Bahamas Chapter

Cherise Cox-Nottage is presently the Head of the Legal, Compliance and Operational Risk Departments for the UBS Group. Prior to joining the UBS group in 2004, Cherise was recruited from private practice with Messrs. Higgs & Johnson, in The Bahamas, to assume the position of Head of Legal, Risk & Compliance for a rival Swiss Bank. Before returning to The Bahamas in 1993, Cherise practiced in a commercial set in London for 2 years post qualification.

Cherise is a graduate of the University of Kent at Canterbury, (UKC), Canterbury, Kent, England and The London School of Economics Political Science (LSE), London University obtaining an undergraduate degree in law and an LLM (Master of Laws) degree, respectively. Cherise is a Member of the Bars of England and Wales and The Bahamas, a TEP (Trust and Estate Practitioner) with the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and a CAMS, with the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists. She holds an International Diploma in Compliance (with distinction), and an International Diploma in Anti-money laundering (with distinction) from the ICA (International Compliance Association) in the U.K. and the University of Manchester U.K. In 2013, Cherise obtained the certification of CAMS-Audit Specialist and was elevated to the level of Fellow of the ICA. In 2016, Cherise completed a certification program on Utilities Regulatory Oversight with PURC and in 2018; she was P3 Level One Certified.

Cherise has many notable achievements, including: twice serving as BACO President and currently as the First Vice President of CIArb, (The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Bahamas Branch); spearheading the formation of theCRCA (The Caribbean Regional Compliance Association); establishing the Northern Bahamas Compliance MLRO Annual conference; securing national weekly publications of compliance matters in the Nassau Guardian; establishing the Founding President’s Award (scholarship); instituting a High School speech competition; and serving as a Director of the New Providence, Bahamas Chapter of FIDA (an international association of Women lawyers). She is also a member of ACAMS, and is an accomplished contributor to international publications (“The Cayman Review”, “ACAMS TODAY,” and IBA Arbitration News). She participates as a featured speaker in national and international conferences in the Caribbean region, the USA, Europe and in the Middle East. In 2012 Cherise was awarded the “Minister’s Cup” by The Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) for her contributions to the Financial Services Industry in The Bahamas.

Cherise has served on the Advisory Board for ACAMS for the Caribbean and LATAM Region and also on several financial services committees and advisory boards of The Government of The Bahamas, including the Attorney General chaired committee on Financial Products and the FATCA and CRS Advisory Committees.

Dr. Tanya McCartney is a UK trained barrister, Chartered Banker, and Certified Anti-Money-Laundering Specialist (CAMS)  with more than 25 years of experience in law and regulation, compliance, and financial services. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Reading (United Kingdom), A Master of Laws degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science (London, U.K.) with a specialization in Commercial and Corporate Law, an MBA in Leadership from The College of the Bahamas as well as a Chartered Banker MBA from the University of Bangor in Wales (United Kingdom). Tanya was conferred with a Doctor of Business Administration in 2021 from Edinburgh Napier University (Scotland, U.K.) for a programme of work entitled “Perspectives on Leading change: Exploring Change Readiness Strategies used in the Bahamian Financial Services Sector”.

Derek W. Smith, MBA, CAMS, CRCMP, is a senior contributor in the Bahamas’ compliance and anti-money laundering (AML) space. He facilitates training in operational risk assessments, AML risk assessments, business continuity management, information security governance, organizational resilience and agility.

Currently, Smith serves as the assistant vice president of compliance and money laundering reporting officer (MLRO) for the CG Atlantic group family of companies (member of Coralisle Group Ltd.) in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos. At CG, Smith’s responsibilities include regulatory compliance for the group’s Aruba, Curacao, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In addition, he is CG’s compliance training lead throughout the Caribbean. Previously, Smith was the group compliance officer and MLRO at a TerraLex member law firm (Higgs & Johnson); the assistant vice president of Fiduciary Risk, assistant vice president of Compliance and assistant manager of Internal Audit at a Wolfsburg Group member bank (Citi); and an auditor and client accountant at Deloitte.

Smith is currently a board director of the ACAMS Bahamas Chapter and a past executive of the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers (BACO). Moreover, he is a member of the ACAMS Today Editorial Committee.

He is a frequent business columnist on governance, risk, compliance, AML and information security topics, having written and published over 52 articles.

In Smith’s nonprofit life, he is a member and past executive of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., and president of the Nassau Bahamas National Pan-Hellenic Council. In addition, he is the past rotary means business chair of Rotary District 7020 (a district covering 10 Caribbean countries). Currently, Smith is the membership area coordinator for the Rotary Clubs of the Bahamas.

Yolande H. Rolle is Deputy Legal Counsel at the Insurance Commission of The Bahamas (“the Commission”) having joined the Legal Unit at the Commission in November 2010. Since joining the Commission, Yolande has become an integral part of the Commission’s work in AML/CFT related matters, and has been instrumental in responding to international and regional bodies such as the FATF, CFATF, and the OECD, particularly on matters related to AML/CFT in the insurance industry. She represents the Commission on the Bahamas’s National Identified Risk Framework Steering Committee and at CFATF Plenary Meetings. Yolande has presented at AML/CFT conferences and industry briefings, and has participated as a panelist in several “Meet the Regulator” national industry meetings.

Prior to joining the Commission, Yolande served as a Prosecutor in the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) where she conducted prosecutions involving the proceeds of crime and asset forfeiture. She also worked briefly in the International Cooperation Unit at the OAG where her responsibilities included responding to enquiries from foreign counterparts in relation to involving money laundering and proceeds of crime. Yolande has been trained as an Expert Assessor for Mutual Evaluations of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF). She holds an International Diploma in Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering from the International Compliance Association. She is also a Member of Chartered Institute of Arbitration (Bahamas Branch), having attained the Advanced Certificate in International Arbitration. She has attended numerous AML/CFT training seminars and conferences both locally and internationally.

In 2007, she became a Counsel and Attorney-at-Law in the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and a Member of the Bar of The Bahamas. She presently serves on the Ethics Committee of the Bahamas Bar Association. Before that, she worked in the communications field as a marketing and public relations specialist for over 10 years. She obtained a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies. She is a graduate of The American University, Washington, D. C., and Nova Southeastern University, Florida, having obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Public Communications, and Master of Business Administration, respectively. 

Bonnielyn Bowe-Adderley is a Deputy Manager in the Bank Supervision Department at the Central Bank of The Bahamas. She oversees the Analytics Unit, which focuses on financial and AML data analytics, AML/CFT risk surveillance and AML outreach. Bonnielyn joined the Central Bank in January 2021 and since then has served as a representative on the Bahamas’ National Identified Risk Framework Committee and the Group of Financial Services Regulators’ AML/CFT working group.

With over 25 years’ experience as a private banking and trust practitioner, Bonnielyn began her career at a major offshore bank. There, she worked in client asset management, loans, front and back office operations, treasury and compliance. Her career then focused on compliance, where she worked as a Money Laundering Reporting Officer and Compliance Risk Officer where she developed a sound understanding of governance, risk, and compliance.

In addition to her Master of Science in Business Administration, Ethics, and Compliance, Bonnielyn has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and an Associate of Arts in Accounting. Her academic focus is a Master of Science degree in Business Administration (Financial Crime and Compliance). Bonnielyn is a Certified Anti- Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and holds an International Diploma in Compliance and an International Diploma in Anti-Money Laundering from the International Compliance Association.

Denise has been with ACAMS for eight years and has held various positions within the organization. She was previously the account manager for all U.S. Government Accounts, managed all European accounts and is now the Head of Caribbean for ACAMS.

Her various roles within ACAMS have given her a unique perspective into the interaction and balance between the public and private sectors relating to financial crime prevention. Working with the Caribbean has been a highlight in Denise’s career as she has been able to work with some of the most committed and gracious people in the financial crime prevention industry.

Denise holds an Associate’s Degree in Legal Assisting and has been a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) since 2016.

Yolanda is currently the Director of Compliance and the Money Laundering Reporting Officer for Intertrust (Bahamas) Limited, a role she has held since 2010. She also heads the Fiduciary and Operational Risk Committee of Intertrust (Bahamas) Limited. An accomplished and experienced compliance professional, Ms. Hilton was among the Inaugural Class in the Bahamas who earned International Diplomas in Anti-Money Laundering and Compliance from the International Compliance Association (ICA) and the University of Manchester, United Kingdom.

Yolanda has been a Fellow to the International Compliance Association in the United Kingdom since 2011. Additionally, she holds a graduate level CAMS-Audit certification through the Association of Certified Anti-Money Specialists (ACAMS). Over the years, Ms. Hilton has held several executive roles with the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers including Vice-President, Education and Membership Chairperson as well as a past council member for the Bahamas Institute of Financial Services. Yolanda studied law at The Open Walton Hall, Milton Keyes. She is a certified Financial Crime Specialist and a member of the Association of Financial Crime Specialists. During her career, she continues to conduct various lectures and training in the area of Anti-Money Laundering & Compliance in The Bahamas as well as internationally.

Dimitri N. Wilkinson is an Assistant Manager with the AML Analytics Team at the Central Bank of The Bahamas, where he performs data analysis of financial crime related data in order to assess trends and impacts to the Financial services industry. He also monitors and assess the financial crime risk and compliance of its regulated entities, to ensure compliance with laws, regulations, guidelines and international best practice. Prior to joining the Central Bank, Dimitri was the Accounting Supervisor of the Accounts Department for one of the leading Insurance Agents and Brokers within The Bahamas.

A graduate of the University of The Bahamas, Dimitri received a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Management. He has always found new ways to further his education as a life long learner. He is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Global Sanctions Specialist (CGSS), Certified Financial Crime Specialist (CFCS), Certified Advanced AML Risk Management Specialist (CAMS-RM) and Certified Cryptoasset Anti-Financial Crime Specialist (CCAS). Additionally, he has completed various programs with the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and The Aresty Institute of Executive Education at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dimitri is a member of the Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists (ACFCS), Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), and has Observer status with The Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers (BACO).

Mrs. Shavon Gardiner-Wallace is the Compliance Officer at SCB Limited. Her primary responsibility is to ensure effective Compliance support and control of the business lines, analyzing any deficiencies making requisite recommendations to mitigate risks within the organization. Shavon has served in the financial service industry for approximately 16 years.

Shavon has both regulatory and industry background, where she held positions with Union Bancaire Privee, UBP SA – Nassau Branch as Vice President of Compliance, Compliance Officer and Senior Analyst in the Bank Supervision Department with responsibility of the Compliance ongoing monitoring of Central Bank’s Supervised Financial Institutions’ Anti Money Laundering (AML)/Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) risk management framework, and assisted with the supervision of the activities of Commercial Banks and Credit Unions (“supervised entities”) to assess on an ongoing basis the financial condition and verify the solvency of supervised entities through monthly, quarterly, annual financial statements and other returns. Shavon also held positions as Chairman of The Central Bank’s Culture Committee and Secretariat for the Industry Working Group, responsible for creating a Code of Practice (i.e., managing staff issues after, before and during a catastrophic New Providence Hurricane). Shavon is a former Senior Personal Banking Officer at Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited where she participated in a selection of loan functions.

Shavon holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Nova Southeastern University. She is a Member of Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists and hold the designation of Certified International Risk Manager. She has attended the Supervisory College XXXVI, various Risk Management and Internal Controls seminar and international and local seminars and conferences, relative to ML/TF/PF.

Shelly is an accomplished, versatile Senior Counsel and Senior Manager with more than 20+ years extensive, legal, compliance and corporate management experience. She has strong management, and administrative skills providing oversight to legal and AML Compliance staff, coordinating multiple tasks and activities for separate units relative to Compliance and AML. She is currently the Chief Country Compliance Officer and MLRO for Citi trust (Bahamas) Limited, with oversight for The Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. Some of her responsibilities include: overseeing adherence by business units to laws, regulations rules, policies and procedures; advising on implementation of new /revised legal, regulatory requirements and controls; managing the Compliance and AML Unit and overseeing the licensed legal entities; filing SARs and the monitoring and management of SAR reporting activity; managing the review and providing updates to the country AML program; reviewing AML risks for approval of new and existing client relationships prior to approval; and overseeing risk management to identify, assess, monitor, and reporting to senior management and to the Board on AML and Compliance risks.

Shelly has also served as in-house legal and general counsel to one of the country’s largest public corporations, and has served as an Associate at one of the most prestigious law firms in the country.

She has obtained her credentials at the University of the West Indies (LL.B), the Norman Manley Law School (CLE), the University Of Miami (MBA), Columbia University Business School (Dip. Exec Mgmt), and at the Bahamas Institute of Financial Services (ICA). She is currently enrolled in the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners(STEP) Program and is a member of ACAMS. Shelly is also a member of the Bahamas Bar Association, served as Treasurer, Education Chairperson & Executive Committee Member at BACO and has been involved with several regional AML and Compliance seminars.

Samuel Wilkinson is currently the Manager and Head of Analysis at the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of The Bahamas.

Mr. Wilkinson has also worked as a consultant whose services included accounting and investment advisory services, compliance and MLRO services, trust engagements, financial and corporate services, and training. He has held senior management, trust, and compliance and MLRO positions with Brazilian, Canadian, Swiss, and Filipino offshore financial institutions. Samuel Wilkinson is also a former management officer at a major retail bank responsibility for commercial, consumer and mortgage lending portfolios. Following his tenure in retail banking, he worked as a financial controller in the banking, hotel and transportation industries, and as the compliance manager for a prominent Bahamian pension and investment company, where he had regulatory oversight for its pension, investment, brokerage, and external assets management. Mr. Wilkinson has been a part­ time lecturer and adjunct professor for over 30 years and has taught at numerous colleges and universities including The University of The Bahamas, St. Benedict/St. John's University (USA), Nova Southeastern University (USA), The Bahamas Institute of Financial Services, STEP International (UK), Bahamas Baptist Community College, Sojourner/Douglass College (USA) Success Training College, and the Ministry of Tourism's Bahamahost Program.

He has attended numerous conferences and seminars on AML/CFT, risk management, financial instruments and planning, securities markets, brokerage operations, pensions management, accounting and finance and a host of other topics. He has also had many speaking engagements at conferences and workshops that included the Florida International Bankers Association (FIBA), the Jamaica Bankers Association (IBA), the Jamaica Institute of Financial Services (JIFS), the Bahamas Institute of Financial Services (BIFS) and the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers (BACO).

Mr. Wilkinson obtained his Associate of Arts (AA) degree from the University of The Bahamas (UB), and his bachelor's and master's degrees in business management, accounting and finance from the University of Miami. He is a professional member of STEP International (London), a Fellow of BIFS, a Fellow member of the International Compliance Association (ICA) [London], and a licensed Broker/Dealer and Investment Advisor. He has held memberships in the Institute of Financial Accountants (London), the Guild of Industrial, Commercial and Institutional Accountants (Canada), ACAMS (USA) and the American Management Association (AMA). Mr. Wilkinson is also a Justice of the Peace (JP) for the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

He is married with two sons.

Kandi is currently the Senior Manager, Compliance, for RBC Royal Bank (Bahamas)Limited, and has responsibility for The Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Cayman Islands and Barbados. Her responsibilities include ensuring that the compliance and AML programs developed for the in-region units are consistent with Enterprise principles and standards, partnering with in-region businesses regarding compliance  and AML in order to appropriately mitigate regulatory, compliance and money laundering risks; leading a team that provides business unit compliance/AML advice and counsel for all in-region businesses; collaborating with Business partners and stakeholders; and providing quarterly reporting to the Board of Directors to ensure awareness of initiatives and the state of AML/Compliance across the Northern Caribbean.

Kandi has also held positions at the Bank of The Bahamas International as Compliance Manager. She has also tenured with the Central Bank of The Bahamas as a Bank Supervision Officer/Examiner II, with responsibility for the regulation of a portfolio of offshore banks, trust companies and a commercial bank in order to ensure compliance with relevant guidelines and laws; conducting financial statement analysis on a quarterly and annual basis; writing correspondence; compiling reports; and conducting on-site examinations.

Kandi has obtained her credentials at The College of The Bahamas (Bachelor of Business Administration, Banking & Finance Degree, and an Associates of Arts Degree in Banking) Nova Southeastern University (MBA with a concentration in Finance (Hons.). She has an ABIB Certificate; is a Member of Sigma Beta Delta International Honor Society in Business Management and Administration; a Member of Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists; and a Fellow of The Bahamas Institute of Financial Services. She has attended numerous international and local seminars and conferences, related to AML and CFT.

Charles has been a practitioner in the commercial banking industry for twenty-nine years with two leading Canadian financial institutions, the Royal Bank of Canada (5 years) and Scotiabank (Bahamas) Limited (24 years). From 2010, he has been employed with the Central Bank of The Bahamas as a risk-based senior examiner of all supervised financial institutions, usually as Examiner-In-Charge (EIC) and is the designated AML-CFT Practice Leader for that regulator. He spearheaded the task of bringing four of the country’s regulators together to write and publish two Guidance Notes for the country, namely Proliferation & Proliferation Financing, and Financial Crime Risk Management.

Charles has vast experience as a former senior internal auditor with responsibilities in fraud investigations with Scotiabank (Bahamas) Ltd, as a former bank manager, bankcard services acquisition specialist and as a commercial and retail lender. He is very well versed in KYC/AML Compliance, has been trained as an Expert Assessor for Mutual Evaluations of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) and now has practical experience in that capacity. He has facilitated and presented at numerous AML/CFT conferences and seminars, and has assumed the role as a panelist in several “Meet the Regulator” national industry sessions.

Charles is a certified anti-money laundering specialist (CAMS) and is currently pursuing the Advanced Audit Designation with ACAMS. He is also a Certified International Risk Manager, having attained this designation through the Bahamas Institute of Financial Services (BIFS). He has also taken Society Trust and Estate Planning (STEP) courses. His internal audit training was derived from the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and from Scotiabank’s Internal Audit Methodology Training in Toronto. He obtained his bankcard services anti-fraud training from MasterCard University in Miami, and through seminars conducted by the former National Bankcard Corporation (NaBanco) in Plantation, Florida. Charles has also had law enforcement training, having been a member of the Royal Bahamas Police Force Reserves from 1987 to 1997, with the last eight of those years working undercover in Special Duty.

Andrea has over twenty years of experience within both the Legal and Compliance fields. She currently serves as the Chief Compliance Officer, Head of Compliance, Money Laundering Reporting Officer and a member of the Senior Management Committee of Credit Suisse Trust Limited. She has previously served as the In-house Legal Counsel, a member of the Executive and the Internal Risk Committees and the Corporate Secretary of Itaú Bank & Trust Bahamas Ltd and Itaú Bank & Trust Cayman Ltd. She has also served as the Head of Compliance, Legal Advisor and Money Laundering Reporting Officer of Banca Del Gottardo (now known as EFG Bank & Trust (Bahamas) Ltd.), the Head of Compliance of UBS (Bahamas) Ltd, UBS Trustees (Bahamas) Ltd. and UBS Trustees (Cayman) Ltd. Andrea has also served as the Head of Legal, Risk and Compliance, the Money Laundering Reporting Officer and a member of the Executive and Risk Committees of Edmond de Rothschild (Bahamas) Ltd.

Prior to serving in senior Legal and Compliance positions, she was employed as an Associate Attorney at Higgs & Johnson. She is the Founder of Risk & Compliance Consultancy Services Ltd, a consultancy company that specializes in advising financial institutions on compliance and risk management matters. She is CAMS certified, a CAMS (Audit) Inaugural Class graduate, a Fellow Member of the International Compliance Association (FICA) and the American Academy of Financial Management (AAFM), a Chartered Certified Risk Analyst (CRA) and a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Consultant (CAMC). She was an Executive Committee member of The Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers (BACO) for over 8 years where she assisted with the development of Compliance on a national level. The last position she held with BACO was Executive Vice-President. She previously served as the Education Chairperson of BACO for many years. Additionally, she was one of the Steering Committee and Board Directors of the ACAMS Bahamas Chapter for over three years.

Andrea has served as the moderator and speaker of BACO seminars on various occasions and the moderator for an ACAMS Bahamas Chapter event. She has also served as a speaker during the ACAMS 22nd and 19th Annual International AML & Financial Crime Conferences in Florida.

Hubert Edwards is the Principal and CEO of NextLevelSolutions, a firm focused primarily on delivering solutions in the areas of Risk, Compliance and Governance; Strategic Management; Finance and Training. He is also a second-year student at the Eugene Dupuch Law School and expects to be called to the Bar in October of 2024.

He hails from Brown’s Town, St. Ann, Jamaica. He was born in Standfast, where he spent a portion of his formative years and later moved to the cool, hilly district of Benin. While his youthful days had many happy moments, there was always the consistent jarring reality of need. Such was the state of his existence, but he always embraced the hope and optimism that in him was the ability to make tomorrow a better day and those around him better.

Hubert is a graduate of the Browns Town Community College and a former student of Browns Town Secondary School, where he had the privilege in his final year of serving as head boy. He believes in using the power of the mind as a platform for growth as captured in a quote “It is the mind that sees; the eyes merely look.”

A former Deputy Managing Director of Bank of The Bahamas; senior auditor and regulatory consulting manager with one of the leading big four public accounting firms; and senior bank examiner with the Central Bank of The Bahamas. Hubert is a fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (UK) and a member of the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants. He holds a MBA with distinction from the University of Manchester; is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS); and holds a LLB with First Class Honours from Huddersfield University. A regular contributor to newspapers and current affairs discussions, Edwards lectures and writes on a number of subject matters including risk management, anti-money laundering and compliance and corporate governance.

He has conducted training in a number of countries, including the United States of America, Turks and Caicos Islands, Jamaica, and The Bahamas. He has published several articles on risk management, corporate governance, internal control, and economics. He makes regular appearances on radio and television discussing matters of personal development and growth, leadership, current affairs, and economics. He is the author of two books, “Whispers of a Country Boy” and “Think. Act. Grow! Thoughts and reflection for Self Leadership”

Hubert is the Chair of the Organization for Responsible Governance Economic Development Committee, a former director and treasurer of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employees Confederation (BCCEC) and former chair of its Economic Development and Trade Committee. Hubert is a media practitioner, an engaging and transformational John Maxwell Team Certified member and member of the Florida Speakers Association. He is the strategic mind and voice behind the radio program The Essentials! aired in The Bahamas, and founder of HubertEdwardsGlobal, a philanthropic leadership and personal development organization providing scholarships and producing personal development events.

He currently lives in The Bahamas and is the proud father of three young, vibrant, and dynamic future world changers. He lives by the African philosophy of Ubuntu, which means “I am because we are.” One of his own quotes underlines this philosophy: “If not to serve humanity, what else is a man good for?”

Ladies and Gentlemen, Hubert Edwards