**GERMAINE E. SIMMONS-DEAN
Achiever of the Year**
UBS European Desk Senior Assistant is BFSB’s latest **“Achiever of the Year”**.
Ms. Simmons-Dean is a Senior Assistant Client Advisor at UBS (Bahamas) Limited, and has been working with the European Desk for the past 5 years. As a Senior Assistant, she co-manages client portfolios; processes payment and security orders and confirmations and client statements; and maintains the client database. Additionally, her responsibilities include preparation for client visits and meetings; proposals (e.g. bonds); account openings; order dealings (e.g. foreign exchange, money markets, deliveries/receipts, FTD & Buy/Sell orders); and KYC updating. As part of the IT project team, she participates in conducting testing on behalf of the Wealth Management department.
Described as a dedicated, hard-working employee who delivers even when under extreme pressure, she is always focused and keen on professional development. Her employers say she is an excellent team player who is happy to share know-how and knowledge with others; in this connection she has become the first point of contact for new team members.
Since joining UBS, she has demonstrated great loyalty towards the company and was a critical employee for her department during a period when it lost key staff to competitors. She is credited with a capacity for learning from setbacks and turning these into positive action. Exhibiting top professional behavior, Ms. Simmons-Dean is extremely client focused with a sound understanding of the client needs. Very knowledgeable on regulations, she strives to understand complex issues to the last detail, and has provided cross-functional support to other areas when needed, as well as to the CEO and Senior Management.
She is an active member of the firm’s High Potential Pool, and has displayed interest in other cultures and working practices, with particular high interest in employment diversity. UBS has advised that she will become an International Assignee on a 2-year secondment in Switzerland in early 2007.
She has a BA in Information Systems Administration and has completed various sector-relevant training programmes, including the Series 7, and the Introduction to Mutual Funds and Quality Customer Service courses. She is a member of the International Association for Administrative Professionals (IAAP).
The Industry Excellence Awards Programme was introduced by the Bahamas Financial Services Board in 2001, as a means of profiling role models within the financial services sector. The 2006 Banquet and Awards Ceremony was held on Saturday, October 21, in the Balmoral Ballroom of Sandals Royal Bahamian Spa Resort & Offshore Island.
Other winners included:
• Paul J.I. McWeeney, Bank of the Bahamas Internationa: **Executive of the Year**
• Lisa Gibson, Ansbacher (Bahamas) Limited: **Professional of the Year**
• Aisha Johnson, Credit Suisse Bahamas: **FSI Student of the Year**
A special **Development & Promotion Award** went to Bank of the Bahamas International in recognition of having *”advanced financial services for individuals and for institutions”* and *”having brought prestigious honour to The Bahamas financial services sector through back-to-back awards for Country Bank of the Year from The Banker, 2005-2006 and Euromoney, 2006.”*