Finance: Scotia is Tops in Digital

The Banker magazine has named Scotia bank Top Digital bank for Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada for this year.

This announcement comes at a time when the bank will be receiving an award for Best Digital Strategy of the year by Retail Banker International.

“We are very proud to have been recognized by Global Finance for the digital solutions we offer to our customers across the Caribbean, Latin America and Canada,” said Ignacio Deschamps, Group Head, International Banking and Digital Transformation.

“At Scotiabank, one of our top priorities is to make it easier for customers to do business with us by becoming the leading digital bank in the markets where we operate,” Deschamps added.
Scotiabank is undergoing a digital transformation to meet the changing expectations of customers, according to a release issued by the bank.
Some of the plans that are in the pipeline include the launching of a new online and mobile banking platform across Latin America and Caribbean countries to make it easier for customers to do business.
Secondly, the introduction of new digital branches in Mexico City and Canada and creating the Scotiabank Digital Factory, a stand-alone organization focused exclusively on delivering digital customer solutions.
The appointment of an Executive Vice President of Digital Banking is also in the making.
The financial institute will be creating a Banking Lab at Western University’s Ivey Business School, and the Scotiabank Centre for Customer Analytics at Queen’s University Smith School of Business.
And, the institute will be partnering with Kabbage, a leading financial technology and data company in the online lending business, to provide small business customers in Canada and Mexico with a new, streamlined digital lending experience.
Scotiabank was recognized as 2016 World’s Best Consumer Digital Bank in 23 countries including Guyana, Canada, and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The bank won in two international regional subcategories, Best Integrated Consumer Bank Site and Best Mobile Banking App.
Scotiabank also won in six regional subcategories in Canada, Best Integrated Consumer Bank Site, Best Mobile Banking App, Best Online Deposits, Credit and Investment Product Offerings, Best Bill Payment and Presentment, and Best Website Design. Winning banks were selected based on a number of criteria.
Scotiabank is Canada’s international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific.

Business: A Jamaican "In Reserve"

Dave Rodney

A Jamaican from Mulgrave Lane off Slipe Pen Road in Kingston, Clive W Blackwood, has been recently named executive vice president and general auditor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the largest bank in the federal reserve system in the United States. The appointment was made by the bank's board of directors, and Blackwood will be responsible for internal audit at the New York Fed. He will report directly to the board of directors of the bank.

Blackwood is now the bank's liaison with all matters relating to the Office of the Inspector General of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System. Additionally, he is the bank's liaison to the US Government Accountability Office. The Federal Reserve Bank formulates and executes monetary policy, supervises and regulates depository institutions, keeps prices stable, employment high, inflation low and fosters a stable financial climate.

Mr. Blackwood has a solid background in risk and auditing, spanning over twenty years in the financial services industry. For the past ten years, he has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility within the Internal Audit Group of the New York Fed. Previously, he was audit director at American Express Company. He also served as an auditor at KPMG's Assurance Services practice, and he has served on the board of directors of the New York Chapter of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).

"Clive has distinguished himself as an auditor and a leader both at the New York Fed and across the system, and he will be a great general auditor", William C Dudley, president and CEO of the New York Fed said.

Clive Blackwood is a graduate of Ardenne High School in Kingston and he holds a bachelor of science degree from New York University. While pursuing his studies in the United States, Blackwood held a number of non-banking jobs along the way to enable him to advance his studies, working as a cook at McDonald's and as a sales clerk at Macy's Department Store. Before migrating to the United States, Blackwood had worked at the COK Solidarity Cooperative Credit Union in Cross Roads for eight years under the leadership of former general manager Aloun Ndombet-assamba.

"At COK, Clive was a pleasant and hard-working staff member", Ndombet-assamba, now Jamaica's high commissioner to the United Kingdom recalls. "I am proud of his growth, and proud that COK had a hand in molding him and his work ethics", she continued.

Clive is now a certified internal auditor, a certified information systems auditor, a certified financial services auditor and a certified bank auditor.
"I am elated and humbled by this appointment, and it proves that hard work, determination and faith do pay". Blackwood told the Gleaner. And anything I do, I do it with passion and integrity", he affirmed.

source - Daily Gleaner

Film Biz: After the inaugural JA Film Fest, will it be "Lights, Camera....Industry?"

Having been briefly denied access to the Opening and voluntarily skipped the Closing ceremony, we managed to skip much of the glitzier aspects of the inaugural Jamaica Film Festival, put on by JAMPRO through its Jamaica Film Commission, and with help from the CHASE Fund, FOX Audience Strategy and other corporate and institutional partners.

we also screened relatively few films - four if an exact figure be demanded: the quirky yet ultimately sad and ironic "Country" (A peek into the present hardscrabble existence of the star of the 80s novelty Countryman), the compelling "Mas Man" (a peek, not into the life, but into the brilliant design philosophy of the irascible Peter Minshall), the dazzling yet lightweight romance "Destiny" and the unassuming yet ultimately heroic drama "Kingston Paradise" (more on these in a separate post).

So then, where was the "gold" in attending this high-powered gathering? In the seminars/panel discussions, There, the likes of  Paula Madison, writer-producer-channel owner (The AFRICA Channel), Basil Wallace (of "Marked for Death" Steven Seagal notoriety, but so much more), Tonya Williams (Young and the Restless alum and founder of her own filmfest, the Reel World Film Festival), Arthur Wylie (lanky, cool, soft-spoken but brilliant money manager turned film producer), Bernard Thomas (33 years with ESPN...nuff said), Marlon Paul (Betcha never knew that Timbaland's wedding videographer was a Caribbean man) and many others unfurled skeins of valuable (indeed invaluable) info.

Madison, who took NBC news from worst to first, was a co-owner of the WNBA's LA Sparks (before selling....to Magic Johnson) and had the temerity to take star producer Brian Grazer's regular limo driver, told how an upbringing by Jamaican parents in Harlem (including a Chinese mother, more on that) helped her and her brothers formulate and activate a philosophy on collective wealth, which, of course, she is still living.

Wylie, who overcame a Malcom x-style discouragement that he was "just a little too dark" to succeed in finance to build a firm that managed just over three-quarters of a billion dollars by the time  he sold it, told of his serendipitous association with Black writer Omar Tyree ("Fly Girl") and the attendant foray into the film business, on the heels of a major deal with Lionsgate. He also spoke of his Arthur Wylie Foundation, the upcoming Crazy and Fearless Golf tournament in Mobay (named after his inspirational book, Only the Crazy and Fearless win BIG!) and the in-development "White Witch" movie project, in which he is involved with Rollins family scion Michael Rollins and J Reddick, of the Final Destination horror/sci-fi franchise.

Tobago-born, Canada-based camera nut Paul spoke of travelling the world as a news cinematogpher/producer/cameraman and of the fateful call to go to Aruba from the Timbaland camp, a call which he initially rejected several times as a prank. There, he would distinguish himself by disregarding the objections of a co-ordinator and stashing a light bank in nearby bushes so as to compensate for the bride's proverbial late arrival, which would otherwise have thrown the wedding party beyond sundown and into darkness.

One of the points reinforced by the panelists, to the chagrin of some attendees, was that commercially, Los Angeles/Hollywood was still the global epicenter of the film business, even if volumes in Nigeria and India had overtaken those in the US. Therefore, posited Williams and others (including former pro baseballer turned "Being Mary Jane" star Stephen Bishop) to be truly successful on a global scale in film would require, at some point, a move to La-la Land, and further, for aspiring actors, it was imperative. This assertion prompted a minor storm of debate which was thankfully, soon quieted.

Overall, the main takeaway is that film is a collaborative, demanding business (that will "eat you up" in Wallace's words) but one with massive potential, particularly for the acknowledged talent pool present in Jamaica. the question still to be answered is can the required mobilization of people and funds take place in a post-IMF Jamaica to allow us to make the kind of dent, beyond high-placed individuals overseas, that the country needs and that our heritage deserves?

Stay tuned....


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