Let's Debate This: On the FT Report, And Will the CFI Fly....

aegap

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per DR1,

The Financial Times has just published a report about the Dominican Republic. [...]The report highlights the stabilizing of the economy, the renewed relationships with foreign creditors and the bringing to order of fiscal accounts by the Fernandez administration after what it calls "the disastrous administration of Hipolito Mejia." It points out that the economy has revived and that Fernandez enjoys high popularity ratings. [...] The contents of the section are:

- Order and stability bring hopes of prosperity
- Leonel Fernandez: From left-wing past to the voice of reason
- Energy: Why power to the people remains but a dream
- Tourism: Sights set firmly on big-spending US visitors
-Banking: Tougher regulation brings more confidence
- Offshore centre: Ambitious idea to take on the world
[...]
- DR-Cafta: Negotiation opens opportunities
[...]
http://news.ft.com/reports/dominicanrepublic2006


Per Clave Digital,

Proponen establecer un Centro Financiero Internacional en el pa?s
 
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aegap

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How much credence can we give to the following?...

Per the Financial Times,

(Ambitious idea to take on the world OFFSHORE CENTRE)

[...]

Gaetan Bucher, a Swiss-Dominican private banker developing the project [Laifex], is in no doubt about what he is taking on. "Talk about taking on a challenge," he says. He plans to house a complex built at a cost of more than Dollars 600m on a 17 sq km greenfield site at Guayacanes on the Caribbean coast. The site is midway between Santo Domingo and the Casa De Campo resort and will include office space, a conference centre, independent power generators and a private landing strip.

He proposes to base the project around a central settlement and clearing house facility for Latin American bond trades, an area that has boomed in recent years following the restoration of stability in Mexico, Brazil and the rest of the region. Trades in Latin American debt instruments amounted to Dollars 2,940bn in 2004. The clearing facility, to be called Laifex, would be the hub of a broader financial services centre to be known as the Independent Financial Centre of the Americas.

[...]

"Instead of an auditor coming in once a year you'll have constant live and real-time monitoring of transactions," Mr Bucher says.

Reinforcing this thrust is an effort to brand the Dominican Republic as a more interesting place to live than smaller neighbouring Caribbean islands, which will, he hopes, attract bankers.

[...]

Laifex, "The hub of a broader [banking] financial services centre to be known as the Independent Financial Centre of the Americas," a "clearing house facility for Latin American bond trades" with its own "private landing strip"

How feasable is it?
 
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aegap

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Official Website

.......​




.......​


CFINTE Expert Consultants,

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>- Squire, Sanders and Dempsey, LLP </TD></TR><TR><TD class=tdrow vAlign=top>- Porter Novelli </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>- Deloitte </TD></TR><TR><TD class=tdrow vAlign=top>- Carter & Burgess </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>- Gavin Anderson & Co. </TD></TR><TR><TD class=tdrow vAlign=top>- Mercer Human Resource Consulting </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>- Stikeman Elliot, LLP </TD></TR><TR><TD class=tdrow vAlign=top>- Patton Boggs, LLP </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>- Manatt Phelps and Phillips </TD></TR><TR><TD class=tdrow vAlign=top>- Bernard Tschumi Architects </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>- Winkreative </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>















Time of Your Life...Great pics of Haiti...ses!

There're hiring!!

:laugh:, seems DR will have an employer worthy of me after all, ;), :laugh:.


.......de vous en prie...de nada...your welcome...
 
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Robert

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aegap said:
- Tourism: Sights set firmly on big-spending US visitors
-

The Ministry of Tourism in my opinion is pretty clueless and has no idea how to capture the USA market. Right now they are doing what they have always done, push mass market and tour operator driven tourism. They are lost when it comes to the development of low density, high dollar yield market. This is the American market and should be the future of tourism here. But no, we continue to promote and build high density and low US$ yield developments.

They yap about how the numbers visiting are increasing etc. But they never talk about the US$ yield falling. The current model that the Ministry is pushing is not sustainable, everybody in tourism here knows that, except for the government. Then again, when your in office for 4 years and have a vested interest in certain chunks of land, what more can you expect. Greed and corruption rules the day in the DR and it's no different in the tourism sector.
 

aegap

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Chris, give me some expert analysis pretty please..

Robert, I take the article is more in reference to investment already being made today, by the private sector ...i.e. more upscale touristic investment is being made in DR than in any other Caribbean island.


CFINTE Stratigic Advisors:

Vince Colvin, Deloitte & Touche, UK (about Deloitte, a Big Four member)

Read Mccaffrey, Patton Boggs, Wash. (about PB, the U.S. leading public policy law firm)


[both were present at the announcement, per ClaveDigital (see link above)]


Sounds like they (the CFI) mean business....(?)

...Take this,

[Bucher] aclar? que los detalles del funcionamiento del Centro se dar?n a conocer pr?ximamente, mientras que los objetivos ser?n anunciados este viernes en Londres con la meta de atraer inversiones. (source: ClaveDigital.com)


[President] Leonel Fernandez to visit the UK in what is being [billed] as a "historic" visit. [...]He will also meet with Prime Minister Tony Blair, Members of Parliament, businesspeople, bankers, financial analysts, and holders of Dominican bonds. Important announcements about British investments in the Dominican Republic are expected to be made during the visit." (source: DR1)

...coincidence?, I ask
 
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Chris

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aegap said:
Chris, give me some expert analysis pretty please..

Huh? no way... :cheeky:

More seriously, I do not know anything about this. I was simply commenting on the slick website. The old adage in the DR is, see it with your own eyes and then believe it, and even if you see it, you may not see what you think you're seeing. The only thing I do know, is that Fernandez is really good at attracting good and positive international press. Whether we will see a real economic improvement because of it, in my book is still an open question. An independent financial center for Latin American trade at this stage with our history, really stretches the credulity (or is in incredulity?)
 

aegap

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"The only thing I do know, is that Fernandez is really good at attracting good and positive international press."



I'm not good with words, but here it is: lots of (financial and political related) lawyering and PRing firms apperently involved, working for the CFI...the CFI should have regulations tailored made, which will subsequently be rubber stamped by the Dominican government, per my take on it.

The Official Site (A new International Financial Center in the Dominican Republic, at the heart of the Americas)

Groundbreaking scheduled for April.

About The Financial Times

P.S. I think DR-CAFTA will be used to curtail any negative; half-a-thumb up to DR-CAFTA
 
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aegap

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(An) IFCAmericas benchmark: The Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC)

(A) LAIFEX benchmark: The Dubai Internatinal Financial Exchange (DIFX)


LAIFEX in El Pais

Here is an excerpt highlighting where they hope to find their main competitive advantage:

[...]

El objetivo es crear una bolsa de valores electr?nica, llamada Laifex, para conciliar y liquidar emisiones de renta fija de empresas privadas e instituciones, as? como deuda de mercados emergentes, y contar con una c?mara de compensaci?n que agilice las transferencias internacionales desde y hacia Am?rica Latina. Los mercados de deuda latinoamericanos est?n muy fragmentados. Los activos nominados en d?lares se liquidan y se negocian en Nueva York y Londres, "mientras que los activos nominados en moneda local se liquidan en los bancos centrales de los pa?ses. ?sta es una oferta ?nica que revolucionar? la banca de la regi?n a trav?s de infraestructuras inform?ticas hechas a medida", comentan fuentes del centro. [article]

[...]

El Pais is Spain's most read (widely-circulated) newspaper.


*I would have named it MacorEX ...but that is just me, personal preference I guess...
 
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Criss Colon

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Here Is a "Can't Miss" Ad Campaign For The USA From The DR's Tourism Dept!

Could be promoted during Major League Baseball Telecasts in major US Cities along the Eastern Seaboard,and maybe west to the Mississippi.

"Ever Wonder Waht Makes Dominican Baseball players so good??"

"Why not come down and see for yourself?"
*********************************************************
Show the kids swimming at the beach
Show kids eating Mangos,Avacados,Bananas,
Show the same kids playing "Ball" with their "Sticks" for bats,and homemade "String & tape" balls.
Show some Dominican Baseball "Stars" hitting,pitching,aand catching in the "Bigs"
Show the same players back in the DR living the "High Life"
**********************************************************

"You may never be a "Big League Ball Player,but you can live like one this winter,in the DR!!!
********************************************************** Show a "Gringo" with his family at a beautiful beachhouse in the North Coast!
__________________________________________END____________________


Bet that might bring a few folks down for the "Off Season"!!!!!!!!!!
They might even buy that beach house!!!!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
 

aegap

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Great Imagery....Sadly, it reminds me of how Puerto Rico is truly winning the Classic....
 

aegap

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The Banker on IFCA

The Banker magazine has a ~1800 words article on the International Finance Center of the Americas..


Dominican Republic- Centre of Excellence

-The Dominican Republic's Offshore Banking Centre, The International Financial Center Of The Americas, Is Due To Open In 2009 And The Man Who Planned The Project Believes It Will Redefine Perc (The Banker, April 7 edition, Special [24-page Dominican Republic] Supplement)


Here are some excerpts,


[...] Laifex, a state-of- the-art settlement and clearing centre, will principally be used for facilitating primary and secondary debt trading between Latin American countries, between the Americas, and globally. The centre will also house a private exchange that will be overseen by a regulatory authority that will grant licences for other regulated financial services business, such as investment banking, commercial and private banking, wealth management, insurance and re-insurance and the registration of shipping and aircraft.


[...] At the core of the IFCA is what Mr Bucher describes as "a sophisticated electronic platform that can be used for whatever the market requires or demands". Currently being developed by US systems developer Cybrinth, the intention is that the IT also allows the regulator access to all transactions at any time.

[...] Critical to the success of the venture is its regulatory structure. Mr Bucher says he came away from Washington realising that to gain the full backing of the US, the centre would have to be ring-fenced from the political risk associated with the Dominican Republic, and that the regulatory body should be largely separate from that of the rest of the country. It will, however, include a seat on the board for the republic's central bank governor and for the chief superintendent of banks.

Although the model is not entirely unique - it bears similarities to the Dubai and Qatar exchanges - it required the design and creation of a regulator from scratch. Mr Bucher hired Vincent Colvin of the London office of Deloitte & Touche to structure a regulatory body from the outset of the project (Mr Colvin was instrumental in designing the structure of Qatar's financial centre). Washington law firm Patton Boggs has also been heavily involved in the design and structure.


[...] The IFCA's marketing literature describes the centre as "housed in a $600m purpose-built complex designed by the architect Bernard Tschumi on a 17 km sq greenfield site bordering the Caribbean ocean at Los Guayacanes. midpoint between the capital Santo Domingo and the internationally acclaimed Casa De Campo resort". It adds that the centre will include "prime office space, conference centre, private runway, beach club and independent amenities, including power, water and security".

The visual and branding aspects of the project are important to Mr Bucher. Tyler Bruhe, founder of the Wallpaper* magazine, has been brought in as brand consultant and Mr Bucher acknowledges that the project involves raising the profile of not only the IFCA, but also the Dominican Republic. Award-winning architect Bernard Tschumi is responsible for the centre's design.

[...] Designing a regulatory regime from scratch means not having to make do with an outdated and "continuously rubber-patched system" of banking regulation, he argues. It will take a couple of years before the system is perfected but he insists: "We have thought of everything to ensure compliance, transparency and speed of transactions. There is a fine balance between meeting compliance needs and keeping business happy but we think we have managed it."

[end]

The Banker magazine is wholly owned by 'The Financial Times LTD.'

about IFCA
 
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aegap

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Las Americas: DR's Future Financial Services & Tech. Corridor?

Spanish press,<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

El Pa?s<O:p (English Version), ...Cinco Dias, ... Invertia/Europa Press<O:p

US Press,

The Los Angeles Times carried the FT article



<O:pOn the firm Manatt, Phelps & Philips...

Charles Manatt is a former US ambassador to the DR (1999-2001). He is also founder of the law and consulting firm Manatt, Phelps & Philips. Per 'The Banker' article, he was also hired by Bucher to both advocate for the IFCA in Washington D.C., and as well as to open doors for him at the US State Department etc., ...

..to get him at the door:

Mr Manatt opened doors in Washington and Mr Bucher spent a long time in the US capital. "I wanted to pressure test and get feedback from the right people, so I spent time speaking to the state department and to the Senate banking committee," he says, adding that the feedback he received was positive (The Banker)

[Manatt.com] ..other clients

 
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aegap

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I suspected it; it is true: ..first Boca Chica, now ..

(Clave Digital has an update)

...IFCA is wholly Dominican owned and envisioned, ..

Hoy Digital has it more in depth,

Est? pr?cticamente completada la negociaci?n para un financiamiento de un banco internacional triple A por US$800 millones, para la construcci?n de la primera etapa del Centro Financiero Independiente de las Am?ricas, que operar? en el pa?s

[...]Gaetan Bucher comunic? que el otorgamiento del financiamiento ser? anunciado en junio del presente a?o. Igualmente, comunic? que ser? anunciada para esa fecha una carta de intenci?n de un banco internacional Tripe A de instalarse en el centro financiero a partir del a?o 2009, cuando se espera que est? completa la primera etapa de construcci?n

[...]Por otro lado, Gaetan Bucher anunci? la designaci?n del se?or Patrick Meynial como su Principal Oficial Operativo, y al se?or Jeremy Stone como Jefe de Seguridad [(Jeremy Stone is a former Chief Inspector of the Hong Kong police, Head of Security Operations at the IMF headquarter in Washington D.C.)]. Ambos ser?n designados como ejecutivos de la empresa con efecto inmediato, y comenzar?n a cumplir sus responsabilidades en el mes de mayo, 2006. El se?or Patrick Meynial, ciudadano franc?s y nuevo Principal Oficial Operativo [(Chief Operating Officer)], llega al pa?s despu?s de su ?xito como socio gerente general de la firma Booz Allen Hamilton en Santiago de Chile. En el pasado ha sido socio de A. T. Kearney en Chicago y SPA/Mercer Management Consulting en Par?s.
 
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aegap

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CIO named

APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
The Independent Financial Centre of the Americas today announces the appointment of Mr. Robert Evans as its Chief Information Officer (CIO), with immediate effect.
Mr. Evans joins from France Telecom. As Director IT Operations of France Telecom he oversaw engineering and IT operations both in France and throughout Europe, and was responsible for directing security and disaster recovery planning. Previously, Mr. Evans was Senior Vice President at Fidelity National Investment Services, where his role covered IT strategy, including network design, process improvement and implementation across 400 locations throughout the United States.
Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Gaetan Bucher, President of the Independent Financial Centre of the Americas said: "Our vision for IT underpins the overall competitiveness of the centre. Robert has gained extensive IT management experience and his appointment is vital for the successful implementation of the state-of-the-art IT platform designed to meet the needs of the leading financial institutions and large multi national corporations that we are seeking to attract as tenants".
Robert Evans said: "I look forward to working with this highly talented management team to help establish the centre as a world-class location for companies to operate in".


Robert Evans
[FONT=EIJFZY+Emona,Emona]1980 ? 1995 Senior Vice President and then CIO at CoreStates Financial Services [Now part of Wachovia][/FONT]
[FONT=EIJFZY+Emona,Emona]1995 ? 2002 CIO of Telcordia / Bellcore / SAIC[/FONT]
[FONT=EIJFZY+Emona,Emona]2002 ? 2003 Senior Vice President at Fidelity National Investment Services[/FONT]
[FONT=EIJFZY+Emona,Emona]2003 - 2006 Director IT Operations of France Telecom[/FONT]

http://www.dr1.com/forums/general-stuff/62002-laifex-could.html

P.s. France Telecom owns Orange SA
 

principe

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Vuelve y vuelve

I think this project WILL materialize, and WILL have a great impact on DR's economy. It will be a Cap Cana of the financial sector in DR. By capturing a slice of the Latin American sovereign debt market and centralizing trading and settlements throughout the region, the project will add a lot of value. (What im really hoping for is that this project's success puts pressure on the local financial market by allowing outside competitor's to move in and compete loacally.)

Moreover, this will not be overlooked by the world, and will also put DR's name on the map. Aside from creating high quality jobs and giving a boost to real esate in the area of Guayacanes specifically.

En mi opinion, claro esta.