business@tribunemedia.net
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020
$4.43
$4.45
Island Luck TV affiliate uses ‘void’ radio licence
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A
RADIO station controlled by Sebas Bastian’s Brickell Management Group (BMG) is broadcasting using a licence that was “voided” by the sector’s regulator, the Court of Appeal found yesterday. Justice Stella Crane-Scott, in a unanimous verdict backed by her two fellow appeal judges, slammed the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) over how the licence for the 103.5 FM radio spectrum was transferred to a company that is 51 percent majority controlled by BMG’s corporate vehicle, Neman
• Appeal court slams URCA over transfer • Denied rival owner claim ‘natural justice’ • Broadcaster admits ‘afraid to celebrate’
SEBAS... I’m not a shareholder or director of station. Networks Ltd. Noting that URCA had itself admitted the licence,
originally granted to Olympic triple jump medallist Frank Rutherford and the late Phil Smith, was noncompliant with the law because it had been issued in the name of individuals rather than a corporate entity as mandated by the Communications Act, Justice Crane-Scott said the process had denied “natural justice” to a rival ownership claimant. She cited Navette Broadcasting and Entertainment Company’s “good prospects of success” as a critical
factor in her decision to give the company an extra 14 days to file its appeal over a Supreme Court’s decision denying it permission to bring Judicial Review proceedings against URCA over the 103.5 FM licence’s transfer. Justice Crane-Scott said the dispute revolves around whether Navette, or Messrs Rutherford and Smith, were the original owners of the 103.5 FM spectrum licence. The latter duo were granted
SEE PAGE 4
‘No technical obstacles’ to $3.5bn BISX trading By NEIL HARTNELL and YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporters THE $3.5bn government debt market’s trading launch on the Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) is “very close”, its chief executive confirmed yesterday. Keith Davies, BISX’s chief executive, told Tribune Business all technical “impediments” to the trading of Bahamian dollardenominated bonds had been eliminated and the only remaining obstacles were “operational issues the Central Bank has to wrap its head around”. Speaking after the House of Assembly yesterday debated legislation to demutualise Bahamas Government Registered Stock (BGRS), Mr Davies hailed the move as “long overdue”
KEITH DAVIES
K PETER TURNQUEST
and something that had been discussed when BISX was first launched more than 20 years ago. He described the Bahamas Registered Stock (Amendment) Bill, which eliminates the need to issue/hold physical certificates to prove ownership of government bonds, as “one component” needed to further modernise the local capital markets in the digital age.
“That’s one aspect of the modernisation of BGRS,” Mr Davies added. “It wasn’t done specifically for BISX. It was done to modernise that part of the capital markets because moving away from a paper-based environment to electronic is where the world is going in this day and age. “That’s a first step. It will assist with the development of the market because we no longer have to rely
‘Slow ramp up’: Tax cheat combat unit collects first $15m By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Ministry of Finance’s top official yesterday said the government had expected a “slow ramp up” by its tax compliance enforcers after the unit collected just $15m in the 2019-2020 first half. Marlon Johnson, the acting financial secretary, nevertheless told Tribune Business that the Revenue Enhancement Unit (REU) was “making its mark” as it continues to add personnel to lead the crackdown on tax cheats and dodgers. He argued that the unit had already achieved a
psychological effect by making its presence felt on the ground, as the Department of Inland Revenue (DIR) was already fielding increased inquiries from companies and entrepreneurs seeking to ensure they were properly registered to pay VAT and other taxes. Still, many are likely to compare the latest Revenue Enhancement Unit’s impact with that of its predecessor which, according to a Moody’s report, had yielded collected some $90m in revenues during its first six months in existence. If correct, this meant the
SEE PAGE 6
‘We’ll do whatever’s necessary to defeat coronavirus threat’ By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net
THE government will “provide whatever resources are required” beyond the extra $4m allocated yesterday to combat the coronavirus threat, the deputy prime minister pledged yesterday. K Peter Turnquest told the RoyalFidelity Bahamas Economic Outlook that the current global outbreak represented “an immediate threat to the near-term performance of our economy. “Given the serious health impact of the virus on individuals, and the
understandable concerns of people everywhere, the government is continuing to exercise an abundance of caution to ensure that we mitigate the growing risk,” he added. Addressing the issue later in the House of Assembly, where he presented the mid-year budget performance report, Mr Turnquest confirmed that the Ministry of Finance is presently processing a contingency funding application to provide the Ministry of Health with an extra $4m to prepare for the virus’s arrival.
SEE PAGE 5
on a paper-based system. There are lost certificates, destroyed certificates, and you have to publish in the newspapers that they were lost before you can effect transactions with them.” The move to digitalbased administration and management of the government’s domestic paper market is but one more element designed to bring The Bahamas into the 21st century, especially given that BGRS securities represent the deepest local debt market. Mr Davies, branding it “a needed step”, added: “We’ve been talking about this for a long time since the day BISX was constituted, and this will aid people in listing and trading government securities on the exchange.
SEE PAGE 5
$4.45
$4.39
Govt revenue ‘holding’ as January falls $10m By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Ministry of Finance’s top official yesterday said it was “encouraged that revenue collections are holding up” despite a $10.3m yearover-year decline in January. Marlon Johnson, the acting financial secretary, told Tribune Business that the initial fiscal figures for 2020’s first month had given the government optimism “we will not do worse than we have budgeted for” over the remainder of the 20192020 fiscal year. He admitted, though, that the Ministry of Finance was engaged in “an ongoing exercise” to provide fiscal options for the Minnis administration should the worldwide coronavirus outbreak result in a tourism slowdown or further depress already-tepid post-Dorian economic growth forecasts. K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister, in delivering the mid-year budget statement in the House of Assembly had highlighted an “upward trend” in revenues that placed them some $79.3m higher than prior year comparatives for the seven months to end-January 2020. However, research by Tribune Business showed the government’s income had actually been $89.674m ahead of the prior year period at the mid-point of the 2019-2020 fiscal year at end-December 2019. This means that revenues actually declined by $10.3m year-over-year in January 2020. Mr Johnson told this newspaper that this was “a correct inference” to draw, attributing the decline to the post-Dorian tax breaks implemented in Abaco and Grand Bahama ever since Dorian struck in early December. Reiterating that the government was giving up
MARLON JOHNSON significant income, especially after the Economic Recovery Zones were formalised in both islands in December, the acting financial secretary said January’s performance was still being viewed positively. “We are encouraged that revenues are holding the way they are,” he told Tribune Business. “We have budgeted for a tapering off in revenue flows through the tax incentives we have put in place, so we do anticipate a substantial moderation in revenue flows. “But so far, based on the preliminary results from January, we will not do worse than budgeted for. The January numbers are encouraging.” Mr Johnson acknowledged that the government is now in the critical period that will largely determine 2019-2020’s fiscal outcome, and whether it can hit its revised post-Dorian deficit, revenue and spending targets. Besides the projected fiscal deterioration to a $677.5m annual deficit as restoration-related expenditure ramps up, the government is also in its peak revenue-earning time. The first four months of every calendar year include the peak winter tourism season, together with Business Licence fee payments, the bulk of real property tax earnings, and commercial vehicle licence month. “I think this is our critical period,” Mr Johnson agreed. “The bulk of revenue comes
SEE PAGE 4