First Citizens a part of Caribbean Association of Banks Annual Conference in T&T
Press Release
Port of Spain, 24th – 28th Oct. 2023 — First Citizens, was proud to be the Title Sponsor of the 50th Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB) Annual General Meeting and Conference, held at the Hyatt Regency, Trinidad. The conference themed, “Embracing Change and Building Resilience in a Dynamic Environment” challenged regional and international delegates to do more than just talk about change but be the change and shape a better future for the financial industry and the world. This event was a hub for knowledge exchange, networking and thought leadership, that brought together regional and international experts, innovators and enthusiasts.
Group Deputy CEO, Mr. Jason Julien, First Citizens moderated one of the sessions during the Opening Plenary held on Thursday 26th, themed; “The Path to Green Financing – Opportunities and Challenges” and said that “Green Financing is where the environmental impact meets capitalism”, he further added that “Financing is the vehicle and environmental impact is the destination”. Three panellists from various institutions expounded on the theme for one hour at the conference. The team included; Mr. Kris Wilson, Head – Corporate Banking, CIBC First Caribbean International Bank (FCIB), Mr. Rodinald Soomer, CEO – CARICOM Development Fund (CDF) and Mr. Adel Meer, Global Sector Manager for Financial Inclusion – International Finance Corporation (IFC). Each spoke respectively from a local, regional and international perspective on the theme highlighting solutions that can be found through greater collaboration, partnership and collective action utilising available resources. The delegates were challenged to start projects within the communities they serve and financing will follow once governance, accountability and transparency are kept at the forefront. Mr. Julien concluded the session with a quote stating that; “Finance without strategy is just numbers and strategy without finance is just dreaming” and encouraged the delegates to “…make the dream a reality as the reality is already here”.
On Friday 27th the Closing Plenary discussed various versions on digital transformation. Neela Kissoon, Head – Integration Operations represented First Citizens, and presented on “Building Resilience in Digital Transformation”. She noted that “There is a seismic shift in banking that is re-writing the playbook on how we operate, how we engage our customers and how we streamline our internal processes”. She added that “This is not a task relegated to the IT department or one with a start and end date but it is a collective mission requiring vision, leadership and a metrics driven mind-set”.
The conference was punctuated with a few cool down events, where delegates got to experience some of Trinidad and Tobago’s local culture.
CAB is the representative body and recognised voice for banks and other financial institutions in the Caribbean. The forum of the Annual Conference seeks to stimulate conversations amongst the CAB’s eighty member institutions from 20 countries and other key stakeholders with the aim of educating and equipping its membership for the changing and future environment. First Citizens is proud to be part of this collaborative effort to help shape the future of the financial industry.
l-r Brian Woo – General Manager – First Citizens Depository Services Ltd., Nicholas Chen – Assistant General Manager – First Citizens Investments Services, Neela Kissoon – Head – Integration Operations and Keshwar Khodai – Assistant General manager – International Trade Centre.
