hen a company’s losses top 100 billion in any currency the reason is usually a cata-strophic unforeseen occurrence such as BP’s present predicament and the result is usually drastic measures to preserve

what is left and survive at any cost. Thus the fact that Ameri-can insurance giant AIG’s 2008 Q4 losses were just under US $100 billion should boggle the mind of any rational think-ing person before you realize that you’re assessing a busi-ness that doesn’t reside within the “real economy”. In fact the amount of money lost by American banks and financial institution since the start of the global economic crisis would have crippled any normal business even with the help of the government who deemed several institutions, “too big to fail”. Would it be too much to ask for banks to be required to practice accounting like a real business?

All through the recession there were big name companies in the US and outside of it that managed to stay in the black while keeping there earnings relatively stable. Granted, they did so through massive cost cutting exercises such as layoffs but the point is that they did what they were supposed to do. Insurers and megabanks on the other hand behaved like a pendulum with a sugar hype swinging in and out of the red wildly with the buffer of the knowledge that they can create wealth out of thin air using some sort of magical math that only the top brass understand. This sort of thing inspired a recent joke where a speaker at a recent conference wrote “2+2=5” to which the murmur of approval from the econo-mists in the audience was considerable.

A lot of bank accounting is really educated guesses about the future and therein lays a lot of the problem. Imagine a practice frequent in the US known as “extend and pretend” where bank executives refinance borrowers who cannot re-pay their loans in order to avoid reporting losses on loans.

It’s a bit like putting lipstick on a pig but the longer execu-tives take before recognizing their losses then the more lee-way they are allowed to report a favourable quarter here or there to justify the spending of taxpayer dollars. In a regular business, that would probably warrant an auditor making a lengthy report to the relevant authorities. The fact that the rest of the economy is so dependent on the decisions made by the banks shouldn’t banks be held to the same rigid ac-counting rules as businesses in the “real economy”?

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In fact the amount of money lost by Ameri-can banks and financial institution since the start of the global economic crisis would have crippled any normal business even with the help of the government who deemed several institutions, “too big to fail”

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The Speakersyour money ezine business summit 2010

he theme of the inaugural Your Money eZine Business Summit scheduled for the 28th of July, 2010 is “Entrepreneurship: The New Wave?”. Ja-maicans are renowned for their enterprising spirit and their knack for entrepreneurship yet there is

a sense that we have not fully realized our potential with re-gards to making Jamaica hospitable for entrepreneurs. The aim of the summit is to examine our failures and our suc-cesses over the years and use the question asked to spark a resurgence of discussion about the state of entrepreneur-ship in Jamaica.

Our speakers at the summit have both found success in en-trepreneurship even if they did have different approaches and did so in different eras of our country’s development. Their discussion will undoubtedly be informative and in-spiring as these two men are among the finest products of Jamaica. This week we take a quick look at our speakers, Michael Campbell and Christopher Williams.

Michael caMpbell

The entrepreneur’s entrepreneur, Michael Campbell has lived his life by the mantra that has hung in his office for decades, “We are constantly faced with opportunities bril-liantly disguised as insolvable problems”. Michael Campbell is the founder of one of Jamaica’s most recognized busi-nesses in Island Car Rentals which he started in 1973 a pe-riod that was especially inhospitable for new businesses es-pecially one dependent on such fickle resources.

Campbell’s first business, Michael Campbell and Associ-ates was actually a real estate brokerage which he started in 1966 not long after Independence. Michael also holds the distinction of being a founding partner in Contemporary Homes Ltd, a company that was responsible for the devel-opment of the first town houses in Jamaica. Having started over five successful businesses in Jamaica and lent his influ-

ence to countless others through his professional associa-tions, Michael Campbell’s knowledge of the entrepreneurial landscape is unparalleled and he could argue that entrepre-neurship has ALWAYS been the wave.

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We are constantly faced with opportunities brilliantly disguised as insolvable problems“

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Started Michael Campbell & Associates 1968

Partner in Contemporary Homes Ltd 1968

Started Jamaica Rental Company Ltd 1970

Started Seroft Ltd 1970

Started Island Car Rentals 1973

Bought Arawak Car Rentals and merged with Island 1975

Bought Airways International 1979

Sold Airways International 1986

Started Island Motors 1997

Michael caMpbell

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christopher WilliaMs

Christopher Williams is in his own right a superstar of Ja-maica’s modern financial landscape. The CEO of recently formed Investment house, Proven Investments has posi-tioned himself as one of the brightest minds in the busi-ness. Before Proven, Williams was Managing Director of the National Commercial Bank’s Investment house, NCB capital Markets which flourished under his stewardship. Mr. Williams earned praise especially for steering NCB Capital Markets through the recent global financial crisis and reporting record profits.

While Chris’s entrepreneurship journey is relatively young, his knowledge of both sides of the fence is especially use-ful for those professionals with dreams of making the leap of faith. Christopher Williams is part of the new wave of entrepreneurs so we wait to hear his take on where we are and more importantly, where we’re going.

Mr. Williams earned praise especially for steering NCB Capi-tal Markets through the recent global financial crisis and report-ing record profits.

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The Speakersyour money ezine business summit 2010

CEO- Proven Investments 2010

Former Managing Director- NCB Capital Markets

Former Director of NCB Insurance CompanyLimited

Former Director of NCB (Cayman)

Deputy Chairman of Jamaica Stock Exchange

Deputy Chairman of the Jamaica Securities Dealers Association

christopher WilliaMs

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