The Hon. Nigel Clarke, DPhil., MP, is Jamaica’s Minister of Finance and the Public Service and is Member of Parliament for St Andrew Northwestern.

He has served as Ambassador of Economic Affairs where he represented Jamaica’s interests with multilateral institutions and as a Senator in the Upper House of the Jamaican Parliament between 2013 and 2015.

Minister Clarke’s public sector career includes service, over various periods, as Chairman of the National Housing Trust, Chairman of the Port Authority of Jamaica, Chairman of the HEART Trust and Director of the Bank of Jamaica.

Minister Clarke served as Vice Chairman of the Musson Group where, over 15 years, he played an integral executive leadership role in the expansion of the group from a base in Jamaica to having subsidiaries in over 30 countries.

In his private sector career, Dr. Clarke is recognized for having led, managed or executed dozens of acquisitions and corporate transactions, primarily in the Caribbean and Central America but also in Europe and the Pacific, and for his expertise in structuring and negotiating large scale in-bound equity and debt investments from major global institutions.

Dr. Clarke has been Chairman, Vice Chairman or director of many companies listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and his private sector experience spans broad areas of the economy including manufacturing, distribution, consumer goods, telecom services, agriculture, food processing, banking, insurance, property development among other areas.

Minister Clarke has also been an active social entrepreneur where he is the founding Chairman of the National Youth Orchestra of Jamaica, an NGO that operates music for social change programs at eight centres in Kingston and Spanish Town.

Minister Clarke is a recipient of the PSOJ’s “50 Under 50 Business Leader Award” as well as the Kiwanis Community Service Award.

Chantal Bennett is an Associate in the firm’s civil and commercial litigation department. Her practice focuses on a wide array of litigation matters that span admiralty law, employment law, competition law, arbitration law, personal injury, property disputes, and environmental law.

Chantal also has extensive experience advising major private and public entities on complex Special Economic Zone (“SEZ”) transactions, and issues concerning regulatory compliance. Her work in this field has substantively contributed to the transition of over 100 Free Zone corporate entities, into the relatively new SEZ regime in Jamaica.

Prior to practicing in Jamaica, Chantal received training in investment and commercial arbitration and maritime law at the international law firm McDermott, Will and Emery and at the International Tribunal for the Law of Sea respectively. Through Chantal’s professional and educational experience, she has developed knowledge in corporate governance, international trade law, maritime law and commercial law. Her broad range of professional experience provides a unique slant to litigation practice, as Chantal applies pragmatic commercial and public-policy considerations to dispute resolution issues.

Marlene Nembhard -Parker is Deputy Commissioner General, Legal Support Services, Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ). She previously served in the TAJ, as Chief Tax Counsel, Legislation, Treaties and International Tax Matters, as Director of Legislation and Treaty Services, as Senior Legal Officer and Legal Officer.

Marlene serves as the Co-chair of OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS. She was elected in 2022 and is the first to hold this co-chair position which was established following a 2021 OECD report to the G20 on developing countries and the Inclusive Framework on BEPS, calling for the governance of the Inclusive Framework to be more representative of developing countries and to further support domestic resource mobilization (DRM) in developing countries in the COVID-19 era and beyond.She is also currently the Co-chair of the OECD’s Committee of Fiscal Affairs’s Advisory Group for Global Dialogue on Tax Matters, a past and current member of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS Steering Group and a member of the United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters.

Mr. Bevon Sinclair has over 31 years in tax administration.

Bevon currently occupies the position of Chief Technical & Tax Dispute Resolution Advisor (CTTDRA) reporting to the Commissioner General. Previous positions held included Audit Manager, Director of Audit, Technical Specialist, and Senior General Manager of the Large Taxpayer Office. As the CTTDRA, he manages the Tax Disputes Resolution and Advisory Division and provides advice to the Commissioner General on domestic and international tax issues.

Mr. Sinclair is one of Jamaica’s representative to the OECD’s Inclusive Framework and plays an integral role in the implementation of all BEPS related measures. He is currently a member of Jamaica’s tax treaty negotiation team. He has participated in five double taxation treaty negotiations, including team lead.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, and has extensive training in International Taxation.

Senior Director of Legal Services
Special Economic Zone Authority, Jamaica

Janis leads a team that provides legal oversight on strategic, corporate and operational activities of the Special Economic Zone Authority in Jamaica. The SEZA is expanding their footprint through the Jamaica Logistics Hub Initiative and creating key partnerships globally to build out the logistics chain regionally.
Prior to SEZA, Janis served in senior management roles as General Counsel, and in Corporate Services, Compliance and Advocacy roles. She was educated at the University of the West Indies and is a graduate of the Cave Hill campus and has more than a decade at the Jamaican Bar.
Her experience spans data privacy, international business, franchising, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, employment law, trade law, strategic planning, advocacy at the criminal and civil bars, and corporate governance.
A former lecturer at the Mona School of Business, Janis currently volunteers with Women in Law and boasts a Certificate in Information & Privacy Management. A wife, and a mother, Janis is eager to see the further development of the Region.

La-Tanya Phillips is an Associate Partner in the EY Caribbean tax practice. She rejoined the Caribbean practice in September 2021 after leading the Caribbean Tax Desk at the EY New York
office for 4 years. La-Tanya now resides in Barbados and her role includes the support and development of tax consulting services within the EY Jamaica tax practice.

During her time at the Caribbean Tax Desk, La-Tanya’s responsibilities included the provision of wide-ranging Caribbean tax consultancy services as well as liaison support between clients and local EY offices. She also maintained a significant focus on promoting inbound investment into
the Caribbean region.

La-Tanya holds considerable experience in providing tax advice and tax planning services for regional and international corporate clients based in Barbados, the OECS and Jamaica. Over the course of her career, she has developed a keen appreciation for the interplay of direct and indirect tax implications pertaining to business operations at the local and regional level.

La-Tanya is also experienced in advising foreign multinationals operating in the Caribbean region on matters including tax effective corporate structures, cross border reorganizations and transactions, tax efficient profit repatriation techniques and the use of tax treaties. She has comprehensive experience and knowledge in the interpretation and use of tax treaties, and she has had key involvement in some Caribbean countries’ policy response to the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Initiative as well as the compliance requirements of the European Union’s Code of Conduct Group. More recently, La-Tanya has been directly involved in Barbados' preparation for the implementation of Pillar Two and is assisting multinationals with their Pillar Two planning.

La-Tanya obtained her L.L.B at the U.W.I Cave Hill Campus and has also completed an L.L.M in Corporate and Commercial Law. During her post-graduate studies, she focused on areas including Corporate Governance, Advance Insurance Law, Advanced Corporate Finance and Offshore Financial Law. These areas have supported a career specialization in tax consultancy for the Banking and Capital Markets industry.

During her 15+ year tenure at EY, La Tanya has also been directly involved with the adoption of FATCA, CRS and Country by Country Reporting in the Caribbean region. She continues to be a
part of a global EY network of Automatic Exchange of Information professionals.

Professional Qualifications and Affiliations
o Bachelor of Laws – University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados
o Master of Laws – University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados
o Member of the Barbados International Business Association’s (BIBA) Business Development Committee
o Member of Barbados' Pillar Two Task Force
o BIBA representative on the Barbados Treaty Negotiating Team
o Author and co-author of technical publications on Barbados’ tax regime
o Regular speaker on taxation at conferences in Barbados, the U.S.A and Canada

Vice President - Investment and Logistics at Jamaica Promotions Corporation