Program - OffshoreAlert Conference on Financial Due Diligence in Offshore Financial Centers

Complete Program - OffshoreAlert 2009 Conference

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Pre-Conference - Sunday, April 26, 2009

Day 1 - Monday, April 27, 2009
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Speed Networking (Limited seating)
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm	Kick-off Networking Cocktail Reception Sponsored by: Kinetic Partners
	Compliance	Insight & Analysis	Insolvency & Asset Recovery
7:00 am - 8:00 am	Continental Breakfast Sponsored by: Kroll
8:00 am - 8:45 am	Keynote Address Offshore Financial Centers: Adapting to the New Political Realities Keynote Speaker: Jeffrey P. Owens, Director of the Center for Tax Policy and Administration, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), France The world's major countries and political organizations have upped their assault on OFCs. Jeffrey Owens, Head of Tax at the OECD, will outline the global political initiatives against OFCs and the consequences of not being an acceptable international player.
8:45 am - 9:15 am	Keynote Address The Offshore Perspective Wendy C. Warren, is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Bahamas Financial Services Board, an organization devoted to increasing the quantity and quality of financial services in The Bahamas. In a Keynote Address, Ms. Warren will outline her vision of the role that OFCs can play in the modern global economy.
9:15 am - 10:30 am	Panel Discussion Power Politics - The Assault on OFCs by the World's Major Countries Moderator: David B. Chenkin, Partner, Zeichner Ellman & Krause, USA Panelists: Jeffrey P. Owens, Director of the Center for Tax Policy and Administration, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), France Robert L. Roach, Counsel & Chief Investigator, US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, USA Wendy Warren, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Bahamas Financial Services Board Eduardo D’Angelo Silva, Chairman, Cayman Islands Financial Services Association, Cayman Islands Offshore Financial Centers are under relentless attack and review by the world major countries, including the USA and the United Kingdom, and global organizations and agencies such as the IMF, the OECD, and the EU. As a result of the global recession, the UK is conducting a review of its Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories that provide offshore financial services, with a view to dictating the types of products and services they offer and bringing them under the regulatory control of London. And, in the USA, Barack Obama co-sponsored the 'Stop Tax Haven Abuse Bill' in 2007 when he was a US Senator. Now that he has been elected President, what will his policies be regarding OFCs? Our speakers and panelists will look at pending anti-offshore initiatives, how they might affect the willingness of financial institutions and High Net Worth individuals in major countries to continue doing business with OFCs, and what OFCs must do to adapt to the new political realities.
10:30 am - 11:00 am	Refreshment Break Sponsored by: Krys & Associates Cayman Ltd.
11:00 am - 12:15 pm	IRS Offshore Enforcement Programs & Activities Moderator: Stewart L. Kasner, Partner, Baker + McKenzie, USA Panelists: Daniel Reeves, Internal Revenue Agent (Offshore Compliance), IRS, USA John C. McDougal, Special Trial Attorney, IRS, USA Thomas J. Kelly, Director, Financial Crimes, IRS, USA A discussion of IRS civil and criminal enforcement programs and activities designed to identify United States taxpayers who illegally avoid or evade payment of required US taxes through the use of offshore bank accounts, entities, structures, investments and other financial arrangements in foreign locations, and to bring them back into compliance. Specific enforcement programs discussed will include various offshore compliance initiatives such as the Offshore Credit Card Project, current initiatives using the John Doe Summons Process, the Promoter Investigations Program and the Voluntary Disclosure Practice.
12:15 pm - 1:30 pm	Lunch Sponsored by: BDO Consulting
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm	Legislative & Regulatory Update What You Need to Know About US AML Legislation and Regulations that Apply to Offshore Transactions Speaker: Gregory Baldwin, Partner, Holland + Knight, USA The risks of not complying with US laws – and its reach across borders – are substantial and the consequences dire. Learn essential laws that you must know when conducting international transactions, whether you are a US financial institution or other party facilitating offshore transactions or an offshore financial institution or other party conducting transactions in the US.
	Fighting the IRS How to Defend Yourself Against an IRS Administrative and Criminal Investigation Panelists: Robert G. Bernhoft, Founding Partner, The Bernhoft Law Firm, USA Edward M. Robbins, Jr., Tax Attorney, Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez, USA Two of the most experienced tax defense attorneys share their tips on defending yourself against a tax investigation. Two of their most notable cases include defending actor Wesley Snipes (Mr. Bernhoft) and UBS client Igor Olenicoff (Mr. Robbins) against criminal actions filed by the IRS. Among the issues they will look at are: If a criminal investigation target asserts the Fifth Amendment as against a CI request for an interview, or against an administrative summons for books and records, is this "non-cooperation" detrimental to the target's "practical" interest in avoiding a fraud referral and indictment? Even if such "non-cooperation" does, in fact, irritate the CI SAs and give them motive to press hard for indictment approval, what are the pros and cons of providing the very information the SAs will use to make their case and complete their Special Agent's Report? To cooperate or not cooperate is a very important question with significant implications for how the investigation goes and turns. Our panel will look at Fifth Amendment implications in offshore investigations, including UBS. Topics will include: Fifth Amendment protection in foreign courts; Fifth Amendment protection for foreign documents or foreign persons in American courts (implicating applications for judicial assistance under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 and other "discovery" mechanisms); and Fifth Amendment protection for foreign entities.
	The Limits of Chapter 15 The SPhinX and Bear Stearns Decisions and their Impact on Offshore Hedge Funds' Orderly Liquidations Speakers: Kenneth M. Krys, Managing Director, Krys & Associates, Cayman Islands Jantra Van Roy, Partner, Zeichner Ellman & Krause, USA Laura Hatfield, Partner, Solomon Harris, Cayman Islands In 2007, despite there being no objection from any creditor or other party, U. S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland, sitting in New York, refused a motion to recognize the Cayman liquidations of two Bear Stearns offshore hedge funds, ruling that they did not have a sufficient presence in Cayman to warrant the relief being sought by the offshore liquidators. Lifland determined that the Center of Main Interests of the Funds was the United States, not the Cayman Islands, therefore the liquidations "are not pending in a country where the Funds have their COMI or where they have an establishment, the Foreign Proceedings are not eligible for relief as main or non-main proceedings under Chapter 15 of the U. S. Bankruptcy Code". In a previous decision, another US Bankruptcy Judge refused to grant relief to the SPhinX funds, which are also being liquidated in Cayman. Learn how this will change the way offshore hedge funds are structured and liquidated.
2:30 pm - 3:45 pm	Best Practices Best Practices to Adopt when US AML Legislation and Regulations Conflict with Offshore Legislation and Regulations Speakers: Martin Livingston, Partner, Maples and Calder, Cayman Islands Carl A. Fornaris, Partner, Greenberg Traurig, USA As a compliance officer, what do you do when US legislation is telling you to do one thing and legislation in your home jurisdiction is telling you to do something else? Learn the prudent and responsible steps you should take when faced with such conflict so that you reduce your risk of being held liable by a regulator, a client or both.
	Public Relations Spotlight How to Effectively Market your Message & Handle the Media Speaker: Robert L. Dilenschneider, Founder & Principal, Dilenschneider Group, USA Offshore Financial Centers are under relentless attack from the world's major countries and political organizations. On the religious front, even the Vatican City recently called for the effective closure of OFCs. This session will teach you how to plan and carry out an effective media and publicity campaign to 'get your message across' to the international community and how to respond to inquiries from hostile journalists so that you can minimize any damage that a resulting article or broadcast may cause to your company or jurisdiction.
	Legally Profiting from Financial Crime How Governments Can Profit from Assisting in the Recovery of the Proceeds of Corruption and Financial Fraud Speakers: Edward H. Davis, Jr., Partner, Astigarraga Davis, USA Terrence Williams, Director of Public Prosecutions, BVI David West, Former Head of the Central Authority Unit for The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Under Proceeds of Crime legislation, there is invariably a provision that allows Governments to seize criminal proceeds and keep it for their own coffers, sometimes at the expense of innocent creditors. In 2001, Antigua's Government tried to seize $76 million from the liquidator of Eurofed Bank, which was allegedly used as a vehicle to receive corrupt funds by former Ukraine Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, and, in 2008, the Governments of the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda shared $45 million seized from IPOC International Growth Fund, which was allegedly a vehicle to receive corrupt payments to Russia's Telecommunications Minister Leonid Reiman. Our panel will tell you the legal standards that must be met to allow a Government to seize and keep assets belonging to criminals operating in their jurisdiction.
3:45 pm - 4:15 pm	Refreshment Break Sponsored by: Krys & Associates Cayman Ltd.
4:15 pm - 5:30 pm	Know Your Data How to Choose and Implement the Right KYC Database for Your Organization Moderator: Nancy Saur, Regional Head of Compliance & Risk Management (Caribbean), ATC Group N.V., Cayman Islands Panelists: Dan Peak, CEO, World-Check, United Kingdom Al Macdonald, CEO, CheckForRisk.com, USA Shaun Hassett, Independent Consultant, USA Donald M. Berlin, President, Investigative Consultants, USA Financial institutions are required by law to screen existing and potential clients. It also makes sense to do so from the perspective of general business risk. Our panel will explore what's new in the fast-growing industry of Know Your Customer data provision. This will include databases for Politically Exposed Persons, Fraudsters, Terrorists, and a Google-type search engine that only searches regulatory web-sites. You will also learn how to reduce false positives when running client-names through KYC data, thereby saving you valuable time.
	Jurisdictions Update The Regional Big Four: Latest Developments in Bermuda, the Bahamas, the BVI, and the Cayman Islands Moderator: David Marchant, Publisher, OffshoreAlert, USA Panelists: Robert Mathavious, Managing Director, British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, BVI (or Cherno Jallow, QC, former Attorney General, BVI) RJ Berry, Head of Compliance, Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, Cayman Islands Peter Broadhurst, Founding Partner, Broadhurst Barristers, Cayman Islands Robert Stewart, Economist and Financial Author, Bermuda Wendy Warren, CEO, Bahamas Financial Services Board, Bahamas Discover what's new in the four most significant offshore financial centers in the Bermuda-Caribbean region and learn how it impacts providers, clients, investors, and investigators.
	Insolvency Proceedings The Pros & Cons of Using Insolvency Proceedings to Assist in Tracing and Recovering Assets Moderator: Martin Kenney, Principal, Martin Kenney & Co., British Virgin Islands Panelists: James Earp, Partner, Grant Thornton, United Kingdom Hugh Dickson, Partner, Grant Thornton, Cayman Islands Greg Grossman, Partner, Astigarraga Davis, USA Find out the Pros and Cons of using insolvency proceedings to assist in international asset tracing and recovery from the perspective of the Office Holder (Receiver, Liquidator, Bankruptcy Trustee, etc.).
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm	Networking Cocktail Reception Sponsored by: Martin Kenney & Co., Solicitors & Astigarraga Davis
Day 2 - Tuesday, April 28, 2009
	Compliance	Insight & Analysis	Insolvency & Asset Recovery
7:00 am - 8:00 am	Continental Breakfast Sponsored by: Chris Johnson Associates Ltd.
8:00 am - 9:30 am	Ponzi Schemes How to Detect Them & Steps To Take if You Are a Victim Moderator: Martin Kenney, Principal, Martin Kenney & Co., British Virgin Islands Speakers: Ponzi Detection (8:00 am to 8:45 am) DC Page, Managing Partner, Verasys, USA Maria Yip, Principal, Forensic Accounting & Financial Investigations, USA Mitchell E. Herr, Partner, Holland + Knight, USA Ponzi Recovery (8:45 am to 9:30 am) Edward H. Davis, Jr., Partner, Astigarraga Davis, USA Marcus Wide, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Canada Christopher J. Redmond, Partner, Husch Blackwell Sanders, USA Mitchell E. Herr, Partner, Holland + Knight, USA In the wake of high-profile investment scandals such as Bernard Madoff in the USA, Allen Stanford in Antigua, and DMG in Colombia, Ponzi schemes have never been more in the news. It has become clear that the number of these fraudulent investment schemes is shockingly-high and that hundreds of thousands of people around the world have – in good faith – invested their money with fraudsters. A secondary problem for many victims is that, once the scheme in which they invested collapses, they throw good money after bad by paying additional funds to unscrupulous attorneys and others who falsely claim that they can recover their assets. Our session on ‘Ponzi Schemes’ will be split into two parts. In the first part, you will learn how to identify red flags that are indicative of Ponzi schemes and other fraudulent investment activity. In the second part, we will show you what steps you should take to protect your interests and attempt to recover your assets after such schemes have failed. Our panelists include professionals who are involved in the investigation and hunt for assets of operators of some of the world’s biggest Ponzi schemes, including Allen Stanford.
8:00 am - 9:30 am	Prosecutors and Private Eyes Converging Strategies for Gathering Financial Intelligence and Evidence from Offshore Speakers: Eitan Arusy, Director for Strategic Intelligence and Research, RJI Capital Corporation, USA Cameron Findlay, Managing Director, RJI Capital Corp.’s Strategic Intelligence Group, EU This presentation includes an analysis of the following offshore jurisdictional challenges: how the lack of open source data in many offshore jurisdictions has led commercial intelligence firms to develop innovative human intelligence and electronic intelligence techniques to obtain information from secretive jurisdictions. How private sector intelligence firms are able to deploy more efficient and effective information-gathering methods than government agencies that traditionally rely on multilateral agreements that are time consuming, bureaucratic and inefficient. Why government agencies and private sector financial institutions are increasingly turning to commercial intelligence firms to satisfy their immediate offshore informational needs. Why this trend is likely to continue to grow as law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies increasingly are forced to resort to non-traditional methods of gathering information from offshore jurisdictions in ways that provide rich target profiles even though they cannot be used as direct evidence in prosecutions. What methods investigative tools are used by commercial intelligence firms to conduct fraud, anti money laundering, asset tracing, enhanced due diligence and counter terrorism financing investigations in off shore jurisdictions. This session will also include case studies of government and private sector offshore investigations as well as examples of government agencies enlisting the services of private sector commercial intelligence firms. The case studies will also include an analysis of state and local efforts to aggressively investigate off shore frauds compared to federal efforts. Finally, this session will also discuss the growing use of Arab and Muslim jurisdictions as off shore havens by criminal and terrorist enterprises.
9:30 am - 10:30 am	Business Process Improvements KYC Compliance: Breaking Down Information Barriers Speakers: Shaun Hassett, Independent Consultant, USA Robert M. Weiner, Director, BDO Consulting, USA Customer Due Diligence - Going beyond the basics Initial Due Diligence - Knowing Your Customers Ongoing Monitoring and Surveillance - Gaining Efficiencies Leveraging Automation - Creating a 360-degree view of your clients
	Offshore Insurance Products A Guide to Those Which are US Compliant and Those Which Are Not Speaker: Stewart L. Kasner, Partner, Baker & McKenzie, USA This presentation includes a discussion of several different US compliant and non-compliant insurance products available in the offshore market place as well as the tax consequences to the US policyholders and/or US beneficiaries of each. Also covered will be the underlying general concepts and rules governing many of these products. Finally, the speaker will illustrate how these insurance products can be incorporated into different offshore trust structures for ultra high net worth individuals, expatriates and corporate executives.
	Public Corruption New Developments in the Recovery of the Proceeds of Public Corruption Speakers: Arnoldo B. Lacayo, Attorney, Astigarraga Davis, USA Mark V. Vlasic, Head of Operations, StAR Secretariat, World Bank Group, USA Lord Daniel Brennan QC, Matrix Chambers, UK A look at developments in the pursuit of claims against corrupt public officials including an overview of the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, established by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Bank Group.
10:30 am - 11:00 am	Refreshment Break Sponsored by: WestTel
11:00 am - 12:15 pm	Risk Profiling How to Build a Risk Assessment Tool Speaker: Nancy Saur, Regional Head of Compliance & Risk Management (Caribbean), ATC Group N.V., Cayman Islands How to identify and categorize risk on a client-by-client basis and develop an Excel workbook for risk-scoring. Participants are encouraged to bring their laptops.
	Jurisdictions Update The Emerging Caribbean Domiciles Moderator: L. Burke Files, Principal, Financial Examinations & Evaluations, USA Panelists: Sharda Sinanan-Bollers, Executive Director, International Financial Services Authority, St. Vincent & the Grenadines Ariel Misick OBE QC, Managing Partner, Misick & Stanbrook, Turks & Caicos Islands Mark E. Mendel, Partner, Mendel Blumenfeld, USA Bruce Zagaris, Partner, Berliner Corcoran & Rowe, USA What's new in the smaller Caribbean domiciles that offer offshore products and services and how does it impact on providers, clients, investors, and investigators? In this session we will concentrate on the latest developments in Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and the Turks & Caicos Islands.
	Offshore Hedge Fund Blow-Ups Best Practices for Liquidators and Investors Panelists: Geoff Varga, Member, Kinetic Partners, Cayman Islands (Liquidator) Jeremy Walton, Partner, Appleby, Cayman Islands (Attorney) Gary Linford, Managing Director, DMTC Group Limited, Cayman Islands (Director) Thane Ritchie, CEO, Ritchie Capital, USA (Investor) A liquidator, an attorney, an offshore director and an investor discuss what happens when an offshore hedge fund collapses. Explore the process involved in determining who is liable and for how much when an offshore hedge fund collapses.
12:15 pm - 1:45 pm	Lunch Sponsored by: The Bernhoft Law Firm
1:45 pm - 2:45 pm	Recent Enforcement Actions The Perils of Non-Compliance with US AML Legislation by Offshore Financial Institutions Speaker: Gregory Baldwin, Partner, Holland + Knight, USA An Overview of Recent Enforcement Actions.
	Structured Finance & Insurance The Art of Managing Capital and Risk Speaker: Morton N. Lane, President, Lane Financial, USA The insurance markets have made increasing use of capital markets to obtain protection outside of the traditional reinsurance markets. A proliferation of instruments – Insurance Linked Securities, Sidecars, Industry Loss Warranties and Exchange Instruments – are all testament to lively experimentation in the insurance arena. The session will discuss: The alternative instruments’ advantages and disadvantages Perspective of the investors and the issuers How they are used to shape retained risk How the Credit Crunch affected this sector and its subsequent improvements Future prospects
	Asset Recovery – Case Study A Case Study of Best Practices in Multi-Jurisdictional Financial Fraud and Asset Recovery Speakers: Martin Kenney, Principal, Martin Kenney & Co., British Virgin Islands Marcus Wide, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Canada Nick Wood, Partner, Grant Thornton, United Kingdom An analysis of the procedures and pitfalls of liquidating offshore companies and trying to recover their assets for creditors and investor-victims. Marcus Wide has served as liquidator or receiver of dozens of offshore banks and investment firms, including the Imperial Consolidated Group, First International Bank of Grenada, and Bancafe International Bank.
2:45 pm - 3:45 pm	Interactive & Peer-Led Workshop Compliance Clearing House: Your Questions Answered Speakers: Nancy Saur, Regional Head of Compliance & Risk Management (Caribbean), ATC Group N.V., Cayman Islands David B. Chenkin, Partner, Zeichner Ellman & Krause, USA Martin Livingston, Partner, Maples and Calder, Cayman Islands A team of international experts will be on hand to address a wide range of relevant compliance issues concerning international transactions. They will answer questions: Prepared by the moderator; Submitted in advance of the conference by compliance officers in various countries; and Asked by conference attendees.
	Flagship Tax Investigations UBS, Credit Suisse, HSBC and LGT Bank: An Analysis & Update Speakers: Robert L. Roach, Counsel & Chief Investigator, US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, USA Andrew H. Weinstein, Partner, Holland + Knight, USA Kevin Packman, Partner, Holland + Knight, USA John C. McDougal, Special Trial Attorney, IRS, USA An in-depth look at the tax investigations into UBS Bank, Credit Suisse, HSBC, and LGT Bank and their clients. How much information about clients has been handed over to the tax authorities of the world's major countries? Can a foreign bank such as UBS be forced to produce information to the IRS in the USA? If so, under what circumstances? In the case of LGT Bank, is evidence stolen from the bank admissible in legal proceedings? What are the legal rights of the tax authorities, clients of the banks and the banks themselves? How will these investigations change private banking?
	A Proposed Model Insolvency Law for the Caribbean Is it Now or Never? SpeakerS: David Holukoff, Managing Director, Kroll Associates UK, Grenada Christopher J. Redmond, Partner, Husch Blackwell Sanders, USA A panel discussion of the need for a new uniform insolvency act for adoption in the Caribbean and suggestions for the development, implementation and realization of that insolvency act.
3:45 pm - 4:15 pm	Refreshment Break Sponsored by: WestTel
4:15 pm - 5:15 pm	The Future of OFCs Navigating the Recession & Identifying New Opportunities Moderator: L. Burke Files, Principal, Financial Examinations & Evaluations, USA Panelists: Rodney Gallagher, Consultant, Caribbean Robert Stewart, Economist and Financial Author, Bermuda Lorna Smith, Consultant, British Virgin Islands International Finance Centre, BVI Eduardo D’Angelo Silva, Chairman, Cayman Islands Financial Services Association, Cayman Islands Wendy Warren, CEO, Bahamas Financial Services Board, Bahamas Offshore leaders discuss the issues and challenges facing the industry as a result of the global recession and political pressure from the world’s major countries. Our panel explores what OFCs must do to become accepted as team players in the international financial world and the existing and new areas of business that will make this possible.
5:15 pm - 5:20 pm	Closing Remarks

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