GEORGETOWN (AP) — The number of financial institutions setting up shop in the Cayman Islands’ thriving offshore sector rose seven percent last fiscal year, according to the Caribbean tax haven’s financial regulator.There were 570 banks and trusts and most of the world’s top banks had branches or subsidiaries in the British dependency, according to a Cayman Islands Monetary Authority report on the 2005 fiscal year.

Licenses for the offshore business rose seven percent — to 709 from 663 — and mutual funds increased to 6,527 in 2005 from 5,399 in 2004, the latest figures offered by regulators in the wealthy enclave. The insurance and mutual fund sectors had the most growth.

International assets booked through banks in the Cayman Islands stood at US$1.26 billion, according to a statement.

Lenient regulation and strict confidentiality laws had helped make the Cayman Islands one of the world’s largest banking centers.

But the territory has increasingly strengthened its financial laws since it landed on an international blacklist of 15 alleged money laundering havens in 2000.