NASSAU, Bahamas– CFAL President Anthony Ferguson said he expects that at least another five to seven offshore banks will leave this jurisdiction over the medium term, given the constant threat of blacklisting by international regulatory bodies, The Nassau Guardian reported on June 8.
Ferguson, whose private bank and trust company Ansbacher (Bahamas) Ltd. is set to acquire the Bahamas operations of Swiss wealth management firm Julius Baer – which in February announced it was closing its Nassau booking center – said he saw the writing on the wall five years ago.
“I gave a presentation at the University of The Bahamas maybe five years ago and I said at the time that financial services will continue to decline and the banks will continue to leave. The one area that I believe that will continue to do well – I wasn’t being self-serving, but I was being quite serious about it – was the investments side of the business. Regrettably, from where I sit, I fully expect at least another five to seven Swiss banks that are operational here within the next 24 months will not be here,” he said during a CFA Society The Bahamas webinar on “The Road to Economic Recovery” on Thursday.
“I think, though, there is a serious opportunity in the fintech investment side of the business and so… I believe that most people in this business are in good stead and those who are aspirant financial advisors, in particular, if the government were to make mandatory savings.”
Concern about a hemorrhaging in the country’s second pillar of the economy has mounted in particular over the past two to three years, as the country became subject to continuous scrutiny and threats of sanctioning by global financial regulatory groups like the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which have been imposing more stringent rules for international financial centers. See the full Nassau Guardian story at https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/06/08/cfal-president-predicts-continued-contraction-in-financial-services-sector/
