CariCRIS - Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited

Mr. Gregory Thomson is a retired banker with over 40 years’ experience in Banking, Investments and Finance. Mr. Thompson’s considerable experience in regional financial and capital markets include stints as General Manager of Republic Bank Limited (1993 – 2002) and Executive Director (2002 – 2005). As General Manager, he reported to the Managing Director with responsibilities for the Trust and Asset Management, Financial Planning and Control, Treasury Management and implementation of the company’s key strategic objectives. As Executive Director, his responsibilities incorporated vision setting and ensuring the effective operation of Financial Accounting and Reporting, Strategic Planning, Treasury Management and Credit Risk Management.

Mr. Thompson was the Deputy Managing Director of Republic Bank Limited prior to his retirement in 2012. Subsequent to his retirement he has served in a consulting role to the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, providing Credit Risk Specialist support to the Financial Institutions Supervision Unit, and to the Trinidad and Tobago Unit Trust Corporation, where he was involved in the review, development and implementation of investment strategies.

Mr. Thompson holds a BSc in Mathematics and Physics from The University of the West Indies and an MBA from The University of Western Ontario, Canada. He is presently on the Boards of Republic Financial Holdings Ltd, Republic Bank Limited and One Caribbean Media Limited.

Mr. Milverton Reynolds’ professional life spans the banking and insurance industries in both the private and public sectors where he has held senior management positions in both international and local organisations that include Peat Marwick & Partners, the Jamaica Citizens Bank, Workers Savings and Loan Bank, National Housing Trust, Life of Jamaica, and the Jamaica Mortgage Bank. Since 2007, he has been the Managing Director of the Development Bank of Jamaica which he has piloted into a vibrant entity that has evolved with the rapid growth and development of communication and technology, while honing his vision of how public-private partnerships can catapult Jamaica into financial prosperity. Mr. Reynolds holds positions on several boards in the private and public sectors including Allied Insurance Brokers, NCB Insurance Company, Harmonisation Ltd., and Harmony Cove Limited and is involved in several charities, including the St. Andrew Care Centre that assists street boys to become productive members of society. In October 2015, he received a national award, the Order of Distinction (Commander Class) for outstanding leadership in housing development.

In August 2018, Mr. Reynolds was conferred as an Honorary Doctor by the Northern Caribbean University, Jamaica, for his contribution to nation building in both the private and public sectors, and for his sterling work done in the field of public-private partnerships and privatization. Mr. Reynolds holds a B.Sc. Degree in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies (UWI) and an MBA from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, as well as additional post-graduate qualifications in housing development and finance from the University of London, England.

Ms. Julia A. Weekes, CFA is Director of Banking, Currency and Investments at the Central Bank of Barbados, a position she has held since January 1, 2006. Ms Weekes is Chairperson of the Central Bank’s Investment Committee, a member of the Committee of Management, Central Bank of Barbados Staff Pension Scheme and sits on the Bank’s Payments, Tenders and Budget Committees. In her current role, she manages the Bank’s investment portfolios, holds responsibility for payments and banking operations and for the administration of the domestic debt of the Government of Barbados. She serves as a member of the Investment Committee of the Board of Directors of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) of Barbados, and sits on the Investment/Pension Committees of several government agencies.

Ms. Weekes, a CFA charterholder, is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Barbados where she served as president for a number of years. Ms. Weekes holds a BSc in Economics & Accounting (Honours) from the University of the West Indies.

Mrs Angela Henry-Small is currently the Manager, Information Services – Statistics at the Central Bank of Trinidad & Tobago, where she leads a team of 34 persons in the intake, processing and dissemination of financial data for banks, non-bank financial institutions, insurance companies and pensions plans, along with data on the balance of payments, monetary aggregates, the foreign exchange market, government debt and fiscal accounts. Mrs Henry-Small has a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics (U.W.I), a M.Sc. in Economics (U.W.I), a M.A. in Economics (Indiana University) and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Economics (Indiana University) and is also currently pursuing an MBA in Business Intelligence and Data Analytics at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business.

Prof (Dr.) Venkataraman Sankaranarayanan is currently part of the faculty in the Strategic Management group of the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, one of the premier management schools in India. His specialization includes Corporate Sustainability and International Business. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Dr. Sankaranarayanan has also been a visiting scholar at Cornell University, USA. Dr. Sankaranarayanan was formerly a Senior Director at CRISIL Ltd, the largest rating agency in India and a subsidiary of the globally-recognized rating agency Standard & Poor’s. He was part of the core management team which decides and oversees implementation of all group-wide strategies covering business and key stakeholder relations and a member of CRISIL’s Rating/ Grading Committee. Over a span of 20 years, Dr. Sankaranarayanan led various businesses within CRISIL and garnered extensive experience in credit ratings, advisory services, equity grading’s, risk management, credit risk models, business restructuring, valuation, infrastructure privatization, securitization and corporate governance evaluation. He has been closely involved with CariCRIS, having served as its founding Chief Executive Officer and Chief Rating Officer of CariCRIS from 2004-2007.

Ms Vashtie Dookiesingh is the Senior Specialist at the Multilateral Investment Fund, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank Group. Ms Dookiesingh’s career experience spans over 26 years in professional service delivery to a range of organisations in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean, comprised of 13 years in the private sector and 13 with the Inter-American Development Bank. In her role at the IDB, she is responsible for the design and supervision/oversight of investments, loans and technical co-operation (grants) financed by the Multilateral Investment Fund to support private sector development in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, and she also supports identification and design of projects in Guyana and Suriname. Ms Dookiesingh has a BA in Economics (Distinction) from McGill University, Canada and an Executive Masters in Business Administration (Distinction) from UWI,IOB.

Lisa Harding holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), with a specialization in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, from Imperial College in the United Kingdom, and is a firm believer that Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME’s) are the main drivers of economic growth. 

Lisa is the current Head (Ag.) of the Private Sector Development Division at the Caribbean Development Bank, where she is responsible for facilitating lending and investments, identifying relevant interventions that would improve the enabling environment, promoting regional trade and providing capacity building to MSMEs.  Lisa also leads the Bank’s Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund (CIIF).  Her private sector portfolio is diverse and includes projects which are focused on private equities, lending for student loans, mortgage financing and to the productive sectors.  Lisa has also conceptualized a regional women’s economic empowerment programme to support increased resilience of women owned and women led businesses in the region.  Lisa also represents CDB on the Technical Program Advisory Group of the Compete Caribbean facility, the region’s largest private sector technical assistance programme. 

A First-Class Honors graduate of the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, Lisa has pursued ongoing training in Leadership and Management from Cornell University, and l business development in international markets including Japan, Scotland and Switzerland.  She also holds a certificate in “Gender and Organizational Change” from the ILO International Training Centre, Turin, Italy.

Lisa is passionate about private sector development and serves as a guest lecturer for UWI’s Student Entrepreneurial Education Development programme and the Caribbean Institute In Gender and Development.