The Cayman Islands government expects power and telecommunications links to be restored to the financial services sector by Monday following the devastation of Hurricane Ivan.

Bruce Dinwiddy, the governor of the British territory, an important offshore financial centre, said that the infrastructure of the finance sector was mostly intact, including records and data. Once power was restored to George Town, the capital, by the end of the week, the sector would be "back in action", he said.

About a third of all hedge funds are registered in the Caymans but industry experts said there was likely to be little disruption.

Ivan, which reached the Gulf Coast of America yesterday after its rampage through the Caribbean, is blamed for about 80 deaths in the US and the islands.

Ivan is expected to cause billions of dollars in damages. In recent weeks hurricanes Charley and Frances caused some $11bn (€9bn, £6bn) in insured damages in Florida.

Eric van Aalst of Citco Group, which provides funds administration in the Caymans, said most service providers were set up so that when telecoms links went down data could be rerouted to an alternative site.

"From the clients' point of view it really doesn't matter," he said.

Other financial companies operating in the Caymans said that while there had been some damage to facilities and communication was still difficult, they had managed with little disruption to continue to serve clients.

UBS, which has 100 fund administration staff in the Caymans, said it had moved some employees to back-up facilities elsewhere in the Caribbean.