Since 2019, The Bahamas is the global leader in e-money when it launched its "sand dollar" - a digital version of the Bahamas Dollar and
controlled by the central bank - effectively beating China's "digital renminbi" by six months. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has given the
Sand Dollar the highest ranking - above even China's digital yuan - in a report ranking Central Bank digital currencies.
But this stunning feat wasn't just a PR gag to highlight the island jurisdiction's commitment to innovation. The Bahamas is an archipelago
consisting of 700 islands scattered across 470,000 km2 (180,000 square miles) of ocean space in the Caribbean. The challenges for
payment systems using physical cash for such a vast archipelago are understandable. As anywhere else, banks have been scaling back
the brick and mortar infrastructure over the past years.
The GDP of the Bahamas per capita income is the third highest in the Americas after the US and Canada, with a 90% penetration for
mobile devices, making the country an ideal ground for the release of the world's first CBDC. In addition to ensuring a reliable and safe
payment system that's available a 24/7 to all Bahamas residents, the Sand Dollar is not only meant to modernize the payment system but
also to improve financial inclusion, reduce service delivery costs, increase transactional efficiency, and make private wallet systems
interoperable.
While The Bahamas may be counted on the smaller side of countries (ranked 155 in terms of landmass of 195 countries, behind Kuwait
(152) or Israel (149) and rank 170 in terms of population, behind Malta (167) but before Iceland (172)), the island jurisdiction has been and
will continue to be a giant in financial services:
- The Bahamas SMART Funds are internationally a popular and well-established solution particularly in the private client space
- The new Bahamas Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act is considered a "monumental" piece of legislation as it strikes
a fine balance between innovation and a robust regulatory framework
- The new Bahamas Commercial Enterprises Act has been designed attract and foster certain industries in The Bahamas - including captive insurance, reinsurance, mutual fund administration and wealth management
- Location, Location: A trade and wealth management hub conveniently accessible for onsite inspections and meetings. A stunning tourism,
highly coveted domicile and operational base for family offices and many other types of organizations. More ultimate beneficial owners and
directors of those entities will move to The Bahamas to create certainty with respect to fulfilling the substance requirements.
- A firm commitment to ease of doing business: As Elsworth Johnson, Minister of Financial Services, Trade & Industry and Immigration explains in this Roundtable, ease of doing business is not just a concept but brought to fruition through an aggressive public sector
digitization initiative
- And the People: Friendly and professional, with a wealth of knowledge and experience who have been in the industry for very significant
periods of time, or have chosen to relocate to The Bahamas. That wealth of experience spans not just one particular pillar of financial
services but all pillars - banking, trust, insurance and securities.
Enjoy and hopefully "see you" soon in The Bahamas!
Mon, 10 May 2021 | |
Thu, 17 Dec 2020 | |
Tue, 02 Jun 2020 | |
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 | |
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 | |
Wed, 30 Oct 2019 | |
Wed, 17 Jul 2019 | |
Mon, 03 Jun 2019 | |
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 | |
Sun, 07 Apr 2019 | |
Mon, 18 Mar 2019 | |
Sat, 09 Feb 2019 | |
Thu, 31 Jan 2019 | |
Tue, 22 Jan 2019 | |
Fri, 11 Jan 2019 | |
Tue, 18 Dec 2018 | |
Tue, 11 Dec 2018 | |
Tue, 04 Dec 2018 | |
Mon, 26 Nov 2018 | |
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 | |
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 | |
Mon, 10 Sep 2018 | |
Wed, 08 Aug 2018 | |
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 | |
Mon, 28 May 2018 | |
Mon, 14 May 2018 | |
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 | |
Fri, 02 Mar 2018 | |
Tue, 20 Feb 2018 | |
Thu, 08 Feb 2018 | |
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 | |
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 | |
Tue, 09 Jan 2018 | |
Thu, 21 Dec 2017 | |
Tue, 12 Dec 2017 | |
Mon, 27 Nov 2017 | |
Tue, 14 Nov 2017 | |
Tue, 07 Nov 2017 | |
Tue, 24 Oct 2017 | |
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 | |
Tue, 08 Aug 2017 | |
Mon, 24 Jul 2017 | |
Wed, 03 May 2017 | |
Thu, 20 Apr 2017 | |
Thu, 06 Apr 2017 | |
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 | |
Tue, 14 Feb 2017 | |
Wed, 25 Jan 2017 | |
Thu, 19 Jan 2017 | |
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 | |
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 | |
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 | |
Wed, 07 Dec 2016 | |
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 | |
Thu, 24 Nov 2016 | |
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 | |
Mon, 07 Nov 2016 | |
Mon, 31 Oct 2016 | |
Mon, 24 Oct 2016 | |
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 | |
Wed, 03 Aug 2016 | |
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 | |
Thu, 14 Jul 2016 | |
Mon, 04 Jul 2016 | |
Tue, 21 Jun 2016 | |
Wed, 08 Jun 2016 |
Opalesque Roundtable Series - Montreal Opalesque Roundtable Series - Montreal (French version) |
More information |
|
|
Thu, 10 Mar 2016 | |
Wed, 02 Mar 2016 | |
Mon, 22 Feb 2016 | |
Mon, 15 Feb 2016 | |
Sun, 07 Feb 2016 | |
Wed, 27 Jan 2016 | |
Mon, 18 Jan 2016 | |
Fri, 01 Jan 2016 | |
Thu, 24 Dec 2015 | |
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 |
Opalesque Roundtable Series - Miami 2016 Opalesque Roundtable Series - Miami 2016 (Mandarin version) Opalesque Roundtable Series - Miami 2016 (Portuguese version) |
More information |
|
|
Thu, 10 Dec 2015 | |
Wed, 02 Dec 2015 | |
Wed, 25 Nov 2015 | |
Tue, 17 Nov 2015 | |
Thu, 05 Nov 2015 | |
Fri, 30 Oct 2015 | |
Fri, 23 Oct 2015 | |
Fri, 16 Oct 2015 | |
Tue, 06 Oct 2015 | |
Fri, 14 Aug 2015 | |
Sat, 01 Aug 2015 | |
Wed, 22 Jul 2015 | |
Thu, 25 Jun 2015 | |
Thu, 04 Jun 2015 | |
Thu, 28 May 2015 | |
Fri, 15 May 2015 | |
Wed, 06 May 2015 | |
Thu, 26 Mar 2015 | |
Fri, 20 Mar 2015 | |
Tue, 10 Mar 2015 | |
Tue, 10 Feb 2015 | |
Thu, 05 Feb 2015 |
Opalesque Roundtable Series - Miami 2015 Opalesque Roundtable Series - Miami 2015 (Mandarin version) Opalesque Roundtable Series - Miami 2015 (Portuguese version) |
More information |
|
|
Thu, 29 Jan 2015 | |
Tue, 20 Jan 2015 | |
Thu, 08 Jan 2015 | |
Tue, 23 Dec 2014 | |
Wed, 10 Dec 2014 | |
Mon, 01 Dec 2014 | |
Thu, 20 Nov 2014 | |
Tue, 04 Nov 2014 | |
Tue, 28 Oct 2014 | |
Mon, 20 Oct 2014 | |
Wed, 08 Oct 2014 | |
Wed, 01 Oct 2014 | |
Thu, 03 Jul 2014 | |
Fri, 27 Jun 2014 | |
Wed, 14 May 2014 | |
Fri, 07 Mar 2014 | |
Wed, 05 Feb 2014 | |
Wed, 22 Jan 2014 | |
Fri, 17 Jan 2014 | |
Tue, 07 Jan 2014 |
Opalesque Roundtable Series - Miami 2014 Opalesque Roundtable Series - Miami 2014 (Spanish version) Opalesque Roundtable Series - Miami 2014 (Portuguese version) |
More information |
|
|
Tue, 17 Dec 2013 | |
Mon, 09 Dec 2013 | |
Mon, 18 Nov 2013 | |
Thu, 07 Nov 2013 | |
Wed, 16 Oct 2013 | |
Mon, 05 Aug 2013 | |
Tue, 16 Jul 2013 | |
Wed, 10 Jul 2013 | |
Tue, 02 Jul 2013 | |
Mon, 24 Jun 2013 | |
Mon, 17 Jun 2013 | |
Wed, 12 Jun 2013 | |
Thu, 30 May 2013 | |
Mon, 20 May 2013 | |
Tue, 14 May 2013 | |
Wed, 13 Mar 2013 | |
Mon, 21 Jan 2013 | |
Mon, 14 Jan 2013 | |
Mon, 17 Dec 2012 | |
Wed, 05 Dec 2012 | |
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 | |
Thu, 01 Nov 2012 | |
Tue, 23 Oct 2012 | |
Tue, 16 Oct 2012 | |
Tue, 02 Oct 2012 | |
Mon, 24 Sep 2012 | |
Wed, 25 Jul 2012 | |
Tue, 17 Jul 2012 | |
Thu, 05 Jul 2012 | |
Thu, 14 Jun 2012 | |
Thu, 07 Jun 2012 | |
Wed, 30 May 2012 | |
Wed, 23 May 2012 | |
Thu, 10 May 2012 | |
Thu, 03 May 2012 | |
Wed, 04 Apr 2012 | |
Thu, 12 Jan 2012 | |
Wed, 21 Dec 2011 | |
Fri, 09 Dec 2011 | |
Thu, 24 Nov 2011 | |
Mon, 14 Nov 2011 | |
Mon, 07 Nov 2011 | |
Mon, 31 Oct 2011 | |
Mon, 24 Oct 2011 | |
Thu, 06 Oct 2011 | |
Wed, 10 Aug 2011 | |
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 | |
Mon, 25 Jul 2011 | |
Wed, 29 Jun 2011 | |
Thu, 19 May 2011 | |
Mon, 02 May 2011 | |
Tue, 26 Apr 2011 | |
Sun, 10 Apr 2011 | |
Sun, 03 Apr 2011 | |
Fri, 25 Mar 2011 | |
Thu, 20 Jan 2011 | |
Sun, 19 Dec 2010 | |
Tue, 14 Dec 2010 | |
Fri, 03 Dec 2010 | |
Thu, 18 Nov 2010 | |
Tue, 09 Nov 2010 | |
Thu, 04 Nov 2010 | |
Mon, 25 Oct 2010 | |
Mon, 04 Oct 2010 | |
Tue, 20 Jul 2010 | |
Wed, 16 Jun 2010 | |
Sun, 06 Jun 2010 | |
Mon, 24 May 2010 | |
Sat, 08 May 2010 | |
Wed, 28 Apr 2010 | |
Mon, 29 Mar 2010 | |
Thu, 18 Mar 2010 | |
Thu, 04 Mar 2010 | |
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 | |
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 | |
Mon, 30 Nov 2009 | |
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 | |
Mon, 09 Nov 2009 | |
Mon, 19 Oct 2009 | |
Mon, 05 Oct 2009 | |
Fri, 26 Jun 2009 | |
Tue, 09 Jun 2009 | |
Fri, 29 May 2009 | |
Thu, 21 May 2009 | |
Wed, 13 May 2009 | |
Fri, 24 Apr 2009 | |
Thu, 19 Mar 2009 | |
Fri, 05 Dec 2008 | |
Mon, 17 Nov 2008 | |
Fri, 07 Nov 2008 | |
Mon, 20 Oct 2008 | |
Wed, 01 Oct 2008 | |
Wed, 02 Jul 2008 | |
Wed, 11 Jun 2008 | |
Fri, 23 May 2008 | |
Tue, 20 May 2008 | |
Wed, 30 Apr 2008 | |
Wed, 23 Apr 2008 | |
Tue, 25 Mar 2008 | |
Mon, 17 Mar 2008 | |