to provide uncertainty across multiple business sectors in Cayman this month as government policy was enforced.
• BVI: at the same time, the BVI was also working with the International Labour Organisation to create its first ‘National Employment Policy’
• Guernsey: the Guernsey Financial Services Commission launched its digital finance initiative, a programme aimed at positioning the island as “a trusted jurisdiction for digital financial innovation”
• Jersey and Bahrain: the two jurisdictions penned a Double Taxation Agreement this month, aimed at supporting Jersey-based businesses operating in Bahrain and driving economic growth. It’s the 16th DTA Jersey has signed.
• Luxembourg: Luxembourg is exploring setting up a presence in Singapore, as it looks to boost visibility in Southeast Asia, according to Luxembourg’s foreign ministry.
• IFC Index: London closed the gap on New York in the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) 38, published by Z/Yen. Hong Kong and Singapore took the third and fourth spot respectively. Jersey was 31st and Guernsey 47th while the Isle of Man rose to 51st.
• AI: Cayman Compass journalist James Whittaker asked AI to assess what the impact of AI would be on Cayman. Here’s AI’s response.
• Instagram: Instagram now has more than 3bn monthly active users worldwide, according to latest figures. Meta reported in 2022 that it had crossed the 2bn mark.