The Association of International Banks and Trust Companies in The Bahamas (AIBT) held its annual general meeting (AGM) on June 22, 2017 during which Co-Chairman Bruno Roberts recapped a busy and productive year for the association.
AIBT highlighted the growth of its professional development efforts including successfully holding the 11th annual Nassau Conference, which achieved record attendance in 2016; the launch of the highly-rated Financial Services Bootcamp, and holding the third annual AIBT Regulators Forum this June.
The association also continued to build on strong partnerships with other industry bodies. Over the past year AIBT partnered with the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) on the International Business & Finance Summit, held in January in Freeport, Grand Bahama; collaborated with BFSB, the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA), the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers (BACO,) the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP) and the Bahamas Insurance Association on delivering the inaugural Financial Services Bootcamp. AIBT also partnered with BFSB, BICA and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers' Confederation (BCCEC) and engaged Deloitte to conduct a tax study.
AIBT also announced that over the past year it has made almost $60,000 in sponsorships and contributions to various industry initiatives including: Common reporting standard legislative drafting; Spanish language immersion scholarships; the 2017 International Business & Finance Summit; the 2017 STEP Caribbean Conference; the Toward a Bilingual Bahamas programme; the BFSB Award to Student of the Year and the tax study.
The executives of AIBT also held regular meetings with various government and policy leaders to ensure ongoing, beneficial dialog with the industry, such as the governor of The Central Bank of The Bahamas, the inspector of banks and trust companies, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas, the Ministry of Financial Services, Trade & Industry and Immigration, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labour, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Attorney General's Office.
Brent Symonette, minister of financial services, trade & industry, and immigration delivered remarks during the AGM. At the meeting, it was approved that Bruno Roberts of The Private Trust Corporation Limited and Ivan Hooper of Winterbotham Trust Company Ltd. will continue at co-chairmen of the Board, Jan Mezulanik of Pictet Bank & Trust Ltd. as deputy chairman, and Jean-Marc Fellay of Julius Baer Bank & Trust (Bahamas) Ltd. as treasurer. Anastacia Johnson, executive administrator of AIBT, continues as board secretary. Directors ratified to service during the 2017-2019 term include David Thain, Amber Bank Ltd.; Amando Martin, Andbank (Bahamas) Limited; Christine Russell, Corner Bank (Overseas) Ltd.; Antoinette Russell, Credit Suisse Trust Ltd.; Ian Comins, EFG Bank & Trust (Bahamas) Ltd.; Shira Newbold, Intertrust (Bahamas) Limited; Daniel-Marc Brunner, Syz Bank & Trust Ltd.; and Bernard Sechaud, UBS (Bahamas) Ltd.
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