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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2020
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Bay Street ‘facing the wrong way’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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OWNTOWN Nassau is failing to exploit its prime asset because many Bay Street buildings “are facing the wrong way”, a Cabinet minister has told Tribune Business. Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, said in a recent interview that “the beauty of the city of Nassau” is its view of the ocean overlooking Nassau Harbour. Yet he pointed out that numerous properties on Bay Street’s northern side faced into the street rather than across to Paradise Island, thereby missing out
• Missing ‘the beauty of Nassau’ on the ocean • Gov willing to lift height limits ‘case by case’ • Minister signals aware of investor deterrent on the opportunity to showcase the capital at its best. The minister’s comments came as he confirmed that the government has agreed to lift height/zoning restrictions in the downtown/ Bay Street area on a “caseby-case” basis to aid a long-awaited revitalisation of the city that has, to-date, failed to materialise. While there were no specific limits on how high developers could go, Mr D’Aguilar said such a concession was designed to make downtown Nassau a
“living city” once again by reducing construction costs sufficiently to enable the building of apartments and condominiums similar to those on Paradise Island. However, he argued that Bay Street’s current configuration meant that many properties were not bestplaced to take advantage of the retail, entertainment and food and beverage opportunities created by the development of the harbourfront boardwalk stretching from Woodes Rogers Walk and the cruise ship terminal
to Potter’s Cay. This is designed to better disperse tourists and cruise ship passengers more widely through downtown Nassau and harbour area, but the many properties that back on - rather than front on - to the harbour are not ideally suited to cater to these potential customers. “The beauty of the city of Nassau is the view of the ocean,” Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business. “If you build high rise buildings that
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Flight Services must cut ‘growing taxpayer draw’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net NASSAU Flight Services (NFS) must “reduce its ever-increasing draw” on Bahamian taxpayers, a Cabinet minister charged yesterday, after privatisation efforts proved unsuccessful. Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that the ground handling services provider’s board were “anxious” to explore “some very interesting prospects” for expanding revenue streams now that it will remain in government ownership for foreseeable future. Placing the focus on topline growth rather than cutting costs, Mr D’Aguilar
• ‘No downsizing’ despite failed sell-off • And ‘automatic’ labour cost increases • Minister: No setback to outsource plan
DIONISIO D’AGUILAR pledged that there will be “no downsizing” of Nassau Flight Services’ 244-strong workforce even though he
Bahamas bank in managers buy-out By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE majority buyout of a Bahamas-based bank by its existing local management team is only awaiting approval from the relevant regulators before it closes, it was revealed yesterday. The Swiss-headquartered SYZ Group confirmed in a statement that Bahamas-based executives, Daniel-Marc Brunner and Werner Gruner, will become the majority shareholders in its local subsidiary, SYZ
Bank (Bahamas). Following the deal’s completion it will be renamed Nexor Asset Management, with SYZ Group continuing to hold a minority equity ownership interest and providing custodial services for client assets. “The focus of Nexor will remain on generating value in portfolio management and investment advisory services for their clients by offering them the high-quality service and personal touch of a local team with the financial
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Labour chief’s concern over Atlantis payroll By YOURI KEMP AND NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Reporters THE government’s top labour official yesterday expressed disquiet that Atlantis appears to be moving ahead with switching to a bi-weekly payroll despite the hotel union’s objections. John Pinder, pictured, director of labour, said he was unsure “if it’s a good thing” that the Paradise Island resort is seemingly proceeding without the consent of, and consultation with, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers
Union (BHCAWU). Revealing that he would only get involved “once it reaches a stalemate” between the parties, he added: “I am not aware that there is a stalemate yet. I understand that they should have discussed that
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effectively conceded that over-staffing and a generous industrial agreement were undermining the company’s financial viability. He added that there were “automatic” increases in salaries and benefits “every year irrespective of how well the business performs”, and said the government was determined to restructure and realign Nassau Flight Services “so that it makes sense”. Mr D’Aguilar blamed the former Christie administration and his ministerial
predecessor, Glenys Hanna Martin, for the ground handler’s present financial condition on the basis that it first became a burden on Bahamian taxpayers during their term in office. Given this background, it is unclear why the government decided not to follow through with privatising Nassau Flight Services given that such a move would have seemed obvious commercial sense. Mr D’Aguilar declined to
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‘Slow, painful death’ without corporate tax By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN financial services provider yesterday renewed calls for this nation to adopt a low-rate corporate income tax as the platform to prevent the industry “dying a slow, painful death”. Paul Moss, Dominion Management Services president, warned that the country’s financial services industry will “fall flat on its face” unless it enters true tax competition and better defends its right to participate in the sector. Speaking after Julius Baer announced its exit from The Bahamas with the loss of 30 jobs, Mr Moss argued that the jurisdiction has “nothing to lose” by implementing a low-rate corporate income tax as it stands to “lose it all” under the present zerotax model. The head of one of the few Bahamian-owned businesses in the international financial services niche, he told Tribune Business that the sector had been contracting for two decades without anything being done to “recover it and bring it back”. “It’s very disconcerting to hear that although I’m not surprised,” Mr Moss said of Julius Baer’s decision to close its Bahamian subsidiary. “We’ve made tremendous changes in this country, and they and others have stood up for a long time without going out of business. This something that’s probably been on the drawing board for a while. “It’s to be expected having regard to the changes in this country. Every time there’s a ‘blacklisting’ there’s a pressure for change, and change is not good for the sustainability of this industry. It [Julius Baer’s exit] really points
PAUL MOSS out that financial services is dying a slow, painful death. “One can only imagine that 30 workers out of a job will have difficulty finding similar work in the industry as there’s fewer jobs. As time passes, unless The Bahamas puts on its ‘big boy pants’ and fleshes out an industry that’s sustainable, there’s going to be more downsizings, close outs and clients moving assets.” Calling on The Bahamas to “defend what we have” as a first step, Mr Moss added: “We’ve been saying for a long time that The Bahamas is a well-regulated, first class financial centre. We need to defend that. We can’t capitulate at everything that comes up, every scream, every cry that comes up. “The business has been contracting since 2000, for 20 years, and there’s been nothing done to revive it and bring it back. All we’ve done is react to changes against us, we’ve never stood our ground and fought, and have not brought like jurisdictions together instead of responding to all this individually as we always do.” Repeating his long-held calls for a fundamental change in The Bahamas’ taxation system, Mr Moss told Tribune Business: “I believe The Bahamas ought to enter into the world of taxation with a low rate corporate tax. It would then be able to enter into “double
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