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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2018
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‘Wake up, smell roses’ over sanctions threat
Gov’t needs ‘high gear’ to reverse corruption slide
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
T
he Attorney General yesterday warned the Bahamas to “wake up and smell the roses” over the threat of financial sanctions unless it corrects regulatory weaknesses. Carl Bethel QC told Tribune Business that this nation has until June to satisfy international regulators that it has properly addressed the supervisory deficiencies identified in last year’s Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) report. Should the Bahamas fail to sufficiently address
* Bahamas has until June to correct deficiencies * AG: ‘We’re intent on avoiding’ Trinidad’s fate * Removes general insurance from ‘institutions’ list these woes, he warned that this nation could suffer the same fate as Trinidad & Tobago, where $7.50 was added to every incoming and outgoing financial transaction because it did not adequately address its deficiencies. Emphasising that the Government was “intent on avoiding” Trinidad’s fate, Mr Bethel said it had nevertheless agreed to amend the Financial Transactions Reporting Bill to address insurance industry
concerns. He revealed that a last-minute change had been made to the Bill, which was debated in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, that removed property and casualty (general) insurance from the list of businesses defined as ‘financial institutions’. The Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA) had been pushing for such a change for several months, arguing that the Bahamas CARL BETHEL
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THE Government was yesterday urged to “go into high gear” and deliver on its anti-corruption promises, after the Bahamas fell it its “lowest spot” in Transparency International’s rankings. Lemarque Campbell, of Citizens for a Better Bahamas, the local Transparency International contact, told Tribune Business that the Minnis administration needed to make the Integrity Commission, Freedom of Information and Fiscal Responsibility legislation its “top priority” to avoid further slippage. Emphasising that the world
* BAHAMAS HITS ‘LOWEST EVER’ RANKING, SCORE * ANTI-CORRUPTION LAWS MUST BE ‘TOP PRIORITY’ * FIRST LOCAL CORRUPTION STUDY SET FOR APRIL UNVEIL wanted to see “not just talk but action” from the Bahamas, Mr Campbell warned that this nation’s ranking in Transparency
SEE PAGE 6
DPM urges: Focus LET OBAN PROJECT MOVE ‘WITHOUT SAILING THROUGH’ on Oban’s benefits * Proceed if passes ‘smell test’, says accountant By NATARIO MCKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net THE Deputy Prime Minister yesterday urged Grand Bahama to look beyond the controversy and focus on the $5.5 billion Oban Energies project’s benefits, saying: “There’s more to the story than what you see.” K Peter Turnquest, addressing the 20th annual Grand Bahama Business Outlook
conference, tackled the concerns swirling around revelations that Peter Krieger, Oban Energies’ non-executive chairman and public face of the multi-billion dollar project, settled a Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit alleging misappropriation of investor funds. “I know that there is a lot of talk about what happened with Oban, but I want Grand Bahamians to
SEE PAGE 8
Enterprises Act gives ‘early success signs’ By NATARIO MCKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net THE Commercial Enterprises Act is already showing “early signs” of success with the Government giving “favourable consideration” to two applications, it was revealed yesterday. K Peter Turnquest, Deputy Prime Minister, speaking at the 20th Grand Bahama Business Outlook conference,
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Government should let Oban Energies’ $5.5 billion project proceed “without sailing through”, balancing job creation and growth with its chief promoter’s controversial background. Craig A. ‘Tony’ Gomez, the Baker Tilly Gomez accountant and partner, told Tribune Business yesterday that the development should be allowed to proceed provided it passes “the smell test” at the Investments Board and other government due diligence processes. Urging the Minnis administration to “exercise
* Government must be ‘alert’ with no ‘half steps’ * Process ‘opaqueness’ undermines public trust
their alertness”, Mr Gomez said it could not afford to “half step” and must ensure Oban Energies had the necessary financing to complete the refinery/storage terminal. “The Government has been placed on alert, and I hope they exercise their alertness,” he told this newspaper. “This is not one that should go sailing through. They have been forewarned. “The infrastructure in place by the Government to perform due diligence,
that’s the key point. We’re relying on their infrastructure, but they [the Government] have been warned.” Mr Gomez was speaking after Tribune Business revealed earlier this week that Peter Krieger, Oban Energies’ non-executive chairman, was named as a defendant in two US lawsuits alleging that he misappropriated investor monies. Mr Krieger, who has acted as the developer’s chief spokesperson and
‘point person’, signing the project’s Heads of Agreement with Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis on Monday, settled a Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit by paying a $110,000 civil penalty in 2008 and agreeing to be bound from committing securities laws violations. The US federal capital markets regulator had alleged that Mr Krieger, together with his father and
SEE PAGE 5
said: “The increase in investor and consumer confidence in the United States augers well for growth in tourist-related travel and investment interest in the Bahamas. “The Commercial Enterprises Act, I can tell you, is already showing early signs of success. There have been already at least two projects that I know of which have applied under the Act and are receiving favourable attention from
SEE PAGE 4
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