Archer lands top job at CI Stock Exchange

| 29/09/2017 | 44 Comments
Cayman News Service

Marco Archer, Minister of Finance & Economic Development, in the LA, 6 May 2016

(CNS): Questions about what Marco Archer would do after his unexpected defeat at the polls in May were answered Friday, when officials from the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange revealed that the former award-winning finance minister was taking over the post of chief executive officer at the exchange. Archer will take over from Valia Theodoraki, who has moved to the UK as vice president of marketing for the local exchange in London. Officials said Archer was selected after a “lengthy recruitment process”. 

Archer, who was one of the stars of the PPM platform of candidates, lost the George Town Central seat to Kenneth Bryan in a tough political battle, despite his popularity and success as finance minister. But what may be a loss for the PPM was certainly seen as a gain by the Stock Exchange, which described Archer as eminently qualified for the position.

The financial expert has a law degree from Liverpool University as well as a degree in economics and finance, an MBA and over twelve years experience in Cayman’s financial services sector, as well as his recent political and ministerial experience.

Archer is, however, currently embroiled in a high-profile law suit after he secured an injunction against local blogger Sandra Hill (nee Catron) for what he has contended were defamatory comments about in a post on her blog, Cayman Marl Road. Just last week he asked the court to jail her after alleging she had breached the injunction.

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Comments (44)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Caymanians are really their own worst enemy! When a work permit holder is recruited to some high profile position, everyone is losing it because apparently those are jobs for which qualified Caymanians would have been available.

    Now that a Caymanian has been recruited for a high profile position, many are complaining because he is not a “nice” guy or because they think this is a political move.

    What the hell unna want?

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  2. Anonymous says:

    marco is far from the worst but he did little as finance minister except maintian the policies/ surpluses of the previous administration….all under the supervision of the fco, and was hugely helped by favorable international financial conditions
    did he tackle cost of living…no
    did he tackle cost of doing business….no
    did he attract major international investment…no.
    how would the economy have done without dart investment?

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    • Anonymous says:

      His policy as minister was work permits for everyone…any surplus was driven by an Alden government policy of ignoring laws and regulations for benefit of record permit fees. Other administrations could have done this but they realized maximum work permit fees wasn’t necessarily best thing for the people of Cayman. Thankfully Marco is gone from government but sadly Alden is still there and as naïve as ever about economic considerations beyond the most obvious and shallow.

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  3. annonymous says:

    good on you Marco. You are a very capable and qualified person and will be successful in whatever you do. take no heed of what the dogs are saying about you.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    Congrats to Mr. Archer! A well deserved position to a respectful, intelligent and qualified man! Though you lost to Mr. Bryan in the recent election, God sees the bigger picture and has put you where you are supposed to be!! I hope the PPM lead government realizes that all this bragging of having surpluses was as a result of your competence and leadership at the helm of the country’s finances over the past 4 years. Of all those that got elected from the PPM party, you should have been the first. At least you are now the captain of the ship at CI stock exchange… and you are no longer on board the ship that is taking on water by Captain McLaughlin.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    PPM takes care of their own. Where will they put Ozzie and Wayne now?

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  6. Anonymous says:

    A “lengthy recruitment process”. Hahaha.

    Nice guy and I’m certain he can learn the job with time but what experience does Marco have running a stock exchange?

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  7. Flynn says:

    LOL…..economics 101.

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  8. Great says:

    You cannot keep a good man down. Congratulations Marco.

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    • Anonymous says:

      What expertise does he have compared with the previous holder of the job? An economics and finance degree with a law degree does not mean a lot in the securities industry. My question is, what does he know about securities.

      Clearly this is nothing more than a political decision and best mates. Just like the CPA.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Let’s see if he can employ some Caymanians to work with him.

      The public authorities law will go down in history as the best law passed by the PPM.

      Take a look at what’s happening at the Port Airport CIMA and Shipping.

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  9. Anonymous says:

    This was a loss for our country not just the PPM.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Congratulations and well deserved!

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Its not what you know, it who you know that knows what you know.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    Congrats Marco! I was not a PPM fan but I always held you in high esteem, professionally and personally, and was disappointed by your loss in GT.

    Sometimes the political arena is not the best place for persons of integrity, it can gobble them up and spit them out. You’re better off being out of that arena!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yep! Besides, voters in an area that are merely looking for handouts will vote for the one offering handouts instead of voting for the right person.

      Best wishes, Marco!!!

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  13. Anonymous says:

    Congrats Marco, I am sure you will do a fine job. I have to chuckle at the irony here though, you pushed through the Public Authorities Law which ensures that going forward, heads of statutory authorities and Government Companies are subject to the same salary scales of the central Government, imagine how sweeter the pie would have been if you could have secured the same type of salary as the heads of MACI CIMA, Civil Aviation or others. Hope you will also be practicing the sermon that you preached in that the head of these bodies should not be paid more than elected officials

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  14. Anonymous says:

    Oh man. The Kenny loving gtc crabs are going into meltdown!! ?

    Well deserved Marco!

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  15. Anonymous says:

    The country lost but good for you Marco

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  16. Anonymous says:

    Now he will really have to work.

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  17. Daphne Orrett says:

    Congratulations to one of Cayman’s finest sons!!!
    Pray that The Hon. Marco Archer will be blessed with good health and wisdom, as he continues to share his experience and expertise in moving our Country forward !!!
    GOD’S plan is perfect…!!!

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  18. Anonymous says:

    A “lengthy recruitment process”??? I wish these stupid politicians would realize we are not all brainless idiots and know exactly the truth of these appointments. Stop insulting us.

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  19. Anonymous says:

    I think this position may well reveal what many of us who worked with him in Government, not as a politician, found out, namely he is just not as smart as people think he is and there is an attitude problem which he struggles with, particularly when people not like himself are concerned. But then, this Stock Exchange job..a Travers invention…may just be one of these non jobs. Ms Theodaraki had been here for many years and she has been totally invisible.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Everyone has “an attitude”, since everyone cannot be the same, has different backgrounds and motivations. It is time that people who describe another persons attitude in this way to look in the mirror as this behaviour is all too common place in this small country. Too many armchair psychologists it seems.

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  20. Anonymous says:

    Well well well! The ppm must be reeling after they lost their two hotshots Panton and Archer to Suckoo and Bryan!

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  21. Anon says:

    Congratulations, a fine man for the job!

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  22. Unison says:

    Marco, I have always admire you …

    But respectfully, “its” all in your mind. This who fiasco. And the idea of position, pride, your ego being hurt, and then revenged to send someone to the lock-up. Its all what you are holding onto in the mind, my friend. I wish I told you before you ran.

    No one is saying to not defend yourself and correct what you see is wrong information or not true. But remember this my friend, as God through your abilities, excel you to a greater position, leave “words and opinions” in the hands of God. Do not react to pass away things – but proact! Let God fight your battles.

    And most of all live a moral life ?

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    • Diogenes says:

      Your english language abilities seem to be degrading with every passing day, though evidently your mental state is in such an extended period of decline that that isn’t really surprising.

      You say “No one is saying to not defend yourself and correct what you see is wrong information or not true” and then you go and say ” Let God fight your battles”. I’ll keep that in mind the next time someone is charged with a crime i’ll say that victim could press charges and take him/her to court but the victim should just let the Invisible Desert Sky God that may or may not exist fight his battles instead because that seems logical.

      According to the proceedings as I understand them Sandra Hill posted an article on her little online diary that she calls a new outlet basically accusing Mr Archer of acting unethically and corruptly while he held his former Ministerial position. Mr Archer felt that his character was being defamed and publicly attacked by what he is stating is libel on the part of Mrs. Hill and her “News Outlet”.
      While journalists have the right and the duty to publish the truth, they also have to mind the gap and toe the line between reporting a story and pushing an agenda especially if they are insinuating or implying that there was some type of misdeed or corruption on the part of a private individual or public figure.
      How she wrote and worded that article could be the difference between informing the public of a discrepancy in the actions of an elected official official and accusing an elected official in charge of a process of abusing the position and process without evidence and misleading public opinion

      Let me remind you since I doubt you know an inkling of how Civil law and the Civil System is set up, truth is a complete defense against claims of defamation, to put in simple terms so your tiny brain can understand if Mrs Hill can prove that what she published is true then this whole case will be thrown out and Mr Archer won’t have a leg to stand on. Considering that this case has been in the system and public eye for quite a while and they continue to have hearings on the matter, I very much doubt that she has sufficient evidence to back her claims seeing as she would have presented it to the Judge already. Maybe she is waiting to build her defense who knows, but if I were her I would want this whole thing over with as soon as possible, but that’s just me.
      And so far it isn’t looking very good for her she was forced to take down the article and issue a public apology stating her intention was never to defame Mr Archer, it all comes down to whether or not she posted the article with the knowledge that the information was false or misleading. He could very well end up putting her and her publication between a rock and a hard place.

      This matter is of the utmost importance because although this is currently a civil dispute this could have drastic impacts on how politicians and accusations of improper behavior might be handled in the future, Future publication might be too scared to publish a piece revealing what they think might worthy or valid for investigations because of the possibility of facing financial repercussions in court.

      I don’t know fully what the outcome of this action will be, I feel as if Mr Archer probably has the advantage in capital and resources to prove that he has done nothing wrong, and it is in the PPM’s interest to avoid public scandal regarding one of their former colleagues, but at the same time maybe Mrs Hill is right and maybe there is evidence to support her claims. Especially considering that Mrs. Hill apparently didn’t learn her lesson and went onto a radio talk show and began mentioning the whole situation again even after being barred from doing so.

      If Mr Archer turns out to in fact be correct I do hope that he seeks the highest possible amount of punitive damages because people need to understand here that they will be held responsible for the things they say or post on the internet, even if they call it free speech people like Sandra Hill and Kerry Tibbetts and her group of hooligans need to watch what they say because words influence people and have consequences.

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      • The Setting Hen says:

        Most, completely, agree with you. This type of behaviour in the public should have been stopped long ago. This is not the first time she has allegedly defamed someone and allegedly smeared people on social media. She is publicly known in Cayman for this reason. Many see the behaviour and question if it is not better attributed to that of a psychopath or classic online social media bully, rather than an activist?

        Also, do not call her a journalist. Professional journalists live noble lives and often up-lift humanity. Again. she is publicly known to do the opposite. Far too many were unable to seek justice via the courts. I have seen people move away from conversations when Ms. Hill’s name is called. Often, the conversation goes negative. There is not much to be said when all someone live for is to demonize sex – a great part of being human.

        Also, if she is operating as a business, I hope the authorities are asking her to obtain a TB&L for that gossip machine disguised as a “news outlet”. It is my opinion, since this is a public issue, the Marl Road as a name is a reflection of the mind and quality that is to be expected from such a publication. That is why she is in this court battle.

        Again I agree, Mr. Archer should go all the way with this. He is a man of integrity and all can see she was wrong. Her classic line every time is: “I am not deterred” whenever she is in this type of hot water. Well we will have to wait and see.

        Finally, if what I am hearing is true, It should be known Mr. Archer, just how many people maybe riding on your shoulders in the pursuit of justice with that woman. Sounds like many will celebrate your victory.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Your level of understanding of the law is elementary at best. She has not yet spoken to the judge and no arguments have been made about the defamation suit.

        In several weeks they will be having hearings on the point of sending her to jail.

        The substantive arguments on the defamation claim could be 6 months away given how long it takes to get a trial date before the Grand Court.

        Try to keep up since you claim to be a legal expert. If you’re going to speak like you know what’s going on you should at least follow the known facts.

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  23. annonymous says:

    good for you Marco……you show ’em.

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  24. Anonymous says:

    Congratulations, Marco!! Proud to say that you are a leader in our country.

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