1ST National Bank (Saint Lucia) Ltd. takes its popular Stanley French Education Forum to an all-new level today, with the launch of its Investors Day Forum at the Administrative Financial Center at Pointe Seraphine.
The bank’s first forum of its kind is to be addressed by the Director General of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the President of the Saint Lucia branch of the Eastern Caribbean Institute of Chartered Accountants.
OECS Director General Dr Didacus Jules and Chartered Accountant Mrs Andrea St. Rose will both address the forum, called by the bank to offer investors and customers strategic insights on its future roadmap covering elements from its past and present, with eyes on the future.
The forum, which continues the bank’s ongoing outreach to customers and shareholders, management and staff, will address topics such as Ease of Doing Business within the Banking Space, De-Risking and Corresponding Banking Relationships, ECCB Regulations and Saint Lucia Government Regulations.
Dr Didacus Jules’ theme will be ‘From a Penny Bank to a Billion Dollar Institution’, while Mrs St. Rose will address ‘The Ease of Doing Business’
Today’s 1st National Bank forum also follows a top regional investors forum held in The Bahamas last month and attended by top regional investors, business and banking officials.
From October 23-25, 2023 the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA), in collaboration with the Government of The Bahamas, the European Union (EU), Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), hosted The Caribbean Investment Forum 2023.
The three-day event at the Atlantis on Paradise Island attracted participation from across the Caribbean and the wider world.
The Bahamas Forum was heralded by the CEDA as “the marketplace and nerve-center for sharing, learning, preparing and finalizing business and investment deals that support the regional transformation to A Bold New Caribbean”.
The annual regional event also aimed “to accelerate the closure of the Caribbean’s investment gaps and ultimately transform the region’s economy.”
CIF 2023’s goal was “to attract investment into the priority sectors that can fast-track the Caribbean’s transition to a greener and smarter economy.”
It also sought to “raise the visibility of the Caribbean as an investment destination” and “bring together the investment community to engage with business and create business…”
Today’s Saint Lucia forum is being held under the auspices of 1st National Bank’s Stanley French Education Forum and will, in addition, address sub-themes of interest to investors in these changing times on the regional and global financial and economic markets.
The Education Forum, named after a nationally-distinguished shareholder, has over many years sponsored and presented educational opportunities for local students.
It also works with appropriate local educational institutions by sponsoring lectures and presentations by distinguished professional and experts in various fields, alongside the bank’s ongoing scholarship program benefitting staff and students.
Today’s forum also follows distribution of 20 scholarships for local students through the Ferrel V. Charles Scholarship, established in 2015 in recognition of a former Director, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors.
The scholarships were distributed during the bank’s Retreat Day on September 1, 2023 at the Pastoral Centre in Marisule, to honor winners under the theme ‘Make Each Day Your Masterpiece’.
1st National is Saint Lucia’s first and only indigenous national bank and has diligently served the island and its customers for 85 years — first as the Saint Lucia Cooperative Bank Ltd. — through World War II and the 1948 Castries Fire, from Statehood in 1967 to Independence in 1979.
Since its transition to 1st National Bank in 2005, the bank has left indelible marks on the growth of the local banking, financial and commercial community by constantly upgrading and expanding its services island-wide.
In the past year, the local national bank also purchased the local assets of two competitors (Royal Bank of Canada and RBTT Bank)
1st National Bank (Saint Lucia) Ltd also recently opened its first overseas branch in neighboring Saint Vincent & The Grenadines
The forum will run from 9am to 1pm and will also be ‘Live Streamed’.