By Neil Hartnell, Tribune 242 Business Editor

Brazilian financial services providers are interested in establishing a physical presence in the Bahamas, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday, adding that he wanted to “leverage the success” this nation has had there to crack new Latin American markets.

Fresh from the Bahamas Financial Services Board’s (BFSB) latest promotional trip to the South American nation, Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services, described it as “one of the best yet”.

He added that increased uncertainty over UK overseas territories, such as the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, had helped create “tremendous momentum in favour of the Bahamas”.

The Bahamas was also able to promote its newly-won ‘Category A’ status with IOSCO, the global securities regulatory body, and tie this to the SMART Fund 07 – a product created last year that was specifically geared to the Brazilian market.

“This created a significant amount of momentum, with asset managers looking to do structures here, entering clients into the marketplace,” Mr Pinder told Tribune Business of last week‘s feedback from Brazil.

“I’m absolutely sure there’s some interest in setting up physical presence here.

“I’m very upbeat and encouraged in coming back. We’re seeing lots of interest looking to establish financial and corporate services providers, as well as fund administrators and asset managers here.”

Confirming that the Bahamas was seeking “high growth” across all business segments coming from the Brazilian market, Mr Pinder said several providers had indicated interest in “moving structures out of the Cayman Islands to the Bahamas”.

He added that this indicated increased confidence in the Bahamas’ sovereign independence and political stability. With high net worth clients and their service providers placing a high premium on this, the Bahamas was “a natural jurisdiction to mitigate political risk”.

Mr Pinder said Mexico was another “key market” that the Bahamas was targeting as a “high growth jurisdiction”, adding that the Central American nation’s decision to remove this nation from a ‘so-called ‘blacklist’ within the last year to 18 months would aid this effort.

This had imposed a withholding tax and other sanctions on Mexican individuals and companies doing business in the Bahamas, and Mr Pinder told Tribune Business: “We’re looking to leverage the success we’ve had in Brazil in developing new markets in Latin America, and that includes Mexico.”

While the Bahamas could not boast the most registered companies, highest number of registered funds or assets on deposit in the bank, Mr Pinder said its wide range of service providers and products, coupled with a “high level of expertise”, helped to set it apart from rivals.

“Our human capital levels are among the best in the world. That sets us apart, and international clients are seeing that more and more of late,” Mr Pinder said.

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