BCW Capital CEO Rohan Barnett has left the company to return to the US, according to the investment house.

Gerry Wight, BCW’s managing director of operations, has assumed the role of CEO.

Wight yesterday confirmed to the Business Observer that Barnett parted ways with the company recently.

“He is no longer with the company,” Wight said. “He made a valuable contribution to the firm and we certainly wish him all the best.”

Barnett had only been with BCW Capital for over a year, after spending more than three years as executive director of the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

According to Wight, the former BCW Capital CEO is heading back to the United States, where he worked before as a commercial lawyer in the financial services industry.

“As I understand it, he is migrating back to the States, which is where he was recruited from a few years ago,” Wight said.

Barnett previously served as an attorney with Citigroup’s Global Markets/Smith Barney Division and worked on that company’s merger with Travelers Group.

He assumed his responsibilities with the FSC in January 2009, as Jamaica was continuing to experience the impact of the proliferation of ponzi schemes. Under his leadership, the FSC noted that it intensified its efforts to identify suspected ponzi schemes and expanded its efforts to alert and educate the public about these scams, as well as refer matters to the office of the director of public prosecutions.

Barnett is also credited with increasing the FSC’s enforcement activities against unsafe and unsound companies during

his tenure, overseeing the application of sanctions against non-compliant entities and individuals, including the suspension and cancellation of licences where necessary.

He resigned from the FSC effective March 30, 2012, with the regulatory body at the time stating that Barnett had earlier indicated that, at an appropriate time, he would be terminating his services at the FSC to pursue other endeavours and activities in line with his personal objectives.

In BCW Capital, Barnett joined what was then a new high-profile investment house backed by two of Jamaica’s leading conglomerates — Jamaica Broilers Group and Wisynco Group. He represented the latest addition to a robust team led by Wight and Charles Chambers, BCW’s managing director of investment banking.

BCW began operating in July 2012 after receiving securities dealers and pension fund investment manager licences from the FSC. Since then, the company has developed a unique suite of products for the Jamaican and Caribbean markets, including a $850-million corporate bond offer on behalf of Jamaica Broilers Group and Principal Protected Notes (PPN), which offer preservation of capital while also allowing investors significant upside growth potential based on their respective indices.

The company earlier this year became the 12th member dealer on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.