business@tribunemedia.net
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017
$4.20 Bank chief: ‘Room for improvement’ on customer relations By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Clearing Banks Association’s (CBA) chairman has conceded there is “room for improvement” in the industry’s relationship with its customers, adding that it needs to show Bahamians that they receive “value for money”. Ian Jennings, who is also Commonwealth Bank’s president, told Tribune Business that commercial banks were “challenged” by consumer misperceptions, especially over the level of bank fee charges. Speaking after he met Jerome Gomez, the Consumer Protection Commission’s (CPC) chairman, last Friday to discusss the findings of the organisation’s consumer survey on bank fees, Mr Jennings acknowledged that the sector needed to “better educate” consumers on how the industry operates. The Commission’s survey found that 72.7 per cent of Bahamians surveyed felt the bank fees/charges associated with their accounts were inappropriate for the services received, while 82.6 per cent of respond-
Industry ‘challenged’ by misperceptions over fees Determined to show offering ‘value for money’ Focused on education, reducing ‘dissatisfaction’
The FNM’s deputy leader yesterday warned that Freeport’s new ‘tax breaks’ regime was unsettling the city’s major industrial investors, and urged: “We need less government, not more.” K P Turnquest, the east Grand Bahama MP, told Tribune Business that the Grand Bahama (Port Area) Investment Incentives Act 2016 was further unnerving the industrial sector at a time when global forces were causing them to reevaluate their presence in Freeport. While not naming the companies involved, Mr Turnquest said they had spoken to him “unofficially” to express their concerns over
The Clearing Banks Association (CBA) says any industry gains from fee rises have been more than offset by Value-Added Tax’s (VAT) imposition and the multi-million dollar Business Licence fee increases. Ian Jennings, responding to a Central Bank survey that found some commercial bank fees increased by up to 43 per cent on “a significant number of services” in the 2016 first half, said the income generated paled in comparison to the sector’s increased tax burden. Mr Jennings, who is also
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Carnival cruise port’s ‘kiss of death’ for GB By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A beach park investor yesterday warned that Carnival’s $200 million Grand Bahama cruise port will be “the kiss of death” for himself and other Bahamian entrepreneurs, with the project threatening to suck away 90 per cent of his customer base. David Wallace, a principal in the all-Bahamian group that has invested more than $1 million to develop the Pirates Cove Water Theme Park, said they
Pirates Cove chief: $1m project may ‘wither and die’ Fears loss of 90% of customer base to new facility Bahamians ‘back to employees from entrepreneurs’ Urges Govt to ‘review and rethink’ $200m project
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Ian Jennings ents believed there were too many fees. Mr Jennings, though, suggested that most persons See pg b6
Uncertainty, extra cost, bureaucracy at worst time Global changes already causing Freeport evaluation FNM deputy: ‘We need less Govt, not more’ an incentive regime that requires them to apply to the Government for renewal of tax breaks long enjoyed under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement. “The industrials are now expressing concern as to what it means for them,” Mr See pg b6
Banks: Fee increases offset by taxation rise By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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and other Freeport-based entrepreneurs will “wither and die” if Carnival shifts exclusively to its own facility. With Carnival’s vessels likely to bypass Freeport by sailing directly to the cruise line’s private port in east Grand Bahama, Mr Wallace said hundreds of jobs in Freeport - and thousands of dependents - were threatened by potential loss of employment and jobs. Estimating that 200 taxi drivers, and at least 400500 employees in businesses ranging from tour operators, excursion providers,
straw vendors to Port Lucaya retailers may be impacted, Mr Wallace urged the Christie administration to “rethink and reconsider” the Carnival project at the 11th hour. “Based on what we’ve been hearing, we’re beginning our fact-finding to find out, one, if they [the Government] have approved this port and, if they have, there should be some consultation with persons on Grand Bahama, in particular those persons greatly affected by this new cruise port,” Mr Wallace See pg b4
Bran: No VAT need if tax cheat offensive implemented earlier
Freeport tax breaks regime ‘unsettling’ industrial investors By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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CBA chief: Burden more than revenues generated Commonwealth license up $5m; absorbing $1m VAT Price controls, regulation ‘can’t affect market forces’ Commonwealth Bank’s president, told Tribune Business that he “took the opportunity to point out See pg b5
The Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) leader yesterday argued that the Bahamas “would not have needed Value-Added Tax” (VAT) had successive governments cracked down on tax cheats and enacted other key reforms years ago. Branville McCartney told Tribune Business that the Government’s own forecast of realising an extra $400 million within two years via its clampdown on tax dodgers suggested there would have been no need for VAT had it acted earlier. “It should have happened prior to VAT, and should have happened some time back,” Mr McCartney said of the
DNA leader blames successive Govts for new tax Fears ‘desperate’ Govt will ‘spend the last dollar’ Daunting task’ for next administration tax evasion ‘crackdown’ that started in November 2016. Adding that he “agreed 100 per cent” with those who believe VAT would not have been needed had such policies been implemented by previous governments, the DNA leader
said: “I’ve always said that had the Government done several things, this government and previous administrations, we would not have needed VAT. Branville “That was to McCartney ensure we collected our due taxes, stop the wastage, jumpstart the economy and cut down on the corruption. We would not have needed VAT. VAT is here because of this and the previous administration. They are the reason for VAT coming into play.” See pg b5