On Tuesday, November 26th, the Financial Services Commission called a press conference to announce an upcoming landmark conference on Anti-money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT).
The three-day event, with the theme Charting the Course: AML/CFT for Greater Resilience, is to be held at the Four Seasons Resort from Wednesday, December 4th to Friday, December 6th.
According to Deputy Director of the Commission, Ms. Simone Martin, “Anguilla has been demonstrating great leadership in terms of innovation. The upcoming December conference has been put together in collaboration with our financial services colleagues in Anguilla, and it is meant to expose a wider cross-section of Anguilla to all of the topical discussion points in financial services throughout the region and, certainly, throughout the world.
“For this compliance conference, we have done something that is not typically done in the region. We have invited all of the 6th formers from the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School, who are taking Financial Services as a subject, to come and attend the conference for free. We think it is important for them to have the opportunity to see, at a young age, what is available in the financial services industry and to become familiar with the topic that they have been studying, so that it is no longer be such an abstract for them.”
Mrs. Martin had some commendations for the commission’s local partners: “It is equally important that I stress on our relationship with our local strategic partners like Anguilla Finance Limited, and the Anguilla Compliance Association. We have collaborated with these partners to bring an offering that is often found in other jurisdictions, but for the first time this type of conference is being offered in a very structured way in Anguilla. This will be the first in what we plan to be an annual event for the Anguilla Financial Services Commission.”
Ms. Martin then asked Senior Regulator, Ms. Charonay Carty, to speak about her role as regards the preparation for the conference. Ms. Carty said: “Preparation for the conference is going well. We have a wide range of topics to be covered, mainly centered around compliance, corporate governance, and AML/CFT awareness. It is quite a bit of discussion to be covered during this important financial services event.”
She went on: “We have attendees who would be joining us from overseas as well as local participants. We invite those who have not registered yet to register now, for registration closes on Friday, November 29th. The fee for locals is US$200 per day, and those who attend the 1st and 2nd day will get attendance to the third day free. We would like to thank the Four Seasons Resort for its role in accommodating us and for helping us to organize the conference thus far.”
When asked the reasons for hosting the conference in Anguilla, Ms. Martin observed that it was for the purpose of raising the profile of Anguilla’s financial services offering. “I think what is lacking”, she said, “is an awareness of what is possible in terms of financial services. In some cases one may lack the opportunity to network with peers throughout the region, particularly if they had not had the opportunity to attend a regional or international conference event at which they can participate in the discussion of new trends and innovations in the financial services industry. So a conference like this one gives interested persons that kind of opportunity.”
Ms. Martin thanked and commended Ms. Charonay Carty for the important work that she had been doing in organizing and working with the logistics of preparing for the conference.
She also thanked a strategic partner, the Anguilla Tourist Board, who is sponsoring the networking event immediately following the Thursday evening session of the conference. With regard to the networking event, Ms. Martin said they felt that it was important that all the overseas delegates, who are coming to the conference should have a chance to see what all Anguilla has to offer, and she is sure that many of them will become repeat visitors.
Delegates to the conference are expected to be arriving from the UK, the USA, Belize, Surinam, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Barbados, the BVI, St. Martin and St. Kitts.
Staff Reporter, James Harrigan
