STEP Barbados committed to helping members

THE Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Barbados has assured that they remain committed to ensuring their members receive the professional development they need.

It is against this backdrop that Chairperson of STEP Barbados, Tara Frater, noted that they decided to host an in-formative session under the theme, ‘The Common Reporting Standard: Reporting Obligations of Barbados Service Providers’, which took place at the Yacht Club last Thursday night.

“A key component of STEP’s mandate is continued professional development to equip our members to deal with the rapidly changing business environment. In an age of increased transparency, jurisdictions are being subjected to unprecedented levels of transparency. It therefore behoves us to stay abreast of these developments and it is with this objective in mind that we are pleased to offer you this informative session on the Common Reporting Standard (CRS),” she said.

Speakers included La-Tanya Edwards, a senior manager leading the Caribbean Tax Desk at the EY New York Office, which provides wide-ranging Caribbean tax consultancy services. Her presentation introduced the CRS. Meanwhile, Imran Ali, Senior Tax Manager/International Tax Expert at PwC Barbados and Javier Lemoine, Regional Senior Manager (Tax and Legal) at PwC Barbados, both broke down the Common Reporting Standard and explained the implications of the CRS on Barbados’ Financial Institutions and Service Providers.

Frater went on to announce that the STEP Caribbean conference is expected to be held in Barbados this year from May 6 to 9. She explained that this conference will provide excellent education and opportunities for its delegates. She expected the conference to have 250 delegates this year, both from Barbados and other international countries.

“Sponsorship opportunities are still available where sponsors will have exclusive coverage to showcase themselves and Barbados at this global conference,” she said.

“Registration is open and we hope to see many of you there as we dive into the theme, ‘Fast Forward, Future Thinking’, and explore the rapidly evolving reg-ulatory and reporting frameworks... Feel free to go to the conference website to find out more.”