David Marchant Conference Organiser and publisher of Offshore Alert	Compliance expert Nancy Saur will be a featured speaker.	Tim Ridley Chairman of CIMA will be a panellist

Experts from the Cayman Islands as well as other offshore and onshore financial centres will focus on financial crime and due diligence within the financial industry in Miami.

Chairman of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, (CIMA) Timothy Ridley, Deloitte (Cayman) partner Stuart Sybersma, and Bodden Corporate Services compliance officer Nancy Saur will join high-level speakers from other offshore jurisdictions and the United States at the 5th Offshore Alert Financial Due Diligence Conference on 24-25 April.

Mr Ridley will be a panellist on two sessions, including the marquee ‘US Senate vs. Offshore Financial Centers’ panel, which will analyze the findings of an investigation by the US Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations into offshore structures set up in the Cayman Islands and elsewhere by wealthy Americans to circumvent US securities, money laundering, and tax laws.

Other panellists include the Chief Investigator for the Subcommittee’s inquiry, Bob Roach.

Of particular relevance to Cayman will be the participation of two US attorneys who helped negotiate a $67.5 million litigation settlement with the Bank of Bermuda (Cayman) following the collapse of one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history known as Cash 4 Titles in class action suit.

According to the conference organizers, learning how to avoid problem clients is a principal reason why people will want to attend. The overall purpose is to educate attendees about serious financial crime and show them how to reduce their risk in becoming involved in incidents that may damage their reputation as well as financially.

“The saying ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ is never more apt than when applied to financial crime,” said David Marchant, Offshore Alert’s editor and conference organiser.

“Spending money and time on professional and thorough due diligence before entering into a business relationship or employing someone is a bargain compared with the potential financial and reputation consequences of making a mistake.”

Mr Marchant also said he was expecting a positive response from all the delegates regarding the marquee panel on the US Senate subcommittee’s report, which has caused some controversy in the Cayman Islands, as it directly cites and criticises specific law firms operating in Cayman.

“When preparing an agenda, I choose topics that I believe are of interest to business people, investors and regulators in onshore and offshore domiciles and then I invite leading figures to discuss the topics intelligently and professionally and the panel about the US Senate’s report will be conducted in this manner,” explained Mr Marchant.

“I see nothing wrong with tackling sensitive topics as long as it is done fairly and professionally. It is far healthier than sweeping something under the carpet and pretending that it does not exist or never happened.”

Mr Marchant also said it provided an opportunity for those who have criticized the report to express their views.

“I am not aware that anything was misrepresented in the report but, if there are people in the offshore world who believe the research or the report’s conclusions are flawed or unfair, the 5th Offshore Alert Financial Due Diligence Conference provides them with an opportunity to question Mr Roach and point out any perceived mistakes or misconceptions,” he added.

Mr Marchant explained that conferences such as these worked towards addressing the perpetual problems of financial crime.

“Any event that raises the awareness of financial crime and helps people to detect and avoid it can only have a positive impact, even in a small way. I see the dire consequences of financial crime almost every day and victims, often the elderly, who are emotionally devastated and broke after being cheated out of their life savings, routinely contact me. It is very sad and these people deserve to have a ‘champion’ for their cause and that is what Offshore Alert is,” he said.

Over 40 speakers from the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, St Kitts & Nevis, United Kingdom, and the US will take part in the conference, representing the public and private sectors. On the onshore regulatory side, there will be speakers from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the US Department of Justice, the US Department of Homeland Security, and US Senate, while offshore regulatory speakers include representatives of CIMA, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission and the Securities Commission of the Bahamas.

The private sector is represented by companies of the calibre of risk consultants Kroll and Diligence, information provider ChoicePoint, accounting firms Deloitte and KPMG, and leading class action law firms such as Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman and Winston & Strawn.

Among the conference sessions are those on Bank Compliance, Hedge Funds, Offshore Insurance, Class Action Lawsuits, Asset Recovery, Russian Clients, & Offshore Financial Centers.

Full details about the 5th Offshore Alert Financial Due Diligence Conference can be obtained from www.OffshoreAlertConference.com.