Both Sides of The Coin: The Story of The Central Bank of Barbados 1972-2017

154 It soon became clear that the formation of the Advisory Committee had benefitted the exempt insurance business. Under its guidance, useful improvements were made to the Exempt Insurance Act and there was more promotional activity specific to exempt insurance. The delegation to the 1987 RIMS conference in Las Vegas was increased and there was a promotional tour to Vancouver, Canada. These developments helped to boost the exempt insurance business and during the three years ending in 1989 the number of companies moved from 46 to 176. Although the Bank had been attending the RIMS conference since 1983, it was only at the 1988 event in Washington, D.C. that it first mounted a display (accentuated by an 11-minute documentary entitled “Barbados Means Business”). In 1991, in New Orleans, the Bank provided a new 20-foot booth depicting Harrison’s Cave and other aspects of business and tourism in Barbados. Further improvements to the booth were made for the 1997 conference in Atlanta when the exhibit space was increased. For several years, the booth was managed by Public Affairs Officer, Carl Moore and Marcia Weekes, the secretary to the general manager and later to the deputy governor (operations). A major contribution by the Bank during 1988 was the recruitment of Yolande Bannister as Legal Counsel with special responsibility for the offshore financial sector. She had the skills and experience required to deal with the delicate legal aspects of this activity, having served previously as Chief Parliamentary Counsel with the Government of Barbados. Bannister’s utility was obvious from the start. In 1989 she was involved in the negotiation of new double taxation treaties with Finland, Sweden and Norway and in discussions on a treaty with the Federal Republic of Germany. She also attended tax planning conferences in Geneva and Amsterdam and was part of a joint public-private committee that helped to draft proposals for a new IBC Act. During the early 1990s, the Bank maintained its close involvement with the promotion and development of the offshore financial sector. Bannister made a number of solo presentations on tax planning and foreign sales corporations to groups in Barbados, the