Remarks by Mr. Jamar Arthur-Selman
President of BIBA, the Association for Global Business &
General Manager of Centralis (Barbados) Ltd.
at the Launch of The Barbados Risk & Insurance Management Conference 2023
March 2, 2023, Financial Services Commission, Bay Street, St. Michael
Bridgetown, Barbados – Thursday, March 2, 2023 – Good Morning to the Chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Mr. Oliver Jordan; new FSC CEO, Mr. Warrick Ward; Members of the Board and Executive of Biba; Sponsors; Members of the Media; other specially invited guests, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the media launch of our third annual Barbados Risk & Insurance Management (BRIM) Conference.
Barbados was recognised as the fifth largest captive insurance domicile in the world, and fastest growing offshore domicile in Captive Review’s 2022 World Domicile Update. AM Best also continues to rank us among the top 3 jurisdictions in the Americas. These rankings have been attributed largely to our favourable regulatory environment, attractive tax treaties, and continued regulatory innovation. Therefore, we are grateful to the FSC not only for hosting this media conference this morning and coming on board for the first time as a Sponsor of BRIM this year, but also for the work they do in ensuring that Barbados remains a jurisdiction of choice for new captive formations.
However, BIBA remains ever vigilant to the concerns of its members and therefore, while congratulating the FSC on the recent issuance of its new Corporate Governance Guidelines, we also have opened dialogue with the FSC regarding the significant burden that these guidelines could place on some small captives and wholly owned subsidiaries of non-resident parents. So far we are heartened that the FSC has been open to listening to our concerns and we look forward to reaching an amicable solution to this issue in the interest of keeping our captive insurance industry on its growth trajectory.
Make no mistake, the larger domiciles are watching us closely for chinks in our armour and actively executing strategies, such as the passage of the Captive Insurance Companies Act passed in Alberta, Canada last year, to convince their captives to redomicile home. Therefore, the execution of the BRIM Conference and the global recognition it brings to our three decades old international insurance regime, has to remain an important part of our strategy to keep Barbados top-of-mind. For the third year we have entered into an agreement with the London-based Captive Insurance Times to be our official media partner for BRIM and to share the good news about Barbados far and wide.
The Captive Insurance Times reaches audiences in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America and the Caribbean of captive owners, managers, service providers, prospective captive owners, banks, brokers, regulators and universities. To be a true global business hub we need to continue to expand our image to the world beyond sun, sea and sand; and reaffirm that Rihanna’s countrymen and country women are also excellent and world class in many things.
In that vein, I am delighted that we continue to attract highly knowledgeable local and international speakers to explore global trends in risk and insurance management. We look forward to welcoming back Mr. Jordan as the Chairman of the FSC to set the tone for the conference by opening Day 1, and other returning speakers such as Mr. Patrick Ferguson, Senior Vice President for Marsh Captive Solutions in Canada; Mr. Hermann Leiningen, Managing Director for International Family Office Investments in the Royal Bank of Canada’s Enterprise Strategic Client Group; Mr. Reya Ali-Dabydeen, Banking & Insurance Sector Tax Lead and Partner with EY Canada; and Mr. Sanjay Joshi, Head of Fixed Income for London & Capital.
I am also excited to hear from some new speakers such as Ms. Shirlyne Alexander, Assurance Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers East Caribbean, who will be speaking to PwC’s global report, “Insurance – 2025 and Beyond” which offers adaptive ways that insurers can incorporate five strategic imperatives on their next growth phase; Ms. Nancy Foran, President and Founder of ESG Partners, who will be offering practical advice for companies getting started on their ESG reporting journey; Mr. John Riva.
Head of Tax of the KPMG Island Group who will offer his perspective on the recent Global Minimum Tax developments; and Mr. Jason Downey, the new Chief Information Securities Officer for the Massy Integrated Retail Portfolio, who will be offering lessons learned from the cyber attack on the regional conglomerate last year.
I could probably spend this entire media conference talking about the stimulating topics and speakers that we have lined-up for this year, but I must allow the rest of the head table their opportunity to speak so as I close, I am grateful for your attention and I look forward to having you join us at BRIM 2023, either in person at the Hilton Barbados or online through our CVENT conference platform as we once again explore the future of risk and insurance management. (PR)
