The Tribune

THE Ministry of Financial Services has teamed with the Bahamas Institute for Financial Services (BIFS) ito roll-out two internationally endorsed courses in taxation and corporate finance in January 2014.

Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services, said: “This is part of our overall vision to strengthen the financial services sector in the Bahamas and, by extension, to improve our country’s economic prospects and long-term development through the use of education and training.

“We also hope that a positive extension would be the development of a highly-skilled, sophisticated workforce that is aligned with the current and future needs of the financial services labour market in the Bahamas.”

The courses to be offered from January 18 include a Certification in Taxation and a Certification in Corporate Finance.

“These course programmes were proposed and initially designed by my Ministry,” Mr Pinder added. “We recognised in both areas that
there was a knowledge gap within the industry, and were committed, in partnership with BIFS, to design the appropriate course framework to address these gaps.

“The proposed certificate programmes were designed to provide financial service professionals, legal practitioners and other professionals with specialised knowledge, and a firm foundation for higher level qualifications in areas of particular relevance to the financial services sector.”

Mr Pinder said taxation has become a topical and prominent theme, while the corporate finance field also has active participants in commercial banking, entrepreneurs in venture capital and government agencies.

“We look forward to continuing our partnership with BIFS and our other financial services partners in developing a platform of skills in the Bahamas that will translate into real wins for individuals, employers and society at large,,” said Mr Pinder.

“I want to make sure that our Bahamian professionals have an equal opportunity to move from the back office, where their skills and talents have been focused and appreciated for a number of years, to the front office where client interfaces and exchanges occur.

“I am seeing some
positive advancement in this regard and my hope is that educational initiatives such as that being presented today would witness the continuance and acceleration of this trend.”