Local
‘Weathering the storm without a lost moment speaks volumes for The Bahamas’
By Diane Phillips & Associates
Oct 17, 2016 - 9:26:50 AM


Saying serious financial services providers can no longer depend on a single location data relay and storage system, the chairman of Sterling Global Financial said the company, its real estate funds, investment vehicles, bank and trust business, never lost a moment of servicing clients even as winds howled at a reported 145 mph during Hurricane Matthew.

“We came through the hurricane in excellent condition,” said David Kosoy, chairman and CEO of the award-winning financial services entity with $9 billion under administration and offices in The Cayman Islands and The Bahamas. “The internet was never down during a business day. We had full generators so we had power. Most staff members elected to come in. BTC (the telecom company) was phenomenal.

“But had we lost all services here, we were fully prepared with offsite secondary disaster support services, something we learned a long time ago. There is no such thing in today’s world as single site information management if you are serious about conducting business with clients from around the world and I think that the fact that we never lost a moment of servicing our clients speaks well not just for us as a company but for The Bahamas as a dependable, well-prepared financial services jurisdiction.”

Kosoy’s comments came days after the first hurricane to hit the capital of The Bahamas in 15 years struck, leaving light poles and power lines dangling, uprooting and toppling giant trees, knocking out internet services over broad areas and causing widespread devastation in nearby Andros and further north in Grand Bahama.

“There was never a time when we could not be in touch with our clients or act on their behalf and what’s important is not that it is about Sterling, but that it speaks volumes for The Bahamas as a financial services jurisdiction,” said Kosoy who chairs the business that invests in the U.S., Europe, Canada and the Caribbean and includes multi-award winning real estate funds as well as one of the oldest trust companies in the Cayman Islands and Sterling Bank & Trust (Bahamas).

“That does not minimize the damage that was suffered by so many smaller businesses, many of which may be a very long time recovering,” Kosoy said. “Nor is it intended to ignore the horrendous suffering of individuals who lost everything. Some of the stories we have seen and heard are heartbreaking and we are doing all we can to assist as efforts are organized. If there is a lesson in this, it is to reinforce the value of being ready with secondary information management and work sites.”

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