Cayman Islands publication CNS Business reports…. The largest and one of the most influential offshore law firm in the Cayman Islands marked its 5oth anniversary recently with a swanky reception at the Ritz-Carlton. Maples and Calder started life in 1967 when James “Jim” MacDonald and John Maples began doing business out of a room in Dr Roy Edison McTaggart’s house on South Church Street. Two years later, after Douglas Calder joined the small firm and MacDonald retired, it was renamed Maples and Calder. Today the offshore law firm employs more than 1,500 people in 15 offices, 600 of which are here in Cayman.
While Maples has been part of the fight against Cayman’s tax haven image, its home, Ugland House, was singled out by President Barack Obama in 2008 when he suggested their office was “either the biggest building or the biggest tax scam on record”.
But the infamous comment has done little to stifle the firm’s growth. Maples global managing partner Alasdair Robertson said the firm had been instrumental in developing and refining the “Cayman product, to improve and sharpen our services and to offer the world a jurisdiction that continually strives to be the leading international financial centre of excellence. No small feat. Thank you for growing with us and sharing the vision that continues to put Cayman on the map.”
