BISX CEO; Keith Davies and Borse Dubai Executive VP Projects; Ali Al-Hashimi

The Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) is pleased to announce the return of Mr. Keith Davies,

Mr. Davies was part of a private delegation of individuals representing various business interests within The Bahamas, who visited the United Arab Emirates with the goal of exploring business opportunities and highlighting to the UAE the business development opportunities in The Bahamas. The trip was organized by Mr. Tony Joudi, Chief Executive of FTC Ltd., who had previously travelled to Dubai with a delegation from the Government of The Bahamas. Based upon his impressions from his initial trip, Mr. Joudi took it upon himself to organize a delegation of private Bahamian based professionals who were interested in strengthening the commercial relationships between The Bahamas and the UAE. The delegation; besides Mr. Davies and Mr. Joudi, included Mario Carey, President and Chief Executive of Mario Carey Realty; Werner Gruner, Director at Andbank; Andrew Rolle, Sapphire Venture Fund Administrator; George Hamalian, Real Estate and Diamond Trader; and Seamus Lagan, Entrepreneur. Collectively, the group represented the major sectors of the Bahamian economy, namely, capital markets, banking, fund administration, trust services, legal and real estate fields. The visit to the UAE was financed completely by the members of the delegation.

Speaking about organizing the trip, Mr. Joudi indicated that he took the initiative to form a business delegation based on a promise he gave to government and business officials he met in the UAE, along with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and five other Cabinet Ministers and a Senator. Mr. Joudi was pleased to participate in the initial trip in October of last year which was a fact finding mission organized by Minister Mitchell and supported by the Prime Minister. Mr. Joudi stated, “We needed to immediately capitalize on the initiative taken by the Government, which planted the seed for every Bahamian man and woman with the spirit of entrepreneurship to travel and make things happen for themselves. A whole new world full of opportunities awaits us and we should have the courage to explore.”

Mr. Davies in speaking about the trip noted: “Travelling to the UAE gave me a chance to meet with capital markets professionals who have been exposed to many of the same challenges that BISX has faced over its history. And since BISX was established in 1999 and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, and the Dubai Financial Market were established in 2000, we are essentially the same age. Additionally our trading systems bear many similarities and this fact helped us to immediately establish a common historical bond.”

Speaking about the presentations, Mr. Davies stated, “During the visits to the various different institutions, my fellow delegates would present on their area of expertise, and I would present on the Bahamian Capital Markets and BISX. My presentations with the different exchanges were so well received that after the presentations, in each instance, I had the opportunity to talk with my counterparts about establishing deeper linkages between BISX and their respective exchanges. I am pleased that my new colleagues from Dubai and Abu Dhabi were keen to begin open dialogue about ways in which our exchanges could collaborate internationally and mutually benefit our respective jurisdictions through direct listing and trading. We agreed to continue working towards this goal and BISX has been invited to return to the UAE with the aim of exploring ways of deepening this new relationship.”  

Mr. Davies was quite positive on the outlook for BISX both domestically and internationally for the future, stating, “I think that this is an excellent way to set the tone for the year 2014, this trip has given us additional insight into where our international focus can be expanded for 2014. As I have noted previously, one of the priorities of BISX in the near future is growing our mutual fund listing facility and this remains a key focus, however this visit has reminded us of the fact that there are other markets out there where BISX and Bahamian Financial Services providers are not well known but can still make headway and gain traction. The opportunity to speak to this jurisdiction was beneficial to the members of the group obviously, but I believe that it will in the long term be beneficial to our entire jurisdiction.”