FiveComply CHANTAL SENTERRE Seychelles Office Manager
All about Seychelles: An interview by FiveComply’s Seychelles Office Manager Mrs. Chantal Senterre Q Congratulations on your recent approval as an Outsourced Service Provider by the Financial Services Authority, and on your appointment as the Seychelles Office Manager of FiveComply. Can you give the readers an outline of your career? I first joined the Seychelles Financial Services Industry in 2010 and my first position was as a Corporate Administrator for an International Corporate Service Provider. I quickly developed a passion for the industry, as it was the first time that I felt I had found a field that allowed me to effectively combine all my skills and interests, whilst also finding new avenues to continuously grow and learn. That passion, and the support of my family and fellow colleagues in the industry, have been what has fueled my journey up to this point. Throughout my career, I have occupied various positions in several companies, from Administration to Compliance, and from junior to managerial roles. This has given me the unique opportunity to get the full picture of the industry, the regulators, products, and companies in all aspects, which has allowed me to understand how everything comes together from all perspectives. I believe that this is what has allowed me to become effective in my role as a Compliance Officer, and enables me to add value to each client’s business. I also enrolled in professional courses as soon as I joined the industry, and I continue to study up to this day, therefore, I would also attribute my success in the industry to my continued professional learning. I strongly believe that training, and the pursuit of acquiring the relevant professional qualifications in different areas is a vital part of the equation, especially for a young, emerging market like the Seychelles and so far, I have certifications from the ICSA, ICA and CISI, and I also recently became a registered Member (MCSI) of CISI. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has always put a lot of emphasis on training and professional development, and I have observed that they have been encouraging and promoting this more in the recent months, especially through their collaboration with CISI and through the FSA’s Scholars Award Program. I see this as a very good initiative and
GAME CHANGERS Issue #41
encourage others to take advantage of the opportunity to join the industry, so that we can build the workforce, which will allow us to take the jurisdiction to new heights. Q Based on your experience in the industry, how do you believe you and FiveComply can add value to the Licensed Seychelles brokers? I believe that the collaboration between FiveComply and myself has been a match that will greatly benefit both our existing and future clients/brokers. That is because, comparable to me, all members of the FiveComply team have an array of knowledge, skills, and experience in various fields within the financial sector, including legal, finance, regulation, foreign exchange, administration, and compliance, just to name a few. As a result, our clients get access to a collective pool of information and expertise in all areas of their business, from the pre-application stage, all the way up to post-license, and throughout the existence of their companies. The expansion of FiveComply in Seychelles means that the Company is now able to further improve its services and possibly increase the scope in the future. It also means that the Company can now accommodate more clients, and cover more time-zones, to allow us to be more accessible to our clients as and when they may need our assistance. FiveComply has specialized in the Seychelles jurisdiction for the past 5 years, however, having also local presence in Seychelles has aided in bridging the gap between the team in Cyprus and the Seychelles, facilitating communication with various service providers and regulatory bodies, which has greatly improved on the turnaround time, and consequently made all processes more effective and efficient. I would say that, the combination of FiveComply’s knowledge and expertise on different sectors and jurisdictions of the industry (as they have been doing licensing and compliance support in various jurisdiction on an international level) including Seychelles, along with my specialization in the Seychelles can enhance the compliance support and operations of the client and achieve utmost efficiency.
