About Us
Front Street Private Bank (Barbados) Ltd. ("Front Street Private Bank") is a Barbados licenced offshore bank regulated by the Central Bank of Barbados. We have extensive experience in the offshore financial industry, including investments, corporate services, trusts and offshore life insurance.
Front Street Private Bank
Front Street Private Bank is a subsidiary of Front Street Investment Management Inc., a Canadian investment advisory firm focused on asset management for Canadian and international high net worth private clients and institutions. Front Street Investment Management Inc. is a member company in the Front Street Capital Group and is registered with and regulated by the Ontario Securities Commission in Canada and the Securities Exchange Commission in the United States.
Our Philosophy
Our philosophy at Front Street Private Bank is to provide the highest level of security, confidentiality and personalized service to our International client base. This is achieved by utilizing modern and sophisticated products and services.
Our specialists are available to work with our clients’ advisors to develop solutions to a wide range of investment and estate planning issues to clients in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Front Street Private Bank’s strength lies in the ability to benefit from proven products and services made available by our affiliated companies in Canada. However, we still remain a Private Bank “Boutique” able to make rapid decisions, maintain flexibility and offer tailor-made, innovative solutions with a very personalized service.
Additionally, the regulated environment in Barbados offers favorable conditions to develop an efficient service in Wealth Management. We take full advantage of these opportunities to offer customized Estate Planning, Asset Protection Structures, International Business Companies and Foundations.
Our Goal
Our goal at Front Street Private Bank is to establish a long-term relationship with our clients based on mutual trust, confidence and professionalism because:
- Family wealth often represents generations of perseverance and pride, duty and dreams, values and vision. Our clients typically represent families that have achieved success in the business world. Their needs change as they wish to enjoy the fruits of a successful business career.
- A client’s objectives are varied and include wealth preservation and growth, investment diversification, intergenerational and interjurisdictional wealth transfer. Front Street Private Bank can provide the peace of mind that comes with managing success.
Why Barbados?
Barbados is a low tax offshore financial centre with many distinguishing attributes and advantage over its peer group of high quality offshore jurisdictions, resulting in our decision to locate here. Barbados has always prided itself on quality as opposed to quantity of offshore business which has served it well in developing the country into a first class global financial centre.
- Highly respected & well regulated International Financial Center
- Politically & economically stable, with currency pegged to US Dollar
- Well serviced by international professional firms
- Efficient business infrastructure with excellent telecommunication systems
- Modern legislation with legal system based on English common law
- Low tax rates for International Business Companies
- No Capital Gains or Estate Tax
- Extensive network of Tax Treaties
- Highly educated & skilled workforce
- Modern International airport with daily North American & European flights
A particular advantage within the Caribbean area is the extent of multi jurisdictional double taxation agreements Barbados has entered into, with the United States, UK, Canada, China, Venezuela and Mexico, among others, making it an ideal location for international tax planning purposes. It has developed an excellent infrastructure for business purposes, ranking it third in the Americas according to the 2007/08 World Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index.
Barbados is the most easterly island in the Caribbean chain, with a land mass of approximately 166 square miles and a population of 284,000. With a modern international airport, Barbados is easily accessible by daily flights throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean. Barbados gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1966 and is governed by the world’s second oldest democratic parliamentary system established in 1639. Politically and economically the country is very stable, with a highly educated workforce (ranked third in the Americas for educational attainment and overall quality according to the 2007/8 UN Human Development Index). The legal system is based on English common law with modern legislation enacted for the provision of international services.
Whether re-locating for work purposes or to visit, Barbados is an idyllic island, with wonderful beaches, sub-tropical temperatures, a diversity of activities and a highly rated quality of life.
Our Team
FRONT STREET PRIVATE BANK (BARBADOS) LTD. &
FRONT STREET CORPORATE MANAGEMENT SERVICES LTD.
BRAD BELLIS – President & Director
bbellis@fspbl.com
DAVID WITKOWSKI – Executive Vice-President & Director
dwitkowski@fspbl.com
DENISE WATKINS – Senior Financial Manager
dwatkins@fspbl.com
JUNE FOWLER – Office Manager & Asst. Corp Secretary
jfowler@fspbl.com
TRACY POUNDER – Manager, Investment Admin
tpounder@fspbl.com
ANMOL UTTAMCHANDANI – Portfolio Manager
auttamchandani@fspbl.com
CAROLYN LUKE – Senior Investment Administrator
cluke@fspbl.com
RICHARD KIRTON – Administrative Assistant
rkirton@fspbl.com
Directors
Dr. Trevor A. Carmichael, Q.C. is the Principal of Chancery Chambers, a Barbados law firm engaged primarily in international business law, environmental law and the law relating to charities. He also serves as a Panel Member of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes of the World Bank in Washington. Dr. Carmichael was educated at Harrison College and the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. After pursuing post graduate studies in the United States, he was called to the United Kingdom Bar as a member of the Middle Temple in London and the Barbados Bar in December of 1977. He is a member of the International Bar Association, the Inter-American Bar Association and a Committee Member of the Inter-American Bar Foundation as well as an associate member of the Canadian Bar Association. He holds membership in the International Tax Planning Association, the International Fiscal Association and was one of the parties responsible for establishing a Barbados Chapter of the International Fiscal Association of which he is Charter President. He is the Barbados Country Chairman of the International Litigation Committee on Business Law of the International Bar Association and a former Deputy Secretary General of the International Bar Association. He is a Life Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies in the United Kingdom, a Life Member of the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association and a member of the International Law Association. He was appointed as one of eight Organisation of American States experts responsible for drafting a new OAS Convention on International Contracts and is a Member of the Committee on Joint Ventures Model Contracts of the International Trade Centre of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
Roger Edghill is the Chief Executive Officer of Edghill Consulting Inc., a newly formed Barbados consultancy practice focusing on transaction and project management, with particular emphasis in the real estate sector. Prior to this, Mr. Edghill held several leadership positions, most recently Chief Executive Officer of Coronation International Golf Limited which operates the Royal Westmoreland Golf Resort. He was also Chief Executive Officer of Signia Financial Corporation, a licensed financial institution in Barbados and Chief Financial Officer of the Barbados Shipping & Trading Co. Ltd., a publicly traded company consisting of 24 subsidiary companies and 13 associated companies with an annual turnover in excess of $600 million; Chief Operating Officer of Interamericana Trading Corporation, an automotive distributor with operations throughout the Caribbean and in Latin America; and Group Financial Controller of Goddard Enterprises Limited, a publicly traded Barbados company. He has also served in various capacities with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Houston, Texas and Barbados. Mr. Edghill is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds a BA honours degree in Accounting.
Gary Selke is a partner and Management Committee member of Front Street Capital 2004. He has been a Director, Chairman and President of Front Street Investment Management Inc. since October 2001 and Chief Executive Officer since February 2002. Mr. Selke formed Tuscarora Capital Inc., an affiliated dealer of the Investment Advisor, in 1996 with Mr. Lamarche. Prior to that time, Mr. Selke was employed by RBC Dominion Securities Inc. and its predecessor firms in various capacities including in investment banking, public and private financings, debt restructurings, equity syndication area, capital markets, corporate finance and securitization. Mr. Selke holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and is a Chartered Accountant.
David A. Conway has been involved in the financial industry since 1978. He is a Vice President, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer for Front Street Capital 2004, Front Street Investment Management Inc. as well the group’s affiliated IIROC-regulated investment dealer, Tuscarora Capital Inc. Since January 2000, Mr. Conway has been responsible for operations within the Front Street Capital group of companies. Prior to joining Front Street, Mr. Conway was Director, Global Private Banking at CIBC, a Canadian Chartered bank, specializing in assisting high net worth clients in the structuring of their assets internationally.
Brad Bellis
President Front Street Private Bank (Barbados) Ltd
David Witkowski
Executive Vice-President & Corporate Secretary
Front Street Private Bank (Barbados) Ltd