Up Front
Monetary Authority Staff Promoted
Staff of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority(CIMA) have been on the move in recent months, as indicated bythe latest batch of appointments, the return of one Caymanianofficer and the promotion of another.
As the new Managing Director, John Bourbon's appointment headsthe list, while Langston Sibblies is appointed in-house legaladvisor. Mitchell Scott has returned to the fold as Special Assistantto the Managing Director and Anna McLean is now the Head of Banking& Trust Supervision. Rounding out this group, the new ActingHead of Investment Services is Dwight Carter.
Mr. Bourbon brings a wealth of experience to his new post, hismost recent stint being three years with the Isle of Man FinancialSupervision Commission where as Head of Supervision, he was concernedwith the regulation of banking, investments and mutual funds.He previously spent 13 years with the Barclays group, where heheld several senior positions, including Compliance Officer andRegional Direct Sales Manager.
A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (FCIB), Mr. Bourbonis also affiliated with several other professional bodies andin addition, he holds a Master of Science degree in FinancialServices Regulation from London Guildhall University.
Having started on June 5th, Mr. Bourbon spent his first weeksbecoming familiarised with CIMA issues and staff, as well as withgovernment and private sector officials. He has now fully takenup the reins.
With recent legislation having increased CIMA's scope and powers,the Authority has this month also appointed its first in-houselegal advisor, Mr. Langston R. M. Sibblies.
His work as an attorney has taken him to Canada, the British VirginIslands, Jamaica and Grenada, with an earlier stint (in 1989)in the Cayman Islands. While living in Canada, he worked on legislativepolicy in the Attorney Generalís office and practised privately.
Mr. Sibblies comes to CIMA from the Secretariat of the Portfolioof Finance and Development, where for the past 18 months he hasbeen executive director. He feels that this move is a natural"progression," explaining, "At Finance I assistedwith developing the plans for the new regulatory system. At theMonetary Authority, I will contribute to the implementation ofthe new programme."
He feels that CIMA will put his experience as a negotiator inalternative dispute resolution to good use. "Settling disputesout of court is becoming more and more prevalent. And the capabilityto negotiate settlements is now an important tool for an attorney,"he explains.
As in-house lawyer, Mr. Sibblies will be involved in a numberof additional activities. These include assisting with civil litigationand drafting legal documents such as directives, memoranda ofunderstanding, and instructions for amendments to existing legislation.He will also assist with reviewing licensing applications fromfinancial institutions.
A Caymanian who has been with CIMA since its inception and withthe Financial Services Department before that, Anna McLean isnow appointed as Head of Banking and Trust Supervision.
Her ten years experience in banking supervision included a twelve-monthsecondment to the Bank of England. The year was spent workingwith two different supervisory groups; one reviewing the developingworld - particularly Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America andthe other supervising Small and Medium size UK Banks.
In addition to that training, Mrs. McLean has also participatedin banking supervision-training programmes at the Bank for InternationalSettlement, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,and the New York Fed. She has also trained at regional centralbanks including the Bank of Jamaica, the Central bank of Barbadosand the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
During the last three years, Mrs. McLean has been actively involvedin the management of the Banking and Trust Department. As such,she has taken part in International Banking Supervision conferencessuch as the Offshore Group of Bank Supervisors, the CaribbeanGroup of Bank Supervisors, and the Association of Supervisorsof Banks of the Americas.
Mrs. McLean holds a degree in Business Management from FloridaState University and she is presently a candidate for an MBA fromthe University of the West Indies. She is enthusiastic about thenext two years as she points out: "I look forward to thechallenges implicit in taking the regulation of our financialindustry to new heights."
Mrs. McLean is married to Omar, a partner at the local architecturalfirm of Office for Architecture and Design, and is the motherof nine-year old twin boys, Travis and Vaughn.
Another Caymanian and former CIMA stalwart, Mitchell Scott hasreturned to the Authority on a special two-year contract as SpecialAssistant to the Managing Director. His responsibilities includeworking on special projects and standing in for section headsand deputies as necessary, to facilitate the promotional trainingof other Caymanian staff and allow them to understudy for managerialposts.
Regarding his new position as challenging, he notes: "Some,perhaps most, of my work will involve familiar areas such as bankingor mutual funds but I will also have to apply myself to a widerrange of applications and topical issues. I expect all of thisto result in two challenging but interesting, rewarding and intenselyactive years."
Mr. Scott has some 13 years experience in financial services regulation,nine of which were in banking supervision, two in mutual fundsand two in policy and research. During this previous tenure ingovernment and the Monetary Authority, he was seconded to theBank of England for one year, attended several training courseson bank supervision and participated in banking supervisory conferencesin Chile, Sweden and other locations.
He has also attended, and on occasion made presentations at, seminarson mutual funds and trusts, both in the Cayman Islands and inNew York. Prior to entering the private sector in 1999, his finalCIMA posting was as Head of the Policy and Research Division.
A graduate of Furman University in South Carolina, he is marriedto Yvonne and is the father of two, Jamie and Kira.
Dwight Carter is the new Acting Head of the Investment ServicesDivision which currently has responsibility for the regulationand supervision of the Mutual Fund and Company Management industrywithin the Islands.
Mr. Carter joined the Banking Supervision Department (the predecessorto the Financial Services Department and CIMA) in 1989 and servedin the Banking Supervision area before transferring to the InvestmentsServices division in 1995.
As regulatory and supervisory responsibilities have globally increased,he has seen Cayman's regulatory staff numbers grow from 1989íssix, to over fifty today. Mr. Carter is experienced in the localfinancial industry having, for a number of years, served one ofour major commercial banks in a senior capacity.
Mr. Carter was also attached to the Bank of England on a 12 monthtraining secondment during which he concentrated on the reviewof Latin American banks, specifically, those of Mexican origin.Over the years, he has attended training courses sponsored bythe Bank of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Bankof Jamaica, the Securities Exchange Commission in Washington D.C.,as well as courses sponsored by members of our local financialindustry.
He is a founding member of the "Offshore Group of CollectiveInvestment Scheme Supervisors" which regularly meets to discussand formulate policies of mutual interest to its members, includingstaff training.
He also frequently represents CIMA at mutual fund conferencesheld within the region, the USA and the UK and recently has takena keen interest in E-commerce and its role in developing marketshare and the global distribution of mutual funds in the 21stCentury.
Mr. Carter and his wife Edna, a senior manager at CIBC, have onedaughter, Katrina, who will complete her PhD in Sociology laterthis year.
Commenting on the Monetary Authority appointments, Financial Secretary,the Hon. George McCarthy said, "I am of course delightedto have Mr. Bourbon on board and at the helm and I regard theother new assignments and promotions as equally positive. We naturallystrive to ensure that our regulatory regime continues to meetthe highest international standards and this must always be ourmandate. Just as important, however is the Monetary Authority'scommitment to the upward mobility of Caymanians which is alsoproving to be very successful."