Managing Director (TCI Financial Services Commission)

Being a British Overseas Territory with an independent Government, Turks and Caicos Islands have a unique position in the Caribbean. Its 35,000 inhabitants enjoy a high standard of living with a GDP per capita of almost 24,000 USD, among the highest in the Caribbean. But there are many countries in the region that compete in similar sectors; tourism, real estate, financial services… What are the main advantages that set Turks and Caicos apart from the rest of the Caribbean countries?

Despite the similarities with our neighboring countries, the Turks and Caicos Islands are unique in their structure, reputation and history. Being a British Overseas Territory gives us political stability and international recognition. The fact that we operate with the US dollar means that there is neither an issue of exchange control nor concern about the stability of the currency. We are a very small jurisdiction, but the stability in terms of the economic and political system position us for growth.

The proximity to North America is also an advantage for financial services because a lot of our clients come out of the United States and Canada. Our state of the art telecommunication system guarantees system stability and that investors are able to access the TCI 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Air access is tremendous, providing diverse routes for getting to the TCI.

Regarding financial services, we offer a very good product. The banking system in the Turks and Caicos has been stable for years and our insurance product is internationally recognized; we are a member of international organizations such as the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the International Association for Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).

The TCI is also a value for money, cost-effective jurisdiction for financial services business.  This coupled with our high-end tourism product creates an interesting mix of business opportunities in these Islands.

The TCI also has an emerging multi-lingual population which enhances the quality of its labour force and expands the range of clients that can access the services offered by the jurisdiction.


Turks and Caicos were strongly hit eight years ago by the global financial crisis. However, according to the International Monetary Fund, since 2012 the country’s economy maintains a steady growth and a public debt that has reduced to around 11% of GDP. To what do you attribute this positive economic performance?

Our public debt is the envy of most jurisdictions in the region. You would not find another country in the Caribbean with a public sector with a lower debt to GDP ratio than in the TCI. In terms of growth, the Turks and Caicos have a strong foundation, so even when there were external shocks, like the financial crisis or the Hurricane Ike, the resilience of the financial system and the economy allowed the jurisdiction to rebound quickly.

The confidence of investors in the jurisdiction is remarkable; when the tourism plant was damaged by a hurricane, the next day investors were building back and continuing to invest, willing to put money back into the sector, because they have confidence in the growth and the stability prospects. The same happened with the international financial crisis in 2009. Our investors are committed to the country.


In a previous meeting with World Investment News, the Premier Cartwright-Robinson stated that she wants to open the economy for new businesses and make the country a leader in the financial sector. But the Caribbean is a strong competitive region in this field with countries offering, for instance, aggressive tax reductions or Citizenship by Investment Programs. How do you want to compete with them?

As a regulator, our primary focus is on financial sector stability, which creates a platform for economic growth.  Accordingly, we expend our energy on developing a consistent, sector appropriate, internationally benchmarked regulatory system.  One of the objectives of this regulatory system is protecting the reputation of the jurisdiction locally, regionally and internationally. We spend a lot of time making sure that our legislation is on par with international standards and that we are recognized internationally, which creates a platform for the private sector to invest and grow the jurisdiction.

The Turks and Caicos Islands is a young jurisdiction, and our best days are ahead of us. There is still a lot of scope for additional financial services, new products, new services and new investors to come to these islands.

We want to compete on, and be known for, the strength of our regulator, the quality of our products, the efficiency of our services, the responsiveness of our policymakers, and the ingenuity of our private sector.  With those attributes we can compete effectively with any jurisdiction in the region or internationally.


The Financial Services Commission is an independent institution that was created in 2001. What is exactly the role of the Commission?

Our primary focus is on the stability of the financial sector. We are concerned about investor confidence and our role is to ensure that we build a system that is strong, resilient and responsive to the needs of our clients. We are of the view that regulation is not a good in and of itself, but it facilitates growth in other areas and our principle is to create a framework that guarantees stability for growth and economic development.  We are also of the view that good regulation is good for business.

The Financial Services Commission creates an environment that policyholders, investors and depositors are able to have confidence in when they do business. Our core mandate is creating the framework, the stability and the confidence in the financial system that facilitates growth and development.

This stability is created through effective regulation that is risk based and forward looking.  Our regulatory framework must not only respond to current risk but anticipate and prepare for future regulatory challenges.


The current strategy of your entity is laid out in the Plans & Priorities 2016-17. Which are the concrete objectives that you strive to achieve by the end of this year?

In recent months, international insurance has been a top priority for the Commission as it continues to develop a very responsive, customer-driven regulatory framework for this industry, with an emphasis on the niche market that we currently dominate: producer-owned reinsurance companies. Making sure that our framework is responsive to captive insurance in general will allow us to pursue other international insurance products.

The Commission is also working on the development of a crisis management framework. This will be a transparent, clearly articulated framework about how the Commission will respond to a crisis and the roles of various stakeholders in responding to the crisis.

As a jurisdiction we are evaluated very often by international standard setting bodies. We will be evaluated again in 2018 by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).  We are confident that this evaluation will confirm the strong rating previously received from this organization.


Insurance is a key sector in the Turks and Caicos. You are developing a niche market for insurance companies known as “producer owned reinsurance companies” (PORCS). How do these companies operate? What is the role of the Commission in the promotion of these businesses?

A producer-owned reinsurance company is an insurance entity owned by or strongly affiliated with the producer of the risk being insured.  Accordingly, this product allows the insured to participate in the ownership of the insurance company.  

As you can appreciate, the insured knows and understands its risk better than any external party, so the insured, with specialist assistance, is better able to underwrite, price, manage and mitigate its risk than an external insurer.   Accordingly, these insurers, producer owner reinsurance companies, tend to have a better loss ratio than traditional insurers in the same sectors.  This lower loss ratio increases the profitability of these insurers to their investors, who are the producers of the risk.  This results in a great investment opportunity for the producer of the risk.

The Commission’s role is to ensure that these insurers are established and operated based on sound insurance principles.  The insurance company must have the operational structure, expertise and financial strength to support and absorb the risk that it underwrites.


Around 90% of the banking sector’s assets are held by three Canadian banks and one British entity. Therefore, the country’s finances are strongly dependent on foreign companies. How can the Commission set the general interest of the country upon the will of the international companies?

The strength of the economy and the jurisdiction’s historical ties to Canada make the TCI an attractive domicile for Canadian banks.   We anticipate that the strong economy will continue to keep these banks interested in the jurisdiction.

In addition to the cited Canadian banks, there are four other local banks operating in the jurisdiction.  We are also quite confident that the jurisdiction is able to attract other strong international banks if there is excess demand for banking services.  This is reflected in the interest we continue to receive from potential applicants.

The Commission also prides itself on finding a balance in aligning the needs of the jurisdiction with the economic objectives of its licensees.  This requires rigorous but judicious, calibrated, client friendly regulation and clear signalling to all stakeholders, including banks, of the Commission’s regulatory priorities, including medium and long-term goals.   We ensure that our relationship with our licensees is built on a recognition of the interests of both parties, and a view to aligning those objectives.

As a regulator, we continue to meet with the industries that we regulate to provide them with as much information as possible about what our plans and priorities are; this allows for an alignment of the jurisdiction’s and the banks’ goals, and an agreement on the role of the various partners.


The United States are by far the main economic partner of the TCI. In addition, the US dollar is the official currency of the country. Which are the financial benefits of using this currency? How does the Commission collaborate with the regulator agencies in the US?

Given that our main economic activity is tourism, just the ease of moving between visitors’ home jurisdiction and the TCI without having to exchange currency is an asset. It also provides stability, certainty and consistency, which is attractive for people wanting to do business here.

On the real estate and financial services side, there is no issue of exchange control, so there is no concern about being able to get your investment back in hard currency at the end of the investment.

As the Financial Services Commission, we do interact with regulators on the US side. We benefit from training provided by the Federal Reserve and we have been in discussion with the US Treasury on issues relative to potential risk to the jurisdiction. We get a lot of support from international bodies based in the US, such as the International Association of Insurance Supervisors.


The Commission is in charge of the enhancement of the reputation of the Islands as a financial services center. However, in the last years the country’s image has been damaged by corruption cases. In addition, offshore economies establishing a favorable fiscal framework for foreign investors tend to project a negative perception. How can you project to the international markets a reliable and trustworthy image?

A lot of articles and concerns pertaining to international financial services centres are usually based on misperception. The reality is that financial services in the Turks and Caicos are more highly regulated than our on-shore partners, the traditional financial services centers. Due to the intense scrutiny over the years we always have to do more to combat the misperception perpetrated over years of misinformation about financial services centres. Many of our standards far exceed those of the traditional actors; the framework that we have in place, the legal requirements, the international standards that we meet, the disclosure of information or our exchange of information arrangements.

We are assessed all the time and we have had either off-site or on-site reviews to become eligible for membership in a lot of the international bodies. There are many standards to comply with and, as many clients say here “to open an account in the TCI is so much harder than opening an account in the US”.

Our goal is to continue to demonstrate to the international community and international policymakers that we are operating at the highest level of international transparency and that our regulatory framework is on par with or better than those of the standards setting jurisdictions.   This is not just for international recognition, but it is also because we believe that good regulation is good for business.


You have over twenty years of experience in financial sector, including responsibility positions in the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. You took over the Financial Services Commission in the Turks and Caicos the 14th of February 2016. What are you most proud of in your career?

I am very proud of my contribution to financial sector stability in the region both as a central banker and a financial sector regulator in Anguilla, Grenada and the Turks and Caicos Islands.  I view my role in financial sector stability as contributing to building a framework for financial intermediation, which drives economic activity.  So while as a regulator, I might not have been in the forefront of providing goods and services in the real sector, my contribution has supported the growth of those sectors.

Regulators tends to only get noticed when something goes wrong; when the system does not work as expected.  So we quietly take pride in things working as expected; we ensure that “the room is clean” so people can get work done; a contribution that makes us really proud and we look forward to keep doing.


Harvard Business Review readers include the most influential business leaders and top decision makers around the world. As a conclusion to this interview, what would you like to say about the Turks and Caicos’ finances under your leadership?

The financial services sector in the TCI is quite small relative to its capabilities, which means that there is a lot of growth potential.

The quality of our infrastructure and the stability in terms of legal and political systems is on par with the other top financial services centers, but for a price that is a lot more cost-effective;  investors can get a high quality product at a reasonable price.

The Commission, policymakers and the industry continue to work at developing a product that has strong international brand recognition, is resilient, and responsive to the needs of clients and stakeholders. There is a wide scope for growth in the TCI; lots of areas that are still underserved, underutilized, which provides great opportunities for current and potential investors.