The brain-child of Credit Suisse Director, Trino Cruz, his vision and enthusiasm for establishing a Gibraltar Philanthropy Forum quickly spread to the other founding members —Peter Montegriffo of Hassans, Joey Garcia of ISOLAS, and Jose Julio Pisharello of EY — who quickly became very excited at the prospects and possibilities of the initiative. From the outset they sought to establish an international philanthropy forum with a regional focus for potential donors, philanthropy specialists, decision makers and opinion leaders. In their mission statement they state the forum’s objectives which are to promote philanthropy, discussions of its key issues and challenges and in so doing raise the profile of Gibraltar as a philanthropy-friendly jurisdiction. It all sounds very altruistic, but isn’t the Forum just an opportunity to increase business for the firms involved? “No one is making money from this venture,” Joey emphasises. ”It is a genuine forum to engage people in discussions on philanthropic topics. There are potential opportunities for our firms but that is not what we are trying to do, we are fundamentally trying to help people — there are more efficient ways for us to generate business,” he states. “Philanthropy forms part of a corporate social responsibility and is part of very wealthy people’s business duty,” According to local historian, Richard Garcia, who spoke on Philanthropy in Gibraltar at the forum’s November conference, philanthropy — defined as the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes — has a very long history here. “We are convinced that philanthropy has an increasingly important role to play in today’s world,” says Trino Cruz. “Having become a truly international activity, it requires the co-ordinated efforts of specialists from various jurisdictions to overcome the cross-border hurdles and to ensure the greatest effectiveness. We therefore need to actively participate in the international networks linked to Philanthropy. “This Forum seeks to bring together entrepreneurs, philanthropists and philanthropy specialists, particularly from Gibraltar and the UK, to encourage them to share their valuable insight and experience. Many of our jurisdiction’s top professionals have for many years been supporting their clients in their
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philanthropic endeavours and in so doing we have learnt that there is much that we can do from Gibraltar to assist.” The first annual Gibraltar Philanthropy Forum conference was held at the end of 2013 under the project management of Angela Almeida of the Kusuma Trust Gibraltar. Rt Hon Sir John Major, former United Kingdom Prime Minister, flew in to talk at the event alongside a collection of expert speakers in the field of philanthropy. The 2014 conference featured the participation of keynote speaker Terry Waite CBE, and ex-Gibraltar Governor, Lord Luce. The conference aims to bring together an established group of speakers from the world of philanthropy covering a diverse range of topics ranging from legal, tax and investment to organisation and effective strategies which are key to the success of the philanthropic enterprise. Joey Garcia explains “At the moment the conference is not open to the general public but focuses on professionals — entrepreneurs, philanthropists and philanthropy specialists. What we have to decide, when we get to year three, is where to go from here? Becoming more accessible to a wider audience is one avenue. Not everyone is going to be Bill Gates, however the message is still relevant to lots of people who may want to participate in philanthropy in a more modest way. That sort of ability to educate is one of the forum objectives. “There just aren’t these types of platforms for people to come together and engage in debate in the mainstream jurisdictions,” Joey continues. “We began with a commitment to a three year plan, starting in a modest way and building things up. We really don’t know what will come out of it,” he says. Peter Montegriffo adds “Ultimately, we are trying to encourage a greater engagement with philanthropy among those who attend or learn of our forum. We are very keen, as a group, to make philanthropy and charitable giving a mainstream concern of our organisations and, indeed, our clients. “The management and preservation of wealth involves responsibility. Philanthropy is well regarded as one of the principal ways in which family wealth can be leveraged for community benefit whilst providing governance and ethical conduct experience to entrepreneurs and their wider family. ” The kind of high impact talks the forum
Many of our jurisdiction’s top professionals have for many years been supporting their clients in their philanthropic endeavours and in so doing we have learnt that there is much that we can do from Gibraltar
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2015
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~ Trino Cruz
TRINO CRUZ – CREDIT SUISSE Trino is a Director of Credit Suisse and is responsible for providing banking and investment solutions to international clients of Credit Suisse from its Gibraltar office. With a particular focus on Family Offices and Ultra High Net-worth Clients, Trino seeks to draw on his 30 years of experience in finance. Trino has a broad interest in all matters economic, social and cultural and is convinced that by bringing philanthropy to the fore we are aligning our common interests
PETER MONTEGRIFFO - HASSANS Having graduated from Leeds University, Peter attended the Inns of Court School of Law as a member of Lincoln’s Inn. Peter qualified as a Barrister in 1982, becoming a partner of Hassans in 1988. His area of expertise is in commercial and private client matters. He has also advised on numerous financial services, regulatory and trust related matters. Peter was closely involved in the IPOs of various gaming companies established in Gibraltar, which have been listed on the London Stock Exchange. Peter was closely involved in drafting changes to Gibraltar’s legislation in trusts, financial services and gaming areas. His knowledge of these fields has led him to contribute to articles and books on Gibraltar’s legal system and financial services sector. He has regularly spoken at international conferences relating to these areas of practice. His work regularly requires him to deal with multiple jurisdictions as a result of which Hassans has built a considerable bank of international knowledge in tax and private client arrangements. Peter was Gibraltar’s Minister for Trade and Industry, with responsibility for economic development and financial services, between May 1996 and February 2000.
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