It has been estimated that up to 60 per cent of the world's money may be located ‘Offshore’ – which is the home of US$6.5 trillion of assets. Some 50 per cent of all financial transactions take place ‘Offshore’. According to an IMF report dated March 2005, in respect of the Cayman Islands alone, ‘the total international assets and liabilities held by Banks in the Cayman Islands were US$1.04 trillion’. It has been suggested that ‘the various offshore jurisdictions play a role in over US$1000 bn of business annually … [and that] … off balance sheet transactions now account for a growing portion of offshore business, so that the true scale of the uses to which sophisticated businesses make of the offshore centres is not apparent from their public documents’.

Even allowing for a material margin of inaccuracy in the estimates, the figures quoted indicate that the global economic potency of the composite ‘Offshore’ environment is significant. The potential may be positive or negative; for example, ‘Offshore’ centres clearly perform a useful function which the volume of financial trade reflects. The quantum makes ‘Offshore’ a factor in, and therefore a potential opportunity in respect of, global financial stability. The text describes in detail why ‘Offshore’ centres add so much value. However, there is a potential threat also. It has been stated that ‘[t]he potential for financial system instability in an offshore country underscores the need to better understand the nature of OFC [offshore finance centre] activities and inter-linkages with the global financial system’.