**The Inter-American Bar Association (IABA)** is preparing to host its **XLV Conference** at the Wyndham Crystal Palace, Cable Beach, Nassau, Bahamas from June 30th to July 4th. The Theme: ***“The World Financial Crisis: What Does the Future Hold?”***
More than 200 lawyers are expected to converge upon Nassau for the Conference which will cover major hemispheric, regional and local issues.
Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the IABA XLV Conference is Dr. Peter Maynard of the Bahamas Bar Association. He says that, given the present state of the global economy, the Conference is both timely and topical. “*The IABA conference provides a unique opportunity for trading information and views with the preeminent lawyers and luminaries of the hemisphere – from Canada to Argentina and almost every country in between – and elsewhere, on an exceptional range of key issues.”* He continues, *“These extend from our future as a financial centre to our prospects as an arbitration and maritime centre, from Madoff to CLICO, from domestic violence to the death penalty, from independence of the judiciary to the Caribbean Court of Justice, and many other issues.”*
Dr. Maynard points out that the Bahamian Host Committee specifically asked for the Conference to be open to the general public – and to be affordable. *“This is a chance that everyone should take advantage of,”* he says. *“You do not have to go abroad for a first class conference on matters that affect you. You will have it right here. The community has responded through generous sponsorship. We are also confident that our visitors for the event will be impressed by the extraordinary hospitality and warmth of the Bahamian people.”*
Registration fees range from $605 for IABA Individual Members to $855 for non-IABA members, with varying rates for law students, and spouses. Bahamas lawyers attract a preferred rate of $200. Early bird rates end on May 22nd.
The (IABA) XLV Conference is the largest conference ever to be co-sponsored by the Bahamas Bar. It has also attracted the co-sponsorship of the Organisation of Commonwealth Caribbean Bar Associations. Organisers describe it as an encounter between the Caribbean Bars and those of the rest of the hemisphere.
The Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) is a silver sponsor of the IABA XVL Conference. CEO and Executive Director Wendy Warren commends the efforts of the Association in addressing important topical issues while at the same time fostering networking, camaraderie and information exchanges between lawyers within the region. *“We believe that conferences of this nature hold significant latent opportunity that can be extracted through the support – both through sponsorship and registration – of the Bahamian private sector,”* she says.
The Washington-based IABA, founded on May 16, 1940, represents a permanent forum for the exchange of professional views and information for lawyers to promote the Rule of Law and protect the democratic institutions in the Americas. IABA holds an international conference approximately every 12 months in one of the countries of the Americas during which time special seminars on legal topics are presented and IABA Committees and Sections meet. These meetings serve as a forum for the presentation of papers and the consideration of issues and resolutions related to them. They facilitate networking and discussion of current issues of interest to lawyers of the Americas, their respective governments, and various international organizations. In Nassau, the General Assembly will elect a new IABA Council, which will meet and elect new Officers. The new Executive Committee also will meet on the occasion of the upcoming conference.
To view the programme and/or to register, visit the IABA Website (see link below) or contact the Host Committee at [iaba.bahamashost@gmail.com](http://iaba.bahamashost@gmail.com).
See copy of Conference Brochure attached.