BFSB recognizes stars of the industry at annual awards gala dinner

Tue, Nov 24th 2015, 12:50 AM

The Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) paid tribute to the contributions of a number of industry professionals as part of its annual quest to profile role models in the sector.

BFSB Chairman Prince Rahming and CEO Aliya Allen spoke to the impressive list of 24 nominees who were finalists for the Industry Awards across the various categories, indicating their joint conviction that this augurs well for the sustainability of the sector going forward.

Guardian Business is pleased to run profiles of the winners below:

Lifetime Achievement Award: Betty Roberts FCIB, TEP, president of First Trust Bank
From 1979, as a young professional at Coutts & Co. (Bahamas) Limited, Roberts was seconded to the National Westminster Bank Trustee & Income Tax Department in Hyde Park, London. She now serves as president and CEO of First Trust Bank Limited (a private bank & trust company licensed in The Bahamas). She has been a veritable star within the industry.

In the intervening years, she has held various high ranking positions in the industry, including deputy managing director of client relations and manager of the trust department at Coutts & Co. (Bahamas) Limited; senior vice president at Shipston Group Limited, a private investment company and family office structure; managing director and compliance officer of Deltec Bank & Trust Limited and executive vice president of The Deltec Banking Corporation Limited; and managing director of SG Hambros Bank & Trust (Bahamas) Limited, the former Coutts & Co. She has also served as a member of the executive committee of the SG Hambros Group. In 2004 she became a self-employed consultant, with SG Hambros Bank & Trust as one of her clients.

In February 2006 she was named as the CEO and first vice president of First Trust Bank Limited, becoming president in October of the same year. At that time she also was named to the presidency of the Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc., a position she also still holds today. At First Trust, Roberts has overall responsibilities for the day to day operations of the bank, including general oversight and execution of the investment program established by the founder. She also has overall responsibility for execution of the International Grants Strategy for two large charitable entities operated by the bank.

This role model for women in the industry has always demonstrated her commitment to the sustainability of the financial services sector, no matter what hat she has been wearing at any given time. She has been an ambassador of the industry and has taken time to give back to the sector and to the business community at large, while retaining a self-effacing persona that belies the giant of a woman that she is.

She is a past director of the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB); past president of the Bankers Association of The Bahamas' and a past deputy chairman of the Association of International Banks & Trust Companies in The Bahamas. Professional directorships include that of JS Johnson & Company Limited and a private trust company (family office structure), based in Lyford Cay. She is a protector for various family trusts. She is a member of the Bahamas Institute of Bankers and Treasurer of the Bahamas Branch of the International Women's Forum, as well as a member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP Bahamas Branch), of which she was a founding member.

In 2001 when BFSB introduced its FSI Excellence Awards program, Roberts was the very first executive of the year, with peers and BFSB singling her out in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the financial services industry. Today, this outstanding executive is still hard at work, ever adding to her impressive portfolio of accomplishments.

She says, "The pace of change in the industry today is greater than any other time of my career in financial services. It is not a season for the faint-hearted but I am encouraged by the tremendous talent that we have available in the younger generation of Bahamians involved in the sector. I would like to encourage these participants to be resilient, creative and adaptable. Never quit learning, and opportunities will ever be present".

She is involved with a number of charitable endeavors - with particular interest in those focusing on matters of the mind and spirit. She served as a director and chair of the Audit Committee of the Lyford Cay Foundation for six years before rotating off the board in 2014 and has served for many years as director at the Christian Counseling Centre.

Roberts earned the Associate of the London Institute of Bankers Trustee Diploma from the City of London Polytechnic (1980) winning the Edward Jones prize for best achievement in practical trust administration and investments. She has completed numerous courses in supervision and management (American Management Association, Canadian Institute of Bankers and the Industrial Society International) and in 1992 was elected as a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, London.

Executive of the Year: Denise Curry Turnquest, senior vice president of credit risk, Commonwealth Bank Limited

Curry Turnquest joined Commonwealth Bank Limited on September 18, 2006 and currently serves as the senior vice-president, credit risk with responsibility for the bank's credit risk, accounts control and recovery, mortgage and commercial lending and business development departments. She brings over 30 years of experience, professional knowledge and expertise to these areas, having served previously with FirstCaribbean International Bank, CIBC Bahamas Ltd. and Barclays PLC. She has a broad and deep experience base in both commercial and retail banking to draw upon, and draws on this base to make solid business decisions that demonstrate good judgment.

A valuable member of the bank's executive management team, she is respected as an honest, straightforward, diligent, trustworthy and competent individual. She has a strong financial acumen across risk management and banking operations and utilizes a wide range of managerial styles to achieve results based on the particular situation.

In 2014, Commonwealth Bank returned the best performance by profitability of the clearing banks in The Bahamas. This performance was driven by two key areas of credit underwriting and account collections. As senior vice president of credit risk, Curry Turnquest has oversight of both these areas. Being able to respond quickly to changing economic circumstances enables the bank to manage its credit risk exposure such that it reported non performing and past due ratios substantially below those for the industry as reported by The Central Bank of The Bahamas.

In addition to the strong performance results achieved, the bank has been commended consistently by the Central Bank of The Bahamas for its credit risk governance and reporting, acknowledging the high standards achieved under her leadership. As one can imagine, managing a past due portfolio of hundreds of accounts in this environment takes significant discipline and oversight and emphasizes the leadership capabilities to bring the team performance to this high level.

Apart from achieving these results, Curry Turnquest has shown herself to be a mentor to her staff, always offering words of encouragement and instruction to encourage and support higher levels of performance. An exemplary leader and motivator, Curry Turnquest is never afraid to allow others the appropriate time and opportunity to develop, providing the required support where necessary and is considered to be a team player. She strives for excellence in everything she does and encourages others to do the same.

Curry Turnquest has an Bachelor of Arts (hons.) in business administration from the prestigious Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario, Canada, and has also completed the Ivey Executive Program. She also has the Canadian securities certification and successfully completed the Certified Public Accountants Examination (CPA). She is currently pursuing the chartered banker designation. Curry Turnquest is also a certified insurance salesperson.

Mentor of the Year: Franklyn Thomas, senior manager of consumer lending, Commonwealth Bank Limited

Thomas joined Commonwealth Bank on October 15, 1976 as a delinquency field representative. Over the almost 40 years he has held several managerial positions, including senior manager of operations; senior manager of credit inspection; and senior manager of credit risk. He is presently the senior manager of consumer lending. He is responsible for managing the bank's consumer credit risk portfolio and ensuring that credit requests are properly analyzed, financially sound and consistent with established policies and procedures.

During the course of his employment with the bank, Thomas has displayed not only excellent leadership qualities, but qualities becoming of one that is considered a mentor, counsellor, advisor and trainer. Through his various positions he has had the occasion of coming into contact with numerous employees and it is through these meetings that he has had the opportunity and ability to mentor many of them, some of whom have progressed up the ladder into management.

Sharing his experiences, expertise and job knowledge has given Thomas a reputation as an excellent example of one who leads by example, one who is always available to give sound counsel and advice and to train and develop individuals. He has attended numerous training courses both locally and abroad, including the management talent program at the Ivey School of Business (2007).

Professional of the Year: Andrea Azeez Quant, vice president of banking and finance, The Winterbotham Trust Company Limited
Certified Public Accountant Azeez Quant is the vice president of banking and finance at The Winterbotham Trust Company Limited, where she has gained over 17 years of experience in the banking industry. She joined Winterbotham at only 20, demonstrating intelligence, enthusiasm and an eager willingness to learn.

As the organization grew and the banking division expanded, Azeez Quant happily accepted the challenge to lead and manage the division. While this role in the banking department led her away from her technical expertise in accounting, she was able to quickly learn and excel in this new field. She received additional in-house and external training specifically related to banking - wire transfers, SWIFT, trading and custody - and also successfully completed the Series 6 examination. In this functional role, Azeez Quant was able to develop and fine tune her leadership skills. She has developed positive working relationships with management and junior employees alike.

In 2014 The Winterbotham Trust Company Limited was awarded the Deutsche Bank STP Excellence Award for USD payments and in 2015 the Deutsche Bank STP Excellence Awards for both USD and EUR payments. These awards are given to banks whose payments are formatted perfectly and thereby can be processed 'straight through' without manual repair by the correspondent bank. Azeez Quant is directly responsible for the overall monitoring and formatting of all wire transfers sent from the bank and this award is a direct reflection of her expertise and excellent work ethic.

Azeez Quant is a member of the Winterbotham executive management committee which is responsible for the day-to-day management of the group. She has also been a great ambassador of The Bahamas as a jurisdiction, serving on several boards, including non-resident executive director for a licensed bank. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting (magna cum laude) from The College of St. Benedict/St. John's University, Minnesota, USA and prior to that an Associate of Arts degree in history, from The College of The Bahamas. She successfully completed the Certified Public Accountants Examination in 2001.

Achiever of the Year: Lorca Bowe, risk officer of the business risk department, UBS Trustees (Bahamas) Limited

UBS Trustees (Bahamas) Ltd. nominated Bowe for the FSI's 2015 Achiever of the Year award, describing her dedication, skill and commitment to professional excellence and high ethical standards as exemplary and consistent with UBS' firm-wide pillars, principles and behavioral standards. Her colleagues say Bowe is passionate about her job, and has as her primary objective the goal to ensure that The Bahamas and Cayman trust companies maintain robust, effective and stable control environments in compliance with group and local regulatory standards.

Reportedly, Bowe's excellent command of and insight into the operational risk and fiduciary risk topics has had a significant impact in helping the business to achieve its objectives to successfully deliver on key business projects of high global visibility and impact on all UBS trust locations. She has worked with UBS Trustees since 2009, when she started as a trust office in the 'Asia' desk, continuing on with the same position in the 'Geneva' desk and then the 'Rest of the World' desk, before becoming a review officer with the review team in 2014.

This year, she became a risk officer in the business risk department. Bowe holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree from the University of London External Programme; a Bachelor of Law with Spanish (LLB, honors) from the University of Sussex, Brighton, England; a Master of Science (MSc.) in international trust law (salutatorian) from the McHari Institute/University of London/Nassau; a Bachelor of Science (BSc.) in biology from Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada; and an Associate of Science (ASc.) in chemistry and biology (distinction) from the College of The Bahamas, Nassau, The Bahamas.

Student of the Year: Dava Bullard, BBA accounting, now staff accountant, at Ernst & Young

Bullard graduated in 2015 from the College of The Bahamas (COB) with a BBA in accounting (distinction) and a minor in Spanish. During her matriculation at COB, Bullard was on the dean's/president's list, served as secretary of the Rotaract Club of COB and was the 2013-2014 rotaractor of the year. She also served as secretary of CHMI Toastmasters 969479, student vice president of Sigma Alpha Pi Honour Society COB and received the Society's Excellence in Service to Students Award and National Engaged Leader Award. She became a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., a member of four other societies/clubs and an attendee of the BICA YACHT Club.

In 2009, Bullard graduated from the St. Joseph's Convent Secondary School (SJC) in Saint Lucia with distinction, receiving the Business, the Economic and the Outstanding Student Awards. She was public relations officer of SJC Young Leaders Club and Red Cross (Treasurer).

Bullard says this quote encourages her to maintain a balance in life: "Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value" (Albert Einstein).

Bullard now is employed with Ernst & Young Ltd. as a staff accountant, and currently is studying for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Exam (CPA). She intends to pursue graduate studies in international relations and economics, to improve her Spanish fluency (through an immersion program) and to learn French.

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