SPEAKER PROFILES <<go back
| Name: Trevor Blake |
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| Topic: Establishing the Basis for a Consensus Position on the Caribbean Concept of Corporate Governance |
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Mr. Trevor Blake was appointed Director of the Financial and Enterprise Development Department of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank in March 2001, where he has direct responsibility for the implementation of the Bank’s Money and Capital markets Development programme. Previously, as Deputy Director of the Bank Supervision Department, he headed the Supervisory and Policy Development Unit, and served as Project Manager for the Legal and Regulatory component of the Securities Market Project.
He was a member of the initial Board of Directors of the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange Ltd, the Eastern Caribbean Central Securities Depository Ltd, and the Eastern Caribbean Central Securities Registry Registry Ltd, and currently serves as Secretary to the Boards of Directors of these institutions.
Mr. Blake holds an MBA in Financial Studies for the University of Nottingham and is an Associate of the UK Chartered Institute of Bankers.
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| Name: Thomas G. Calderon, Ph.D. |
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| Topic: Addressing Accounting, Auditing and Disclosure Standards and Corporate Governance Issues in Regional Securities Markets |
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Dr. Calderon earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from The University of the West Indies-Mona and completed his Ph.D. at Virginia Tech (one of the top 50 research universities in the US) in 1987. He joined The University of Akron in August 1988 after two years as Assistant Professor at the University of New Orleans. He has worked in development banking, public accounting and consulting prior to starting his Ph.D.
He was recently elected as Vice Chair/Chair Elect (2003-04), Teaching & Curriculum Section, American Accounting Association (AAA). He has published more than 30 articles in academic and professional journals, including: Journal of Applied Business Research, Journal of Accounting Education, Journal of Accounting & Computers, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, and many others.
He is the lead author on monograph, A Framework for Evaluating Effective Teaching, Center for Accounting Education Research, James Madison University, 1997. and on monograph, Best Practices in Accounting Program Assessment (forthcoming December 2003). He has developed and presented workshops for major U.S. corporations, including First Energy, Schwab, and Advanced Elastomer Systems. He has presented academic and professional paper presentations at more than 40 local, regional, national, and international meetings and conferences. He served on editorial board for Accounting Enquiries: A Research Journal (1996 to present), Internal Auditing (2001 to present), and Journal of Managerial Issues (1995 - 1998). He serves as ad hoc reviewer for Issues in Accounting Education and Journal of Accounting Education and also serves as ad hoc reviewer for several regional and national academic meetings. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica; American Accounting Association; Institute of Management Accountants and Information Systems Audit & Control Association.
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| Name: Vicki D. Carmichael, ACIS, BA (Hons) |
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| Topic: Effective Corporate Governance: Perspectives for Caribbean Corporations and SMEs |
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Vicki Carmichael is the Corporate Secretary and Manager Reinsurance Compliance at a leading international reinsurance company, London Life and Casualty Reinsurance Corporation. Vicki has 8+ years experience in corporate governance and compliance and manages this aspect of the business. She is the company's liaison officer for international and domestic regulators and international rating agencies. An active member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, Canada (ISCA), Vicki is co-presenter at annual ICSA workshops for Caribbean professionals pursuing the ACIS/FCIS designations. Directorships: National Housing Corporation, Barbados - Chairman of sub-committees: Internal Audit and Risk Management; and Trabaja Reinsurance Company Limited, Barbados. Presently enrolled in the LLM program at St. Thomas University, School of Law, Vicki's concentration is: International Taxation - Offshore Financial Centres.
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| Name: Jeannine L. Comma |
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| Topic: The Corporate Governance Challenge for the Caribbean |
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Dr. Comma is the CEO/Director of the Centre for Management Development (CMD) - University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. She is an experienced and qualified Organization Development specialist having worked extensively in the private sector in the USA and the Caribbean.
In 1993, Dr. Comma started her own consulting firm - Quality Solutions Inc., a Management Consulting firm based in Barbados and operating in the Caribbean region. Dr. Comma is a graduate in Business Administration and Higher Education Administration from George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
She has worked extensively in twenty-two countries in the Caribbean in the areas of Training and Technical Assistance, Project Management, Information Technology and Organization Development, with the Caribbean Association of Industry & Commerce (CAIC) and the Neal & Massy Group of Companies; her own consulting firm and in her present position at the CMD.
Currently, part of a Commonwealth Secretariat initiated Technical team, she is responsible for Leadership Development initiatives in Commonwealth countries.
She was instrumental in the design and conduct of Executive Leadership Development interventions in South Africa and Uganda.
Dr. Comma is also a certified user of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - a personality indicator which highlights the value of diversity. She is a very well known in Barbados and the Caribbean for her inspiring presentations on Leadership and Personal Development Strategies.
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| Name: Winston A. Cox |
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| Topic: Global Trends and Challenges in Corporate Governance |
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Mr. Winston Cox assumed the position of Commonwealth Deputy Secretary General in September 2000. He came to the Commonwealth Secretariat after completing an assignment with the International Monetary Fund on the impact of the publication of IMF staff reports on the economies of Fund members. Mr Cox served as Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados from September 1997 to April 1999 and prior to joining the Central Bank, he was an Alternate Executive Director in the World Bank from November 1994. He was appointed Director of Finance and Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs in 1987 and served in this capacity until July 1991. |
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| Name: Peter Dey |
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| Topic: Global Trends and Challenges in Corporate Governance |
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Mr. Dey is a Partner in the law firm of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP specializing in corporate board issues and mergers and acquisitions. Until May 2001 he was Chairman of Morgan Stanley Canada Limited. He was involved in developing the Canadian investment banking business and the overall strategic direction of Morgan Stanley in Canada. He joined that firm as a Managing Director in 1994. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he was a senior partner of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.
From 1993 to 1995, Mr. Dey chaired The Toronto Stock Exchange Committee on Corporate Governance in Canada which released in December 1994 the Report entitled "Where Were the Directors?" also known as the "Dey Report". The Report established standards of corporate governance for Canadian corporations. From 1983 to 1985, Mr. Dey was Chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission, Canada's leading securities regulator.
Mr. Dey was Canada's representative to the OECD Task Force that developed the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance released in May of 1999. He is also a member of the Private Sector Advisory Group of the Global Corporate Governance Forum established by the World Bank and the OECD that is focused on developing corporate governance standards for emerging markets. Mr. Dey was recently elected as a director of The International Corporate Governance Network, an organization of institutional investors managing in excess of U.S. $10 trillion.
Mr. Dey attended Queen's University where he earned his Bachelor of Science in 1963 and Dalhousie University where he earned his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1966. He also received his Master of Laws degree from Harvard University in 1967.
Mr. Dey is a director of and Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee of the board of directors of CP Ships that is listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. In addition, he is a director of Stelco Inc. and CAMCO Inc., both of which are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange. He is also a director CSI Global Education Inc. Mr. Dey is a director of Soulpepper Theatre Company and Alpine Ontario.
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| Name: Melvin Edwards |
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| Topic: Corporate Governance Issues for Non-Bank Financial Institutions |
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Mr. Edwards is currently the Project Manager of the CIDA-funded Caribbean Regional HRD Programme for Economic Competitiveness based in St. Lucia and serving 15 CARICOM States.
At the June 2003 International Credit Union Forum held in Brisbane, Australia he was elected 2nd Vice President of the World Council of Credit Unions (formerly Treasurer). WOCCU is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, USA and serving more than 115 million members worldwide with savings in excess of US$540 billion. He has extensive experience in Development Planning and Project Management working with Governments, Private Sector, NGOs and International Development Agencies in the English and French-Speaking Caribbean.
He holds a M.Sc Econ. from the University of Wales and a B.A (Hons) from the University of the West Indies.
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| Name: Bryan Gaunt |
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| Topic: Effective Corporate Governance: Perspectives for Caribbean Corporations and SMEs |
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Bryan Gaunt is Executive Director, Audit for FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited. He has 31 years experience of Internal and External Auditing. Bryan is a Chartered Accountant who trained with Price Waterhouse and subsequently developed the Internal Audit Department in Midland Bank and joined Barclays Internal Audit in 1994 as a Deputy Director. His auditing career has covered worldwide locations and includes 18 years experience in a wide range of financial services businesses. His responsibility within Audit in FirstCaribbean includes delivery of an Internal Audit programme providing assurance to the Board on the effectiveness of control over risks across the Group, Business Risk, providing a regular programme of verification work in branches and operations and Corporate Security, providing fraud prevention and investigation services and managing physical security of the bank's locations, people and property. |
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| Name: Michael Gillibrand |
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Topic: Establishing the Basis for a Consensus Position on the Caribbean Concept of Corporate Governance
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Michael Gillibrand is Special Adviser and the Head of the Advisory Services Group of the Governance and Institutional Development Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, responsible for the Secretariat's programmes in Governance and Public Sector Reform.
As one of these programmes, Mr. Gillibrand initiated the Commonwealth programme for corporate governance in 1995, and established the Commonwealth Association for Corporate Governance in 1998. He designed and developed the first Commonwealth Business Forum in 1997, and the Commonwealth Business Council in 1998, to be the representative of the private sector in the Commonwealth. In his work for the Commonwealth he provides professional advice directly to Commonwealth governments in the fields of corporate governance, privatisation, commercialisation of public services, competitiveness policy management, and enterprise restructuring.
Before his current assignment with the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mr. Gillibrand was an executive director of US and British business companies in the UK and Middle East, and a non-executive director of a private investment and financial services company in the UK. He also spent ten years as resident chief adviser to government ministries in the Middle East, has worked in management and economic consultancy in the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, after starting his career in the chemical industry in Britain.
Mr. Gillibrand has a Sloan Fellowship in Business Administration from the London Business School, M.A. from the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, B.A. from the School of African and Asian Studies of the University of Sussex, and was a research associate at the University of Nairobi. He is a member of the British Institute of Directors, Society of Business Economists, and the Strategic Planning Society. His mother tongue is English; he has a working knowledge of spoken and written French and a basic knowledge of written and spoken Arabic, Swahili and German.
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| Name: J. Kevin Higgins |
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Topic: The Corporate Governance Challenge for the Caribbean
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Mr. Higgins received his education at the University of the West Indies (BA. Economics and Economic History), Vanderbilt University (M.A. Economics) and the University of Miami (M.B.A. Finance)
Mr. Higgins has been employed in Economic Planning; in Development, Commercial and OffShore Banking, and currently holds the post of Economic Advisor to the Governor's Office at the Central Bank of the Bahamas.
Mr. Higgins is also a part time lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, St Benedict's and St. John's University Minnesota, The Bahamas Institute of Bankers, the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies, Mexico City and has recently published Offshore Financial Services: An Introduction.
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| Name: Jennifer Lamie |
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Topic: Addressing Accounting, Auditing and Disclosure Standards and Corporate Governance Issues in Regional Securities Markets
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Jennifer Lamie is the Assistant General Counsel and Corporate Secretary to The Cincinnati Stock Exchange, which is based in Chicago. Ms. Lamie is one of CSE's liaisons to the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators. She is responsible for preparing all proposed rule filings and working with the SEC to obtain approval. She is also responsible for overseeing the Exchange's enforcement program. Ms. Lamie is currently working to implement corporate governance reforms for companies listed on CSE in light of the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Prior to joining CSE, Ms. Lamie was the Assistant General Counsel to the New York-based International Securities Exchange, the first registered exchange approved by the SEC since 1973. In her role at ISE, Ms. Lamie assisted in establishing and implementing the newly-formed exchange's internal governance and compliance policies. She was also the primary liaison for ISE's regulatory services arrangement with NASD Regulation, Inc. Before ISE, Ms. Lamie worked for the Chicago Board Options Exchange within their regulatory services division.
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| Name: Wendell Lawrence |
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Topic: Role of Caribbean Governments and Businesses in Promoting Healthy Corporate Governance Practices
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Wendell E. Lawrence has been the Financial Secretary of St. Kitts and Nevis for over 14 years, and is currently the Chairman of the Regional Debt Coordinating Committee which is the entity established by the Governments of Eastern Caribbean Currency Union to supervise the Regional Government Securities Market. He is also the Chairman the Board of Directors of St. Kitts-Nevis Cable Communications Ltd., a major provider of cable television and internet services in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, and he currently holds Board positions in a number of organizations including the Caribbean Development Bank, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the St. Kitts Urban Development Corporation. He has held a number of other senior positions including Director of Audit (Auditor General) of St. Kitts and Nevis, Assistant Comptroller of Inland Revenue, Assistant Economic Planning Officer and has worked as an Accountant at Peat Marwick Mitchell (now KPMG) in Jamaica.
Mr. Lawrence holds the B. Sc (Management Studies) and the M. Sc (Accounting) degrees from University of the West Indies, as well as the M. Sc (Financial Economics) degree from the University of London. He is member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a member of the St. Kitts and Nevis Association of Chartered Accountants. He was also the recipient of a number or academic awards including the States Scholarship for St. Kitts and Nevis, the Millicent Byron Award, the Administrative Society of Jamaica Prize and the Leonard De Cordova Gold Medal.
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| Name: N. PATRICK MCDONALD |
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| Topic: Role of Banks in Corporate Governance |
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Mr. McDonald is currently serving as Partner (since 2002) in the law firm of Hart Muirhead Fatta. Mr. McDonald practiced at Myers, Fletcher & Gordon (Kingston, Jamaica) between 1993-1999. He was also assigned to Myers, Fletcher & Gordon, O'Neal, Webster, O'Neal (Tortola, British Virgin Islands) from July 1998-December 1998.
Mr. McDonald entered the public service in 1999, joining FINSAC Limited, an agency under the Ministry of Finance & Planning set up by the Jamaican Government to restructure and support the Jamaican financial sector in the wake of Jamaican financial sector crisis of mid to late 1990’s. He served as Corporate Operations Executive, in a supporting and advisory role to Managing Director. Responsibilities included monitoring operations of Jamaica’s largest life insurer and two of the three largest commercial banks, and coordinating activities for divestment of state’s majority stake in all. He also served as the state’s representative on a number of boards of directors of entities in receipt of state financial assistance.
Mr. McDonald resumed private practice in 2002 after FINSAC’s substantial completion of rehabilitative and divestment activities. He presently focuses on general commercial practice; company law; financial services and regulation; and real estate. He is also currently serving as a director on the board of several Jamaican corporations.
Mr McDonald studied at the University of the West Indies (1987-1991) and the Norman Manley Law School (1991-1993). He was admitted to practice in Jamaica in 1993 and in the British Virgin Islands in 1998.
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| Name: Luigi Passamonti |
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| Topic: Role of Banks in Corporate Governance |
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Luigi Passamonti is currently the Senior Advisor to the Financial Sector Vice President at the World Bank. Among his current responsibilities, he follows the theme of bank governance. He published an article on this topic in the Financial Times in August 2002. Prior to the present position, he was an Assistant to the President of the World Bank in 1997-1999. He started his career in the World Bank Group with a responsibility to originate and manage investments in financial institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. Before his official activities, Mr. Passamonti has had a number of senior positions in banking. He was responsible for J.P. Morgan's investment banking activities in Italy in the 1980s. He then practiced strategy consultancy for European financial institutions with the Boston Consulting Group in Paris. He was General Manager of an Italian merchant bank.
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| Name: Gerard Pemberton |
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| Topic: Corporate Governance Globally and in the Caribbean: An Institutional Investor and Rating Agency Perspective |
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Mr. Pemberton is the Managing Director of Development Finance Limited (DFL) Caribbean, which is located in Trinidad & Tobago. Prior to joining DFL he was the Manager, Corporate Planning, Neal & Massy Holdings and General Manager of an industrial subsidiary. He holds a B.Sc. in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies and a Diploma in Development Banking from the American University, Washington DC.
He is a member of the National Economic Advisory Council of Trinidad & Tobago and a member of the Board of Directors of the Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Commerce. He serves on a number of other Boards including the Public Service Commission.
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| Name: YRK Reddy |
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| Topic: Corporate Governance Issues for Non-Bank Financial Institutions |
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Mr. Reddy is a leading authority on corporate governance in India and an adviser to the Commonwealth Association for Corporate Governance. He is a visiting professor at the Indian Institutes for Banking and Public Enterprises, and the Administrative Staff College in Hyderabad, and executive director of the Academy for Corporate Governance. He is a main board director of the Steel Authority of India, coordinator for the national corporate governance training programme for the Department of Company Affairs of the Ministry of Finance and has specialised in the corporate governance of banking and non-banking financial institutions and of state enterprises. Mr. Reddy has advised on corporate governance in South Asia, the Arabian Gulf and East and Southern Africa, and is currently a member of the Commonwealth expert group reviewing the OECD Principles for Corporate Governance.
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| Name: Mark Singh |
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| Topic: Corporate Governance Globally and in the Caribbean: An Institutional Investor and Rating Agency Perspective |
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Mr. Mark Singh serves as the Managing Director of RBTT Merchant Bank Limited. The RBTT Merchant Bank Limited has been a pioneer in capital market activities in the region serving Governments, the public and private sectors in their capital raising process. The merchant bank is part of the RBTT Group which is the largest, wholly-owned Caribbean banking and financial services group, comprising thirty-four (34) subsidiaries and associate companies, including nine (9) commercial banks with 79 bank branches in eleven (11) jurisdictions.
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| Name: Baljit Vohra |
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| Topic: Establishing the Basis for a Consensus Position on the Caribbean Concept of Corporate Governance |
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Mr. Baljit Vohra is serving as the General Manager of the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange (ECSE). Prior to joining the ECSE, Mr. Vohra served as the President of the Intrados Consulting Group (ICG), a Washington, D.C based multi-disciplinary firm specializing in securities markets, banking, privatization and pension reform. Mr. Vohra has over 14 years of experience in the design and management of securities markets operations, privatization and pension reform projects around the world. He has provided technical assistance to institutions and led capital market development initiatives in several countries including China, Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Namibia, Nepal Romania, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.
Mr. Vohra has conducted due diligence studies for CalPERS and other institutional investors in the area of private equity. He has assisted these institutions to explore the basis for their new private equity investment opportunities in emerging markets. He has also provided advisory services in corporate restructuring to major corporations such as AT&T, Saudi Aramco, BP Amoco and Bell Atlantic.
Mr. Vohra has written several articles on the evolving financial sector architecture in emerging economies with special emphasis on privatization, private equity, securities market development and pension reform. He holds an MBA in Finance and Investments degree from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. and a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Jabalpur, India.
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| Name: Andrew Wilson |
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| Topic: Role of Caribbean Governments and Businesses in Promoting Healthy Corporate Governance Practices |
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Andrew Wilson is a Senior Program Officer at the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). In his position at CIPE he is responsible for overseeing a variety of programs that promote private sector development and economic reform. He is a CIPE specialist on corporate governance reform in transitional and developing economies, with a focus on the role of the private sector in promoting corporate governance standards and compliance. Prior to joining CIPE in 1995, Mr. Wilson worked in
international training and development with focus on economic reform in post-communist countries. He has a MA in East European Studies from the University of London, School of Slavonic Studies, and BA from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, USA.
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