The Belize Bank Limited (“BBL”) is a company incorporated and organised under the Companies Act, Cap. 250 of Belize, and licensed to conduct banking business pursuant to the Domestic Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 2012 of Belize (the “DBFIA”). As a company licensed to do banking business, BBL is subject to the supervision of the Central Bank of Belize (“CBB”), and the Financial Intelligence Unit (“FIU”).
The following represents the key areas of BBL’s corporate governance infrastructure:
In 1988, The Belize Bank Limited was introduced and has since carried out the business of banking in the country of Belize.
General oversight is vested in the Board of Directors:
The directors are re-appointed on an annual basis by the shareholders in a General Meeting or by the directors to fill a casual vacancy or as an addition to the Board.
* An “independent director” is defined in section 45(8) (c) of the DBFIA.
The Board of Directors has created several committees to assist it with fulfilling its objective of managing the business of BBL in a responsible and efficient manner. These are:
The function of the Audit Committee is to assist the Board of Directors with its oversight of obligations of the Bank’s (i) financial process; (ii) internal controls; (iii) investments; and (iv) compliance with laws, regulations, guidelines and directives. The Audit Committee reports directly to the Board and is comprised of the following members:
Mr. Filippo Alario
Dr. Ydahlia Metzgen
Ms. Geraldine Davis Young (Independent Director)
The ALCO has been established to provide a framework to strategically manage BBL’s overall assets and liabilities and to establish policies, limits and guidelines within which the asset liability management strategies can be executed. The ALCO is comprised of:
Mr. Filippo Alario
Mr. Michael Coye
Mrs. Geraldine Davis-Young (Independent Director)
The Executive Committee is responsible for the day to day management of BBL and as a body leads in implementation of BBL’s strategy as approved by the Board of Directors. More details of the Exectutive Committee can be seen here.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Money Laundering and Terrorism (Prevention) Act and the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Guidelines, BBL, as a financial institution, is required to implement a framework designed to combat Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (“AML/CFT”). Toward this end the Board of Directors of BBL has appointed an AML/CFT Committee to assist it in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities, reviewing and approving the AML/CFT program including polices and the system of internal control and BBL’s process for monitoring compliance with AML/CFT laws and regulations. The Committee consists of the following members:
Mr. Filippo Alario
Mrs. Geraldine Davis-Young (Independent Director)
Mr. Jose Cardona
Mr. Abner Peralta
Mr. Emory Perera
The primary objective of the Risk Committee is to assist the Board of Directors in assuring BBL manages risk within tolerance levels by providing governance oversight and strategic direction. It is also tasked with the responsibility of assisting the Board in discharging its risk management responsibilities by reviewing the effectiveness of BBL’s risk management systems, practices and procedures. The Risk Committee is comprised of:
Mr. Filippo Alario
Mr. Michael Coye
The Risk Committee may also invite non-voting executives to attend meetings from time to time.
The Belize Bank Limited (BBL) is a full service commercial banking operation in Belize providing a range of banking and financial services to both domestic and international customers.
Belize is uniquely positioned as a part of Central America and the Caribbean – a region of the world with immense growth potential. It is well placed to provide high quality professional service which responds directly to the needs of both commercial and private clients, at home and abroad. In addition, its democratic and political stability is an optimum environment providing unparalleled opportunities for the growth and development of the Bank and its clients.