Appleby Bermuda partner Tammy Richardson-Augustus has appeared as a panellist at a symposium focused on law, identity, and economic development in the Northern Atlantic and larger Caribbean regions.

The symposium at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs featured leading practitioners and scholars and was addressed by keynote speaker, economist and leading adviser on the Caribbean, Marla Dukharan.

Appleby said it explored the cultural, legal, and institutional tools available to post-colonial jurisdictions seeking to grow their economies in a rapidly changing and increasingly post-global world.

It added that the discourse centred around the predominantly Black and Brown communities in the Northern Atlantic and Caribbean regions in the global inequality discourse.

Panellists explored the nature of the international legal and policy frameworks and their impact on the progress of these regions.

Ms Richardson-Augustus participated in the “Building and Evaluating Regulatory Capacity in Smaller Jurisdictions” panel.

She said: “I was pleased to share Bermuda’s value proposition as shaped by our history of innovation which made for an interesting case study and set the table for rich discourse around the headwinds we face and our jurisdiction’s perennial resilience and ingrained ability to realise new opportunities, notably in the area of climate risk finance.

“Bermuda’s strength is our robust and pragmatic regulatory framework, coupled with our agility to innovate as the tides shift.”

Symposium organiser Martin W Sybblis, a visiting Fellow at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs and associate professor at Emory University’s School of Law, said: “This symposium explored the economic development struggles and successes of smaller societies that are still grappling with the social, legal, and economic legacies of colonialism.

“It is my hope that we can build on this gathering to encourage greater international support for the development efforts of the countries and territories in the Northern Atlantic and Caribbean regions.”

Bermudian Jay Butler, professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law, said: "This conference at Princeton University brought together leading experts in law, politics, economics, and sociology to discuss how a society's economic identity shapes the policy choices it makes in pursuit of prosperity.

“This is especially relevant with respect to how islands like Bermuda construct and manage themselves as offshore financial centres.

“It is an important area of research that is particularly timely as the world considers the global minimum tax and the impact of similar tax measures on the economic fortunes of offshore financial centres, like Bermuda."

Christopher Bruner, professor of law at the University of Georgia School of Law and the author of Re-Imagining Offshore Finance: Market Dominant Small Jurisdictions in a Globalising Financial World, said: “Small jurisdictions around the world – including in the Northern Atlantic and Caribbean regions – are at the front lines of a range of global environmental and economic challenges.

“Now more than ever, it is critical that we explore sustainable economic development models available to small jurisdictions, as well as the lessons that all jurisdictions can learn from their experiences. This symposium took a deep dive into these important subjects.”

Ms Richardson-Augustus is a member of Appleby’s corporate department where she maintains a diversified business transactions practice, with emphasis on domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, capital markets and securities (debt and equity), financing transactions and general corporate governance mandates.