Set to land in Grand Cayman, May 1 — 3, 2017, STEP CC 17 promises to be a gathering place for some of the best and brightest minds in the region and beyond.

With professional development a key factor in staying ahead of the myriad of trends, regulations, macro developments and issues, STEP CC 17 offers a leading edge agenda delivered by thought leaders from around the region and around the globe.

Networking, critical discussions and peer-to-peer engagement are all part and parcel of the conference, which is entering its 18th year — a milestone seldom achieved by conferences in the financial services, trust and estate planning and wealth structuring sectors. Long a dominant force in bringing together thought leaders, senior practitioners and other strategic partners, STEP CC 17 has once again drafted a compelling and relevant agenda.

2017 topics include:

TRUST IN A POST FACT WORLD

People don’t care about facts but rather vote their emotions! Facts are what we make them especially if they confirm pre-existing opinions.
In the past several years, it has become easier to spread misinformation. This was particularly displayed in the 2016 US Presidential elections and during the BREXIT campaign which both relied on deliberate misuse of facts.
Social media is the vehicle of choice for spreading information, but is the information biased in favour of the person charged with ensuring the information is factually correct?
This is a potentially staggering problem given the various international initiatives affecting the private client industry.
Timothy Ridley will share his views on the geo-political shifts, the changing relationship between clients and advisers and how service providers will have to adapt to successfully service the next generation, especially millennials.

GLOBAL BANKING ISSUES – THREATS AND UNEXPLORED OPPORTUNITIES

International pressures designed to mitigate against the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing have led many banks to re-evaluate long standing relationships and to adopt what are called de-risking procedures.
How have these impacted relationships in the region?
What options are there for replacing these relationships?
How do regional financial services institutions themselves mitigate against the dissolution of correspondent banking relationships?
Our panellists (Robert Cummings/Ryan Devaux and Jan Yves N. Remy) will discuss new approaches to this vexing situation.

PERCEPTION & REPUTATION

A veritable crusade for transparency gathering often ill-informed momentum risks crushing notions of privacy in its path.
Where is the wealth management industry heading? Can privacy rights realistically be protected in the context of “appropriate safeguards”?
How do we as an industry fight for our reputation for discretion and confidentiality amidst perceptions peddled to sell media?
Tim Prudhoe discusses the challenges facing the industry in a post “data leaks” world.

PLANNING IN THE FUTURE: VIRTUAL ASSETS

Bitcoin, electronic payments, online banking, digital wills with electronic signatures, virtual assets … electronic data stored on a computer and/or the internet, is the way of the future.
Consider the client with substantial assets and a tendency to hold and/or manage those assets in a paperless environment. How do trustees adapt to the future?
Join Jeremy Stephens as he looks at the challenges facing trustees as we enter the age of a paperless (and cashless) society with global alternatives for wealth management.

For more information or to register:
www.stepcaribbeanconference.com