43rd Annual Caribbean Association of Banks Conference
Willemstad, May 2016. The Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB), with its headquarters in St. Lucia W.I., recently confirmed that it has selected Curaçao as the country to hold it’s Annual General Meeting and Conference for 2016. This event, being the 43rd conference since the inception of the association, will be held November 16th through November 19th of this year at the Santa Barbara Beach and Golf Resort.
Caribbean Association of Banks Inc. is an active association, which was formed in 1974 in response to the recognized need for member-territories to mitigate the risk of reliance on external providers. The association currently comprises of Member Banks/Financial Institutions, Honorary Members and Service Members. The total asset base of the members is in excess of US$36.37 billion.
The theme of the 2016 conference is “Caribbean Banking, Fresh Tools, New Thinking.” Attendees will have the opportunity to network with regional peers, partake in discussions and sessions on topics such as US Correspondent banking, Alternatives to Cross-Border payments, Global Banking trends and how the region as a whole needs to be positioned to be able to compete in the new banking environment with high Customer expectations.
The board of the association went through a location selection and voting process, resulting into Curaçao. For the very first time Curaçao has been chosen as the destination to bring together over 250 Senior Banking Executives and Financial Industry experts. This is a significant opportunity for Curaçao's financial sector to network and to also set the stage as leaders in the market and proponents of innovation and knowledge-sharing, bringing the region to a new level.
It is expected that all Curaçao banks will participate as delegates and possible prospect members to share knowledge and collaborate with the region, supporting the continuous evolution in the Financial sector.
In the upcoming months, key representatives from the various financial institutions will collaborate and contribute to an event that helps set industry standards. Through a Local Organizing Committee (LOC), headed by IBIS Management Associates Inc., the plans will be set in motion to ensure that Curaçao leaves a memorable and lasting impression, from the moment the attendees arrive, to the content-delivery during the sessions, to the culmination of the conference with an impressive Cultural Event, highlighting the best Curaçao has to offer. IBIS Management is a long-time service member of the association.
Curaçao has been focusing on bringing conferences of this caliber to the island, so this offers a significant opportunity to demonstrate that island leaders are on board and on-plan to build the economy through the various pillars, this case in particular: Banking and Tourism.
“We are tremendously happy that we managed to pull this off, placing Curacao on the list of top locations for the 2016 Conference, and for being selected while not having any Curaçao banks as members of the association,” says Clark Russel, CEO of IBIS Management Associates Inc, the very first service member to the Association since 2007. “Expectations of the CAB members are set high for the conference of this year, so it's of paramount importance that we, our local organizing committee, prepare ourselves to surpass any level of expectation our members have when coming to our beautiful island.”
|
