Ugland House is the registered office address of more than 18,000 Cayman companies and other business entities.
There is nothing unusual about this. Most advanced jurisdictions, including the US and the UK, require a registered office (or "agent") address for companies incorporated under their laws. In Delaware, for example, one building in Wilmington provides that service to more than 200,000 Delaware companies. The service involves nothing more than the provision of a statutory address as required by law. The actual business of those companies is not transacted in Ugland House (in the same way that the business of the Delaware companies is not actually transacted in Wilmington).
Cayman is a leading jurisdiction for the formation of:
Those vehicles often provide an opportunity for pooling global capital from institutional investors – including lenders, pension funds, charitable foundations and university endowments – to support economic development worldwide. They are established by major financial and institutional clients on advice from legal and tax advisers in the most reputable and well-known law and accountancy firms in London, New York and other leading financial centres around the world.
US government agencies and the World Bank invest in Cayman investment funds. Several support businesses and finance infrastructure projects in developing countries in South America, the Middle East and Africa.
US, UK and other European government agencies routinely guarantee the financing of new commercial aircraft placed through Cayman vehicles.
The importance of Cayman and other offshore financial centres in facilitating global liquidity and capital flows cannot be over-emphasized, particularly in today's difficult economic environment. Businesses and governments in both developed and emerging economies benefit significantly from them.