Ministry of Economic Affairs officials paid a courtesy call on the office of crypto currency exchange, OKX, as a part of the Ministry’s stakeholder engagement efforts while in Singapore for the Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioner’s (STEP) Asia financial services conference.
OKX, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange recently registered as a digital assetsbusiness under the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act to launch a digitalassets enterprise within The Bahamas. The company has announced plans to use The Bahamasas a regional hub to meet the needs of a growing population of cryptocurrency users andinvestors within the Caribbean and Latin America.
Senator the Honourable Michael Halkitis, Minister of Economic Affairs, says that the governmenthas embraced the opportunity to welcome OKX to The Bahamas as the Davis administrationpromotes The Bahamas as a Fintech hub:
“As we move forward with our agenda of economic growth and diversification, we are fullyembracing the digital economy opportunities coming through the various Fintech, digital assets,and Web3 based businesses who are interested in The Bahamas due to our robust financialservices and digital assets legislative framework.”
On site for the visit were Minister Halkitis, Director of Financial Services, Brandace Duncanson,as well as other Ministry of Economic Affairs team members. The OKX team hosting theBahamian delegation included Ben Bowden, Global Head of OKX Compliance, Kairi Azmi, theSingapore General Manager of OKX’s sister company, OKCoin, and Kenneth Lo, Deputy GeneralCounsel for OKCoin’s Licensing and Regulatory department.
The visit included a tour of OKX’s Singapore Office, as well as a dinner-meeting in which OKXdiscussed its plans for The Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America.Given recent events that have impacted the global cryptocurrency markets, Minister Halkitisstated that investors like OKX continue to show an interest in establishing a foothold in TheBahamas and have demonstrated their commitment to the growth of the local digital economy.
“While we were in Singapore for the STEP Asia conference, it was very important for us to takethe time to visit OKX as a major investor in The Bahamas. OKX has demonstrated acommitment to The Bahamas with its recent appointment of a Bahamian CEO, Dr. Jillian Bethel,and the hiring of Bahamians in key positions.”
”These are the kind of high-level employment opportunities we believe will become the normgiven The Bahamas’ high levels of talent and ideal regulatory environment for Fintech. We arevery keen to maintain relationships with investors like OKX who are setting the pace withinclusion of Bahamians at every level of the organization.”
OKX is a lead sponsor of the inaugural Bahamas Fintech Festival, D3 Bahamas, which is takingplace at the Atlantis Resort from January 23 rd to January 26 th , 2023. D3 Bahamas will becohosted by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas. The event will include a VentureCapital Forum, a million-dollar pitch competition, and dialogue with global regulators. The D3Bahamas festival is expected to generate more interest from Fintech investors and furthersolidify The Bahamas’ position as an emerging Fintech hub.
Those interested in learning more can visit the D3 Bahamas website at www.d3bahamas.com.
Ministry of Economic Affairs officials paid a courtesy call on the office of cryptocurrency
exchange, OKX, as a part of the Ministry’s stakeholder engagement efforts while in Singapore
for the Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioner’s (STEP) Asia financial services conference.
OKX, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange recently registered as a digital assets
business under the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act to launch a digital
assets enterprise within The Bahamas. The company has announced plans to use The Bahamas
as a regional hub to meet the needs of a growing population of cryptocurrency users and
investors within the Caribbean and Latin America.
Senator the Honourable Michael Halkitis, Minister of Economic Affairs, says that the government
has embraced the opportunity to welcome OKX to The Bahamas as the Davis administration
promotes The Bahamas as a Fintech hub:
“As we move forward with our agenda of economic growth and diversification, we are fully
embracing the digital economy opportunities coming through the various Fintech, digital assets,
and Web3 based businesses who are interested in The Bahamas due to our robust financial
services and digital assets legislative framework.”
On site for the visit were Minister Halkitis, Director of Financial Services, Brandace Duncanson,
as well as other Ministry of Economic Affairs team members. The OKX team hosting the
Bahamian delegation included Ben Bowden, Global Head of OKX Compliance, Kairi Azmi, the
Singapore General Manager of OKX’s sister company, OKCoin, and Kenneth Lo, Deputy General
Counsel for OKCoin’s Licensing and Regulatory department.
The visit included a tour of OKX’s Singapore Office, as well as a dinner-meeting in which OKX
discussed its plans for The Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America.
Given recent events that have impacted the global cryptocurrency markets, Minister Halkitis
stated that investors like OKX continue to show an interest in establishing a foothold in The
Bahamas and have demonstrated their commitment to the growth of the local digital economy.
“While we were in Singapore for the STEP Asia conference, it was very important for us to take
the time to visit OKX as a major investor in The Bahamas. OKX has demonstrated a
commitment to The Bahamas with its recent appointment of a Bahamian CEO, Dr. Jillian Bethel,
and the hiring of Bahamians in key positions.”
”These are the kind of high-level employment opportunities we believe will become the norm
given The Bahamas’ high levels of talent and ideal regulatory environment for Fintech. We are
very keen to maintain relationships with investors like OKX who are setting the pace with
inclusion of Bahamians at every level of the organization.”
OKX is a lead sponsor of the inaugural Bahamas Fintech Festival, D3 Bahamas, which is taking
place at the Atlantis Resort from January 23 rd to January 26 th , 2023. D3 Bahamas will be
cohosted by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas. The event will include a Venture
Capital Forum, a million-dollar pitch competition, and dialogue with global regulators. The D3
Bahamas festival is expected to generate more interest from Fintech investors and further
solidify The Bahamas’ position as an emerging Fintech hub.
Those interested in learning more can visit the D3 Bahamas website at www.d3bahamas.com.
