Industry Position: Legal Counsel, The Private Trust Corporation Limited
 
What attracted you to the sector?
It seems as if I was attracted to the financial services sector in some form upon being asked a probing question by my high school mathematics teacher who I encountered again while he was then working with the Securities Commission.  He asked: "So Ms. Treco, what is it that you want to do, career wise, once you leave this place of learning?"  Alex Roberts, if you only knew then how these words would inspire me and subsequently move me towards full integration into the financial services sector in The Bahamas.  Never was this more evident than in my chosen field of study - law - when one of the requirements of my degree was that I had to complete a dissertation; I averred that the legal personality (the characteristic of a non-human entity being regarded by law to have the status of personhood or a human being) attributed in common law to corporations was recognized judicially and established by precedent prior to the landmark case of Salomon v A Salomon & Co Ltd [1897] AC 22.
 
How long have you been involved in the financial services sector?

Some fourteen years.  I continue to be amazed at the considerable changes that have affected the financial services sector during this period.  In June 1997, two years after being called to the Bahamas Bar, I made a cold application to Credit Suisse (Bahamas) Limited seeking employment.  The managing director at the time, Gregory Bethel, now President of Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Ltd., took a chance on a young attorney and hired me as the organization's legal counsel.  This role eventually encompassed the compliance functionality for Credit Suisse.  The opportunity allowed me to learn banking and the financial services sector from the ground up.  Bethel would always say that if nothing else, when I left Credit Suisse, he would ensure that I not only became a banker, but I would understand financial services in The Bahamas.  He made good on his promise to which I am eternally grateful.  The belief being that in order to fully appreciate and understand the legal aspects of banking and the financial sector you must first learn the functionality and operational nuances of the industry you seek to engage.
 
 
What qualification do you feel are the most useful in helping you perform in the sector?

Although the legal profession has afforded me wide exposure to many differing areas and facets, I am of the view that it is the practical and life experiences learnt whilst in the financial services sector that has assisted me most in the performance of my functions in the sector.
 
What has been the biggest challenge in your career? How did you overcome it?

Having a legal background, one of my biggest challenges and oftentimes difficulties over the years as legal counsel/advisor in a financial services organization is to remember to create a balance between legal pessimism and business pragmatism when providing advice in this role. In overcoming this, it is important to remember that business must function and continue to grow and cannot be so stagnated that there is no room or possibility for this to happen.
 
What advice would you give young people just starting out in the industry?

Quite often we want to aspire to start out at the level that our mentors occupy and we overlook that they started out in low positions and through many years of hard work, worked their way to the position that we now see them.  Remember, it was through their hard work, willingness to learn and to be the best that they could be, at whatever function they were given, that they were able to ascend to the heights that they now find themselves. There will be setbacks but these are merely learning opportunities on your journey to achieving your goal. Most importantly, if you have the opportunity to learn a language or two, seize the chance.

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