STEP BAHAMAS CONFERENCE
SCHEDULE
7:30am-8:30am
Conference Registration and Breakfast
8:30am-8:45am
Opening Remarks
Theo is assistant general counsel in international trust services at J.P. Morgan Trust Company (Bahamas) Limited with legal responsibility for The Bahamas and Singapore trust companies. He is the chairman of the STEP Bahamas Branch, a member of the Caribbean and Latin America Regional Committee and a member of STEP’s Governing Council.
8:45am-9:10am
Welcome Remarks
9:10am- 9:25am
John Lawrence Trailblazer Award Presentation
AWARD RECIPIENT
Ivylyn Cassar is Chair of Equity Bank Bahamas Limited and has over three decades of international wealth management experience. She is a Certified Public Accountant, Trust and Estate Practitioner and also a Securities Investment Advisor having completed the Series 7 examination. She was most recently the Managing Director of Leopold Joseph (Bahamas) Limited prior to joining Equity Trust Bahamas Limited.
SPONSOR AD
9:25am-10:10am
SPEAKER
Sean McWeeney KC, is a Consultant Counsel and Chair Emeritus of the firm’s Financial Services, Private Client, Trusts and Estates Practice Group. He specializes in trusts and corporate law.
He represents domestic and international high net worth individuals and fiduciaries in a broad range of complex matters including trusts and estates administration and litigation and family business governance. In addition, Sean advises institutional and private families on complex corporate matters including restructurings and Bahamian tax matters. He is a recognised author on both legal and historical matters and regularly speaks at national and international conferences.
Sean is recognised by the prestigious London-based Chambers and Partners as a top ranked attorney in the High Net Worth (HNW) Offshore Trusts Sector and Chambers Global General Business Law. He holds the distinction of a Band 1 ranking in both areas, which is the highest individual ranking.
10:10am-10:55am
TOPIC
Restructuring Trusts
Our speaker will explore the legal and practical issues that often arise when restructuring trusts: e.g., between different branches of the family, and problems arising – narrowing classes, extent of consultation with beneficiaries, coping with large indivisible assets, etc.
SPEAKER
Nicholas Le Poidevin KC specialises in trusts and estates work, both contentious and advisory. He has appeared in significant cases in England at the highest level in both areas of practice, Crociani v Crociani (2014: trust jurisdiction clauses) in the Privy Council and Marley v Rawlings (2014: switched wills) in the Supreme Court. Over half of his work comes from overseas, especially Bermuda and the Channel Islands, and he also appears in courts abroad. He is familiar with the trust laws of most of the offshore jurisdictions. A particular interest is the conflict of laws and the problems it causes in both trust and estate administration.
He is an editor of the leading practitioners’ textbook, Lewin on Trusts, and is a frequent speaker at conferences. His practice extends also to property law, company law and insolvency, either in their own right or in connection with trusts and estates.
10:55am-11:10am
Coffee Break
11:10am-11:55am
TOPIC
LatAm Jurisdictional Update
A brief look at some of the most important tax and regulatory developments across various Latin American jurisdictions.
11:55am-12:40pm
TOPIC
A New Frontier: The Arbitration of Trust Disputes in light of the Volpi Decision
Our panel will discuss trust arbitration and its benefits in the context of the Volpi decision.
SPEAKER
David Brownbill KC specialises in international trust, company and financial services disputes and advice. His experience covers international trust, corporate and commercial structuring; investment funds, commercial trusts and pensions; political risks, international sanctions, investment disputes and bilateral investment treaties.
SPEAKER
The Honourable Barry Leon, FCIArb was Presiding Judge of the BVI Commercial Court from 2015 to 2018. He is a Member Arbitrator and Mediator who is experienced in arbitrating and mediating corporate and commercial, contract, shareholder and business breakup, joint venture, employment, insurance, intellectual property, technology, expropriation, natural resources, and construction disputes. Barry is past Chair of the Arbitration Committee of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (ICC Canada), a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb), an International Mediation Institute (IMI) Certified Mediator, and a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
MODERATOR
Theominique D. Nottage, MCIArb, a Bahamian Counsel & Attorney-at-Law, has worked in both the public and private sectors with professional experience in civil, commercial and trusts litigation, intellectual property matters, environmental law and arbitration.
A 2015 Chevening Scholar, Theominique has a passion for international arbitration and has been extensively involved in several prominent professional organisations holding leadership positions (as the first Bahamian to do so) in Young International Council for Commercial Arbitration, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Young Members Group Global Steering Committee and the Institute for Transnational Arbitration Caribbean Task Force. Theominique has also published articles on arbitration in relation to commercial arbitration and trusts arbitration. She most recently co-contributed a chapter to a book on diversity in international arbitration.
Theominique presently works as a Consultant to the Government of The Bahamas on matters of international arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution processes. In her role with the Government of The Bahamas, Theominique is responsible for the reform of the legislative framework to support arbitration, mediation and construction adjudication in The Bahamas and to establish The Bahamas as a preferred centre for arbitration in the Americas. She is considered a leading advocate for the use of alternative dispute resolution in not only The Bahamas but also the Caribbean and is a budding arbitration practitioner.
SPONSOR AD
12:40pm-2:10pm
Lunch Break
2:15pm-3:00pm
TOPIC
A Masterclass in Probate - Part 2
Our speaker will discuss: (a)the types of grants of representation, (b) the procedures for making the various applications and (c) the forms which lead to the issuance of a grant.
SPEAKER
3:00pm-3:45pm
TOPIC
Managing Directors' Forum
SPEAKER
Elena Maria Mortemore is Managing Director and Head of Trust & Wealth Planning for the Americas, as well as Head of Global Client Service for Latin America. She is responsible for developing and managing the overall Trust business strategy for both North America and Latin America. This includes driving all business development activities to deliver trust and fiduciary products and services to our domestic and international clients. In addition, Elena also works to ensure our Latin American clients with global needs are integrated into the Global Client Service platform, which enables cross continental banking, financing, investments and wealth planning solutions.
Prior to her current appointment, Elena had amassed more than 20 years of legal and trust industry-related experience at Citi, Santander and a local Bahamian law firm. Her background covers extensive experience in legal counsel, wealth advisory, trust administration and new business activities.
Elena is a Barrister-at-Law and is admitted to practice law in England, Wales and The Bahamas. She is an active member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and is fluent in English and Spanish. She received her LLB (Honours) in English and Spanish Law from the University of Kent at Canterbury in England wherein she completed part of her curriculum at the Universidad Complutense Madrid and the University of Pennsylvania.
SPEAKER
Craig has over 30 years’ experience in both legal and financial services. Craig was most recently Chief Executive Officer of Latour Capital DO Brasil, spearheading the Group’s investment strategies and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company. Prior to joining Latour, he spent ten years with Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust Company (Cayman) Limited, including six years between Brazil and Uruguay and four years as Director of Merrill Lynch Trust Services in Geneva. An attorney, Craig began his career in Brazil at the law offices of Messrs. Arnoldo Wald, and subsequently held positions with Banco Omega and UBS.
Craig was Founding Partner and Managing Director of Asset Finanças Serviceços e Participaçōes Ltda., a family office and consultancy focused on the Brazilian market. He has extensive knowledge of the Latin American business and investment landscape, working for four years in investment property, and brings a unique perspective and skill set to Butterfield Trust. Craig is a member of the Brazilian Bar Association and the Brazilian Chapter of STEP.
SPEAKER
O’Neal Webster Managing Partner Vanessa King’s practice covers the major financial centers of the world, where her clients include international and domestic financial institutions, law firms, family offices, trust companies, and high net worth individuals. She is frequently instructed to establish or amend BVI trusts and various forms of corporate finance, such as bilateral and syndicated loans, project finance, property finance, and restructuring. As managing partner, she leads the law firm in areas of strategic vision and growth, client satisfaction, process improvement, and other management initiatives.
Currently, Vanessa serves as deputy chair of the BVI Financial Services Commission Appeals Board and chairs the Caribbean and Latin America Region of STEP, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, and the BVI STEP Branch. Additionally, she sits on the STEP Caribbean Conference Steering Committee and is a member and former secretary of the BVI Bar Association.
In 2023, she was elected as a STEP Worldwide Council representative for the Caribbean and Latin America Region. In this role, she represents the interests of thousands of STEP members across multiple jurisdictions, including the BVI, The Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman, Bermuda, Nevis, Anguilla, Saint Lucia, Panama, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay and elsewhere.
MODERATOR
Dianne is a multiple award-winning practitioner in the financial services industry with more than 30 years’ experience. She recently retired in 2021 as managing director of Leno Trust Ltd. and, immediately prior to joining Leno, served as vice president and head of trust and fiduciary at Butterfield Trust (Bahamas) Limited. She is a recipient of the Bahamas Financial Services Professional of the Year Award and also of STEP’s prestigious Founders Award.
3:45pm-4:00pm
Coffee Break
SPONSOR AD
4:00pm-5:00pm
TOPIC
Health is Wealth
In the midst of our focusing on client needs, we must take the time to preserve our greatest asset – our health! Please join us for this session as this all-star panel of medical professionals explore ways we can do a better job in taking care of ourselves.
SPEAKER
Assistant Co-Director TEMS & Lead Physician Emergency Transport Services, Paramedic Training and Rapid Response Team
SPEAKER
Dr. Rashida Brown-Clarke received her undergraduate medical degree from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad in 2003. She completed her residency and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in Psychiatry at the University of the West Indies in 2009.
Dr. Brown-Clarke worked at the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre (SRC) as a Senior House Officer after completing her internship in 2004, prior to leaving to start her residency programme. She returned to The Bahamas in 2008 and continued practicing at SRC. She was promoted to Consultant in the department of Psychiatry January 2013 and Director of Clinical Services at the Community Counselling and Assessment Centre (CCAC) January 2014. She remained at CCAC until September 2018, when she transferred back to SRC and became a Consultant in Female Psychiatry services, providing inpatient and outpatient services to adult female patients. She recently left public service after dedicating twenty (20) years to the public sector and started working full time with the Doctors Hospital Health System (DHHS) in August 2023.
SPEAKER
Dr Cates was born in Rock Sound Eleuthera. After completion of his primary education in Rock Sound, Dr Cates attended Emory University in Atlanta Georgia and graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in biology. Dr Cates continued his education at The University of West Indies in Trinidad graduating in 1998 as a medical doctor.
Immediately after completing his primary medical training, Dr Cates pursued his specialty training in Family Medicine in England and graduated in 2002. In 2003 Dr Cates and his wife, Nurse Anita Cates, returned to The Bahamas and established Family Medicine Center.
SPEAKER
Dr. Greggory Pinto, Renown Bahamian surgeon and Nephew of National Hero educators, Marjorie Davis and DW Davis, is pleased to be consulting at Doctor’s Hospital, as well as providing services to the Princess Margaret Hospital, Nassau, Bahamas.
Dr. Pinto, holds a degree in minimally invasive Laparoscopic Urological Surgery from the University of Strasbourg, France. Having worked in South Africa, Germany, and France, he is a Board Certified Urologist and Laparoscopic Urological Surgeon and a member of the European Association of Urology.
After finishing postgraduate fellowships in Endourology with renown German kidney stone authority and Thulium Laser Prostate pioneer, Professor Andreas Gross, Dr. Pinto also completed fellowships with Professor Sanjay Kulkarni and Surgical Oncologist, Shailesh Puntambekar, both renown in the field of urological surgery.
5:00pm
Closing Remarks followed by Wine & Cheese Event Mixer
