The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) founded in 2014 is responsible for overseeing various sectors within Saint Lucia’s financial industry, including insurance, credit unions, money services, the international financial sector, and the virtual asset business sector.
The dynamic global financial landscape has propelled the FSRA to develop a new strategic plan with an updated vision, mission, and core values. Nathalie Dusauzay, Executive Director at the FSRA said the development of the strategic plan, vision, mission, and core values was a result of a collaborative effort with the Board of Directors, the Management Team, and Staff of the FSRA.
“I believe it is the critical time for us to be visible, especially because of our mandate of safeguarding policyholders and deposit-taking institutions. Therefore, we believe the strategic plan will allow us to navigate through that ever-changing and evolving financial landscape and, therefore a new mission, vision, and core values will definitely give us the necessary tools to navigate those times that I will call, stressful moments for the financial sector.”
Chair of the Board of Directors of FSRA, Phillip Dalsou, noted that the new strategic plan is in keeping with good governance principles to ensure that the FSRA carries out its core responsibilities efficiently and effectively. This he said is in conformance with the Public Finance Management Act, which mandates that all statutory bodies prepare a strategic plan in collaboration with the Department of Finance.
“The strategic plan is really a document that charts the way forward for the organization. It essentially provides the direction of where the organization wants to head in the future and this is a very important document that all organizations should have and in particular, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority. Why? The financial sector is an extremely dynamic sector. It’s innovative and it’s subject to constant change. In such an environment the FSRA is required to adjust and adapt to ensure that its operative framework is effective so that it could manage the regulatory framework for the financial sector.”
The staff of the FSRA were fully immersed in creating and unveiling a signature wall publicly portraying the logo, vision, mission, and core values embedded in the strategic plan. The core values are integrity, transparency, professionalism, and accountability were stressed by Dr. Harvey Miller who facilitated a half-day workshop with staff on the core principles of the strategic plan.
“Part of my philosophy is that your strategic plan should be a stakeholder strategic plan and by that I mean you need to engage all the people who have a vested interest in you succeeding. Therefore, the process included looking at the past to appreciate what was good about the FSRA because while we are trying to design a future we should never ignore the lessons from history. So, we examined what they did well, and what they did not do so well and that provided us with information to avoid certain types of pitfalls. But, we had to collect a lot of data about what the future is going to look like. Is the market going to change, what are the trends in the market? And, we wanted to get a sense from all those key stakeholders, what was their vision of success. Or, what is their vision of success for the FSRA? Because ultimately you are successful if you realize the vision of success of your key stakeholders.”
“The vision is to be a regulator of excellence, promoting the growth and development of the financial services sector of Saint Lucia.”
Dr. Harvey emphasized that this strategic plan is a living document that requires regular reviews, adjustments, and active engagement with stakeholders. It should be an evolving guide that will influence the actions and decisions of the FSRA for years to come.
For the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, Glen Simon reporting.