**LISA DENISE GIBSON, TEP
Professional of the Year**
Lisa Gibson is BFSB’s “Professional of the Year” 2006. The Blue Ribbon Panel announced the selection at BFSB’s 2006 Industry Excellence Awards Banquet on Saturday evening.
Currently serving as Compliance Manager for Ansbacher (Bahamas) Limited, Lisa Gibson has responsibility for ensuring that procedures are in place to enable business units to comply with current legislation and regulations. She monitors compliance with such procedures and produces regular reports to Head Office in London and to the Board of Directors. Also serving as Ansbacher’s Money Laundering and Reporting Officer (MLRO), she has oversight for all anti-money laundering activities and is the key person in the Bank for the implementation of related strategies and policies. Previous employment has included accounting and consultancy services for family-owned businesses as well as Senior Audit Manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Lisa Gibson joined Ansbacher (Bahamas) Limited in 2001 as Client Accounting Manager, in charge of client financial statements. When the position of Compliance Manager became available in 2005, she jumped at the opportunity to experience a more challenging area in the Bank. For a few months, she performed duties in both capacities, until Ansbacher finalised its choice for her replacement in the Client Accounting Manager position. This was a challenge – to learn her new role and to continue with her previous responsibilities, but she demonstrated complete professionalism, increasing her work hours to accomplish assigned tasks.
Her employers describe her as a diligent, industrious employee who takes on any challenge given to her, and performs at the highest level, even if tasks are outside of her assigned responsibilities. This has been demonstrated on numerous occasions when she has been required to take on multiple roles, covering for staff out on study leave as an example. She is an outstanding professional who is credited with assuming a leadership role in any circumstance; although particularly demonstrated in her field of compliance, Ms. Gibson’s colleagues say that her knowledge, confidence, research capabilities and analytical skills all provide a level of trust in her strong judgement on non-compliance issues as well.
Ms. Gibson recently completed the International Anti-Money Laundering and Compliance Diploma (with Merit) and is one exam away from completing her Bachelors in Law (LLB). She has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1989.
This year, she obtained her Trust and Estate Practitioners designation from the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners by way of the Experienced Practitioners route. In addition to STEP, she also is a member of the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers.
The Awards Programme – now in its 6th year – recognises outstanding practitioners within the financial services sector.
Other winners included:
• Paul J.I. McWeeney, Bank of the Bahamas Internationa: **Executive of the Year**
• Germaine Simmons-Dean, UBS (Bahamas) Limited: **Achiever of the Year**
• Aisha Johnson, Credit Suisse Bahamas: **FSI Student of the Year**
A special **Development & Promotion Award** went to **Bank of the Bahamas International** in recognition of having “advanced financial services for individuals and for institutions” and “having brought prestigious honour to The Bahamas financial services sector through back-to-back awards for Country Bank of the Year from The Banker, 2005-2006 and Euromoney, 2006.”