04022024 BUSINESS

THE Securities Commission’s capital markets review will recommend that the Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) sell a portion of its shares to investors via an initial public offering (IPO).

• Flotation would give improved ‘governance structure’

• Mandatory pensions ‘biggest game changer since NIB’

• BISX chief on the review: ‘There’s no boogeyman here’

Christina Rolle, the regulator’s executive director, told Tribune Business that such a move would “lead to a better governance structure within BISX ultimately” and see the Bahamian stock exchange emulate the flotations that its global counterparts have conducted Disclosing that the assessment is in its final stages, and could be published by June this year, she revealed that it was motivated by a desire to identify “the key elements that spur growth in the capital markets” as well as “hindrances” to that and how such obstacles can be eliminated. Ms Rolle told this newspaper that another major recommendation coming from the review is for the Government to implement legislation making pension plans mandatory in The Bahamas. Explaining that these pensions will mirror the US 401(K) retirement savings plan, she argued that following through on this proposal will be “one of the biggest game changers for The Bahamas since the implementation of NIB”. Besides improving the national savings rate, and providing more Bahamians with sufficient resources to comfortably finance their retirement without becoming a burden on their families or the state, the Securities Commission chief said mandatory pensions will also create a much larger capital that can be accessed by local entrepreneurs to help fund viable business ideas.

Crime alert ‘crisis’ over: Arrivals set to grow 3%

THE Royal Bahamas Police Force is urging “immediate” regulation of the vacation rental market after finding growing numbers of tourists wandering around Over-the-Hill “crime hot spots”.

Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings, the Force’s chief spokesperson, told the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) latest quarterly meeting that officers were becoming increasingly

alarmed over visitor safety having found vacation rental guests walking in areas such as Bain Town, The Grove and other

BPL braces for 26 MW Nassau demand ‘jump’

BAHAMAS Power & Light (BPL) is racing to prepare its network for an up to 26 Mega Watt (MW) increase in New Providence’s 2024 peak summer energy demand amid hopes its fuel charge will ease.

Ian Pratt, the stateowned utility’s chief administrative officer, told the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) recent quarterly meeting that it is bracing for possibly a 9.3 percent surge in peak summer load - an even greater jump than the prior year’s 6.87 percent increase. Disclosing that BPL is preparing for the extra

strain by having two of its main Wartsila generation units at Clifton Pier undergo “major overhauls” now, when electricity demand is lower, as well as seeking to bring units presently offline at the Blue Hills power station back into service, he disclosed that the utility is seeking to increase its use of cheaper heavy fuel oil (HFO) on New Providence. Mr Pratt said BPL is aiming to install new equipment at Clifton Pier “to improve the handling and burning” of HFO in July - just in time for the August peak demand. He added that increasing use of the less expensive fuel when compared to automated diesel oil (ADO),

“The Commission is conducting a review of the capital markets really with a view to determining the key elements that spur growth in the capital markets given the market structure and level of participation we have in our market,” Ms Rolle told Tribune Business.

“Some of the recommendations coming out of the review include a restructuring of BISX, and there’ll be other recommendations. One of the recommendations will be for the Government to implement mandatory pension plans

parts of inner-city New Providence.

Disclosing that the police are already working through the various Urban Renewal Centres to compile a list of Airbnbs and other vacation rentals in Over-the-Hill areas, she urged that “preventative measures be put in place before something happens” as the first armed robbery, shooting or any other incident will immediately cause visitors to label The Bahamas as “unsafe” on social media and elsewhere.

“As I talk about Airbnbs, we need to bring some form of regulation to the Airbnbs that we see in this country,” Chief Superintendent Skippings urged. “There are times, as police officers, that we traverse the inner city and go into Bain Town or go

Union chief’s enforcement fear on taxi driver ‘code of conduct’

THE Bahamas Taxi Cab Union’s president yesterday voiced fears that “a lack of enforcement” could undermine the industry’s new ‘code of conduct’ that is set to launch this Friday.

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net WESLEY FERGUSON

Wesley Ferguson told Tribune Business that he wants the code, which is set to be formally unveiled and introduced to drivers at Baha Mar, to be more than simply “a signed piece of paper” with the authorities employing it as a tool to crack down on misbehaving individuals and apply due penalties for infractions.

“This is very, very important for the industry,” he explained. “As you might be aware, I have been complaining over the past couple of months about having a bunch of new taxi drivers entering the system. Some of them are well behaved, some of them are not. There’s some misbehaviour in the taxi industry.”

Asserting that the code will raise driver standards, help to weed out rogue elements, and improve the guest/visitor experience for those who use taxis, Mr Ferguson said he was unsure whether some are unaware of the “rules and regulations” set to be imposed or they simply do not care. He added that the code, which is supposed

to “outline core values and behaviours of franchise holders and drivers”, will give the Road Traffic Department and its supervisors “clear directions and guidelines so that when an infraction is committed they would know what the penalties are and their course of action”.

“What is important here, and we’ve impressed this upon the Government, it must be enforced,” Mr Ferguson said. “If we put in a bunch of rules and regulations and there’s no enforcement, the rules and regulations won’t be effective.

“We have signed off on it. We know what it entails. We’d like to have it enforced, not just sign a piece of paper. We want to see it be enforced, and taxi drivers be held accountable for their improper actions n the industry.”

Mr Ferguson described it as a “mandatory code of conduct”, which is

consistent with what Lanecia Darville, the Road Traffic Authority’s chairman, told a BHTA meeting last year when she said all drivers will have to sign up to, and agree to be bound by it, when they do the biannual renewal of their licence.

However, the taxi union chief acknowledged that not all drivers are abiding by the rules set by Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), Nassau Cruise Port and various hotels when waiting to be called up and/or picking up guests from those properties.

“This is paramount. This is essential to go ahead,” Mr Ferguson reiterated to Tribune Business on the code. “The only thing I am concerned about is the lack of enforcement. It will improve the overall industry’s relationship with the tourism industry.

“It’s long overdue. Right now it’s a good thing because we are tracking to have 8m-9m tourists come to our shores and we need well-behaved taxi drivers who perform and realise they are business owners, and not hustlers that rip the tourists off because they have no guidelines and no empathy for the tourist dollar.

“We want them to abide by the guidelines and be hard working. When it comes to infractions, we’ll have some guidelines on how to deal with that. Even

the police. This is longawaited by the stakeholders and the public because the rules presently are not very clear.”

Friday’s code of conduct launch, which has resulted from the taxi cab union’s collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Energy, Road Traffic Department and Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), will also see the roll-out of uniform taxi rates and fares across all resorts as a further measure to prevent visitors from being over-charged or ripped-off.

“They have not been published since 2017,” Mr Ferguson added of the rates. “The stakeholders in the business welcome this move because we’re able to publish the new rates and have them on the job. This is long overdue, and we welcome the intervention by the Ministry of Transport. The only thing I am concerned about is enforcement. I hope it works well for us.”

Robert Sands, the BHTA’s president, revealed the ‘code of conduct’ launch at the organisation’s recent quarterly meeting and confirmed that the new fare schedule will be rolled out “throughout the islands of The Bahamas”. He also indicated that taxi and franchise licences could be lost if especially serious misconduct is proven.

“We are very, very happy that this has finally come to a head and it’s been concluded,” Mr Sands said. He added that the code will be presented to taxi drivers in two sessions held at Baha Mar on Friday, with one set for 10am and another for 12pm.

Responding to questions raised later in the meeting, the BHTA president said: “This meeting on April 5 at Baha Mar will be very helpful in terms of discipline for potential issues that arise with taxi drivers, so stay tuned....

“We know that once persons may be subject to the potential of losing their franchise because of action that is not acceptable etc I think you’re going to see a big improvement in enforcement. Stay tuned. This is something the police and Road Traffic are working together to continue to enforce along with NAD (Nassau Airport Development Company) at the airport.

“I am reasonably comfortable with the fact you are going to see some changes and in the not too distant future with the rollout of certain things that will take place on April 5.”

Mr Sands was replying to Cheryl Bastian, operator of a fleet of taxis and a ground transportation business, who had pleaded for a stronger police presence to ease traffic congestion in the drop-off and pick-up

lanes at LPIA over the Easter weekend.

She said that, after calling a press conference on the issue last year, Road Traffic controller Ross Smith was dispatched to LPIA at Easter and the situation did improve. However, after he departed two weeks later it reverted back to the normal problems.

Mr Sands, acknowledging that “Bahamians are indisciplined in not wanting to be where they should be in terms of arrivals and pick-up” at LPIA, which adds to the congestion, said airport operator NAD was expanding cell phone parking lots. Agreeing that it was impacting the guest experience, both on arrival and departure, he said the issue is being discussed by the Aviation Task Force.

Ms Bastian also called for the authorities to address vagrancy that is impacting tourist areas. She identified a man staying at Saunders Beach, plus a lady who has been living on a bench close to a fruit stand at the Arawak Cay Fish Fry and sleeping on a cardboard box for two months.

“There are times it rains and the tourists are fussing with this lady,” Ms Bastian said. “She doesn’t want them in her space.... We really need this not to go up. I am sure they will have this on Tik Tok already around the world, her fussing with the tourists.”

Atlantis cancellations ‘stabilise’ ahead of Barbie-first summer

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

ATLANTIS says guest cancellations have “stabilised” following the early 2024 crime alert “frenzy” as it prepares to become the world’s first resort to embrace a Barbie theme this summer.

Jackson Weech, the Paradise Island mega resort’s vice-president and general manager of operations, told the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) latest quarterly meeting that it had shrugged off saturation media coverage of this nation’s crime woes with a sold-out Easter and 2024 first quarter that met budget targets.

“Atlantis finished with a very strong 2023 initially,” he said. “We were able to achieve all our financial objectives... We completed the renovations of the

Royal Towers as well as opened three new restaurants and expanded our Music Maker Waves concert series with Lizzo, Pit Bull and Maroon 5.

“2024 has begun on a positive note with a strong first quarter and we’re tracking to meet budget. We would have seen some cancellations after the media frenzy with the January 2024

travel advisory update on crime and safety, but fortunately cancellations have now stabilised. “I can report that we are sold out for Easter, and April is looking very, very

good. Our second quarter booking pace is some opportunities, and this is highlighted by shorter booking windows that we’re experiencing through leisure and transient guests. We’ve also observed that air fares have come down significantly, while air fares remain constant.”

Mr Weech described the recent Nassau/Paradise Island Food and Wine Festival as “a huge success”, with the presence of top chefs and other leading “celebrities” bringing “great PR and marketing value” to Atlantis and the wider destination.

The mega resort will this month introduce the Tin Ferl Food Truck Extravaganza at the Paradise Island straw market in a bid to enhance the guest experience by providing tourists with access to local cuisine and arts. Concerts by Janet Jackson and Christina Aguilera are set for April 27 and July 13, respectively.

Mr Weech added that Atlantis will be “the first resort globally, and the first resort in the region” to undergo a Barbie theme and makeover this summer with themed guest rooms, cabanas and dining. He said the resort “remains cautiously optimistic on business development through the end of the second quarter.”

Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s senior vice-president for government and external affairs, said the 2024 first quarter had been “extremely strong” while March “may perhaps be recorded as the single best month in our history” with leisure business robust moving into the second quarter.

Voicing optimism that these trends will persist throughout 2024, he added that Baha Mar has started developing its new Jazz Bar that it aims to complete before the Thanksgiving 2024 period.

THE Water & Sewerage Corporation’s main supplier is targeting “organic growth” opportunities in The Bahamas despite the state-owned utility owing it almost $25m at end-February 2024.

Rick McTaggart, chief executive of BISX-listed Consolidated Water, told a conference call with analysts to discuss the company’s 2023 full-year results that its two New Providence-based reverse osmosis plants have been operating at near full capacity for the past two years to meet the demands of the Water & Sewerage Corporation and its customers.

total accounts

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BPL BRACES FOR 26 MW NASSAU DEMAND ‘JUMP’

manufacturer and our partners in getting that done.”

Lucayan sale optimism amid

‘stale’ 44% GB occupancies

FROM PAGE B1 when combined with a reduction in global oil prices as indicated by the futures market, should cut BPL’s fuel charge “by a cent or two”.

BPL’s glide path strategy, which caused its fuel charge to increase by up to 163 percent over an eight month period to summer 2023 to enable the utility to reclaim tens of millions in under-recovered fuel costs, ended in February 2024 and customer bills now reflect spot market rates.

BPL’s chief administrative officer, though, revealed that its base tariff rate is the subject of two reviews that will likely result an increase in this component of consumer bills that has remained unchanged for 14 years. He indicated, though, that much work remains to be done to complete this analysis.

Mr Pratt said the anticipated increase in New Providence’s electricity demand is far higher than the typical 1-2 percent year-over-year load growth. He reaffirmed that the utility last year saw up to 8 percent increases in electricity demand on New Providence, Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma, which he attributed to the post-COVID recovery and the strength of tourism demand.

With BPL’s output having recovered from a 1400 gigawatt hours low to 1700, Mr Pratt said peak summer electricity demand on New Providence “jumped up from 262 MW the year before to 280 MW in August 2023”.

“This year we expect an additional increase landing somewhere between 295 MW and 306 MW,” he added. “So we are in the process of preparing our system to accommodate that.... We have two units undergoing major overhauls at this time, and there are one or two units we want to return to service at Blue Hills which we are working on with the

With BPL’s fuel charge presently at 18.5 cents per kilowatt hour (KWh), Mr Pratt added: “The glide path mechanism put in to recover an under-recovered amount of fuel last year, that ended in February 2024. We are back now to passing fuel costs on to our customers as it happens.”

Asked by Robert Sands, the BHTA’s president, whether fuel costs will drop further, the BPL executive said this depends heavily on global oil markets but futures were indicating “a downward trend” in prices provided there are no further shocks.

Noting that efforts to increase the amount of HFO used in BPL’s fuel generation mix will have “a significant impact on fuel costs”, Mr Pratt said: “We expect to see a cent or two reduction in the cost of fuel”.

As for BPL’s base tariff, he added: “I did mention the base rate has been unchanged since 2010. There’s a couple of reviews being undertaken by the Government of The Bahamas. There’s one ongoing right now, and then there’s a formal review which is being funded by the IDB and the RFP (Request for Proposal) for that particular service has been issued.

“Already the responses have been received and they are in evaluation. The entire process will take some time. There’s a cost of service analysis that needs to be done looking at the efficiency of our operations, and what it takes to provide power throughout the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

“We expect that will result in new rate classes, new information on feed-in tariffs, especially for renewable energy and that kind of thing. That’s ongoing.” Mr Pratt said hotels account for “one-third of our top 100 customers by demand”, with the industry generating between 20-30 percent of monthly revenues billed by BPL depending on the season.

“We are working feverishly to bring more airlift to the island. We need more hotel rooms. We need more inventory. I’m pleased to state that we have significant interest in that property and I’m assuming within this year that property will be sold.”

Mr Rolle’s assessment aligns with that of Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investments and aviation, who last week asserted that the Grand Lucayan “has never been more attractive to investors. There continues to be strong interest and, at the appropriate time, we will say more”.

“Under our administration, the Grand Lucayan resort remains open, has been maintained in good physical condition, employs over 150 Grand Bahamians and has occupancy levels and revenues significantly exceeding last year,” Mr Cooper added.

Tribune Business sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, also disclosed that the Government has signed a non-disclosure agreement with another potential buyer of the resort.

No sales agreement, or even a Letter of Intent, has been signed yet, and no deposit paid. However, this newspaper was told that the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) will enable the prospective purchaser to examine the Grand

Lucayan’s financials and conduct extensive due diligence on the resort while also advancing negotiations with the Government.

“The Government has signed an NDA with somebody on the hotel,” one source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It’s an American group, very well-heeled. The group has the wherewithal and they have got big plans. The general terms have been discussed. The town is hot.”

Mr Rolle, meanwhile, disclosed to the BHTA meeting that while air and sea visitor arrivals to Grand Bahama have increased year-over-year this has not translated into greater hotel occupancies which have remained flat against 2023 comparatives for the first two months.

that they can enhance their offering. Mr Rolle added that the ‘Freeport Report’ app has also been initiated on a trial/pilot basis so that negatives such as potholes, missing or destroyed signage and illegal dumping can be reported to the proper authorities.

Mr Rolle said it was likely more persons visiting Grand Bahama are electing to stay in vacation rental properties as opposed to resorts, based on his discussions with hotels. The GBPA president, meanwhile, said the ‘My Grand Bahama’ app has been launched as a pilot in a bid to “rate customer service on the island” and improve the visitor experience.

Guest feedback will be compiled at a central point and then provided to the business/vendor involved so

“January air arrivals are up 7 percent compared to the previous year,” he said. “February air arrivals are up 10 percent versus the previous year. January’s sea arrivals were up 5 percent versus the previous year, and February sea arrivals were up 41 percent. “Of concern to us, based on the survey, we had an increase in air arrivals and sea arrivals but overall occupancies for January and February remain stale compared to the same period in 2023.” Average Grand Bahama resort occupancies for the first two months of 2024 were pegged at 44 percent.

Police fear over Airbnbs based in crime ‘hot spots’

FROM PAGE B1

into The Grove, and we find visitors walking in those areas.

“It is a concern for us in law enforcement, especially when we know where the [crime] hot spots are and we see our visitors, who indicate they are staying in Airbnbs in a particular area. We need to bring some form of regulation to that so we can prevent incidents from occurring within these areas.”

Asked subsequently, during the meeting’s question and answer session, whether the police are making “any special efforts” to better protect visitors staying in Overthe-Hill vacation rentals, Chief Superintendent Skippings said patrols have been further increased in those areas.

“Where we find, or where we have knowledge, that there are Airbnbs, we have increased our patrols in those areas,” she confirmed. “At present what we’re doing, working through the Urban Renewal Centres that we have in various communities, we’re seeking to establish a list of all the Airbnbs....

“I don’t know if anyone has a listing of all Airbnbs at this time. That is something that we need to look at immediately, immediately. Again, we have increased our patrols in the inner city, and need to look at all the Airbnbs we have in the inner-city, especially

throughout the capital in those areas.

“For me, what we are talking about is putting initiatives in place to ensure we are aware of what’s going on with various Airbnbs. When people come in we need to have the information.” Unlike hotels, which had information on when their guests coming in and departing, Chief Superintendent Skippings questioned if this was “readily available” from vacation rental owners and operators.

“I don’t know what the proper protocols are in relation to Airbnbs,” she said. “We need to seriously look at it before something goes wrong. We know that, when incidents happen, the first thing that visitors are going to say is that The Bahamas is unsafe.

“My thing is to put preventative measures in place before something happens. Are there regulations in this area is maybe a question I need to ask.” Robert Sands, the BHTA’s president, responded to Chief Superintendent Skippings by confirming that the Government is requiring all Airbnbs and vacation rental-type properties to register.

“I think it’s fair to say the Government is looking at, in the first instance, registration of Airbnbs,” he added.

“I think that’s the first thing were aware of so we know where they are, their location, who owns them, who’s operating them.

“I think after the Government’s put that in place, they’re going to put in place - it’s not so much registration, but a blueprint for operations. That’s certainly going to be something we’re encouraging them to do because they do make up a significant percentage of the stopover mix in the marketplace, not only in New Providence but throughout all of the Family Islands. “They are becoming a bigger and bigger part of the tourism mix.” However, Mr Sands said the rapid increase in the number of vacation rentals in the Family Islands was sparking potential housing shortages for locals and an increase in long-term rental rates as more and more properties were being converted to cater to a tourism market seen as more lucrative.

The BHTA president conceded that the industry’s expansion is “creating another problem in the Family Islands in terms of long-term rentals for staff and housing costs increasing. They are going up because of these conversions etc. Yes, it’s an issue we have to address holistically and address some of the concerns you [Chief Superintendent Skippings] have raised today”.

The Department of Inland Revenue last April said some 7,500 vacation rental owners had registered with its platform. Shunda Strachan, its acting controller, said then that the move was “not so we

Detailing a third and final app, he revealed that the Grand Bahama Taxi Pro app has been developed out of a joint desire by the Freeport Harbour Company and taxi cab union wanting the transportation experience for cruise visitors to be much more organised.

“This is going to be magnificent,” Mr Rolle asserted, explaining that it will enable cruise passengers to come off the vessel, request a vehicle according to the size of the party - ten guests or two - and the appropriate one next in the queue will pick them up.

The Grand Bahama Tourism Board chief also expressed confidence that Grand Bahama International Airport will have a “brand new terminal” serving tourists and international visitors by the end of 2025, and said growing airlift demand to the destination is unlikely to be a challenge.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a challenge moving forward because Grand Bahama as experienced the greatest growth in air arrivals, more so than any other island in The Bahamas over the last few months, and I pray that continues to happen,” he added.

can tax you. That’s not the goal right now. I don’t want to be deemed disingenuous, but the goal of the platform right now is to gather information”. It was, she added, intended to ensure the sector is better regulated.

Chief Superintendent Skippings, meanwhile, called for greater collaboration between the tourism industry, wider private sector and the Royal Bahamas Police Force to better combat crime and protect a sector that is the main driver of economic growth and employment.

“We have a great thing going on,” she added of tourism’s performance. “We just need to have a greater collaboration on a consistent basis so that we can further increase the visitor arrivals to our country. As we know, tourism is our main industry.

“We also probably need to consider implementing a business crime watch group in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce to keep all persons duly informed as to what’s happening in their respective areas.” Chief Superintendent Skippings said multiple crime watch groups may need to be formed, as the needs and concerns of businesses in western New Providence may be different from those in the east.

To improve communications with the private sector, and establish a true partnership with the Royal Bahamas Police Force, she also called for the creation of a Tourism Taskforce “or consultative committee” featuring all industry stakeholders that will work “to improve the tourism product and tourism experience”.

Crime alert ‘crisis’ over: Arrivals set to grow 3%

the bulk of the year-overyear growth. Combined air and sea arrivals for the two months to end-February 2024 were pegged at 1.86m, with cruise passengers - at 1.55m - accounting for 83 percent or more than four out of every five visitors to The Bahamas’ shores. Air, or stopover, arrivals, who are the higher-yielding visitors spending around 28 times’ more in-destination than their cruise counterparts, totalled 313,048 for that period.

Acknowledging that “everyone likes to hone in on the stopover” visitor component, including the Ministry of Tourism, Ms Duncombe nevertheless disclosed that cruise arrivals for 2024’s first two months represented a 64 percent and 13.5 percent year-to-date increase compared to 2019 and 2023, respectively.

While acknowledging that April’s year-over-year comparative will be impacted by the peak Easter holiday weekend falling earlier this year in March, she added that the Ministry of Tourism is “really pleased about the performance” in early 2024 given that The Bahamas had to deal with the negative fall-out from global media coverage of its crime woes.

Asserting that The Bahamas has shrugged off the travel advisory “crisis”, and successfully put the issue behind it, Ms Duncombe said: “Now that we’ve navigated the first quarter and we’re having a record-breaking year, we will continue this trend and focus a bit more on our strategy, as we’ve now navigated and gotten through the advisory crisis that we’ve navigated together.”

Recalling the impact, which struck at the end of

January and moved into early February 2024, the director-general added: “This year the industry pulled together and navigated the crisis that came about due to the advisory. It was all hands on deck.

“It was listening to the sentiment, it was tracking social media, it was understanding the engagement internationally but, more importantly, it was to share our story and make sure everyone knew that the destination is safe, warm and welcoming, and so we doubled down. It was all hands on deck and we all worked together.”

Ms Duncombe said data provided by Forward Keys, the consultancy that analyses travel trends and provides tourism intelligence to clients including The Bahamas, supports her assertion that this nation rapidly recovered from the short-term blow delivered

by the travel alert and related media coverage.

“We did see a spike,” she conceded of reduced bookings and cancellations at end-January/early February. “However, within two weeks we were able to see the impact of our collective efforts and things started to normalise.

“So, in the words of Forward Keys, it indicates resilience in the travel demand and the effectiveness of the recovery strategy after the Government reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining the nation’s reputation as a safe and welcoming destination.

“The outlook for arrivals over the next few months remains positive with an overall growth of 3 percent compared to last year. I just wanted to share that our collective efforts are certainly giving us some returns.” Ms Duncombe said the Ministry of Tourism

had benefited from having “boots on the ground” in key visitor source markets via its network of overseas offices, which had helped to counter the alert fall-out.

Noting that the Ministry of Tourism has attended 50 travel shows since the crime alerts were issued, she added that its presence enabled it to interact with 200,000 consumers and 95,524 travel agents, wholesalers, tour operators and airlines. And the ‘See for Yourself’ promotional campaign had generated 126m “earned media impressions” and 1.9m “earned video impressions”.

To further combat any fall-out, Ms Duncombe said the Ministry of Tourism between February and June has “ramped up” its media penetration on TV and social media channels such as Facebook, You Tube, Instagram and X to 50 percent compared to the typical 20 percent.

BISX IPO urged for better capital market

very similar to how 401(K) pensions work in the US.”

Providing more details on the proposed BISX restructuring, Ms Rolle said: “The recommendation really will look like a flotation of some of the shares on the market and putting forward an IPO of BISX very similar to the offering done of the Dubai stock exchange and other stock exchanges quoted in the paper.

“The idea is really that should lead to a better governance structure on BISX ultimately.” She did not specify the percentage of BISX shares that should be made available to outside public investors, while details such as pricing, who should sell and when will likely have to be worked out at a later date should the review proposal move forward.

BISX’s website confirms that it is still a privatelyheld company with ownership divided between “45 dedicated shareholders comprised of stockbrokers, banks, investment companies, pension funds, mutual fund administrators, corporations and individuals”.

Its shareholders include many of the public companies whose ordinary shares are listed and traded on the exchange, plus the broker/ dealers who facilitate trading such as RF Bank & Trust and CFAL. The Government, via the Central Bank, was the largest shareholder after BISX was rescued from its early financial woes in 2003-2004, and the financial secretary sits on the exchange’s Board.

It is unclear, though, how any of BISX’s shareholders could be compelled to divest or reduce their equity ownership of the exchange regardless of what the report may recommend. Keith Davies, BISX’s chief executive, told Tribune Business he and the exchange were aware of the review and collaborating with the Securities Commission, adding: “There ain’t no boogeyman here.”

Ms Rolle, in speaking at last month’s briefing on the Securities Industry Act reforms, had alluded to potential changes in BISX’s ownership structure without going into details and reports from the time provided no context.

Mr Davies said of her remarks: “It is nothing ominous, it is nothing foreboding. The Commission is doing what it’s supposed to do, which is analysing the capital markets and looking at ways to drive it forward. They are looking at that and are working on a report. I have sight of the report. It’s all positive, progressive and designed to grow and stimulate the capital markets.”

Reiterating that BISX is a private company, he added that the Commission is “not saying it is coming in..... to make drastic changes to the ownership and operations. They’re talking more in terms of the capital markets and BISX’s role in that. “Once we hear, or see further on down the road, some of the thoughts the Commission has, you’ll understand much better,” Mr Davies said. “Without going into too much detail,

it’s a review and analysis of the market and how to improve it. The key element is the Commission is working directly with us, and this is a collaborative effort between the both of us. “I’m happy to report that it’s nothing untoward at all. We are fully briefed, we are aware and we are engaged. I commend the Commission for taking this type of step forward. I want to make it very clear: There ain’t no boogeyman here.

“The capital markets is not just BISX. We are a critical, fundamental element to our market. Our operations, our offerings and seeking ways to develop that is going to be instrumental in where we go as a country.”

Describing a stock exchange as “integral to the fabric of the economy”, and a country’s growth and development, Mr Davies said its performance and role must be subjected to critical appraisal. “We as a company are looking at how we fit, how do we expand, how we support,” he added.

“All those questions we are asking, the Commission is asking the same questions about the entire capital markets. In their review, they’re sharing their ideas with us, we’re sharing with them, and with that we can collate ideas on how we as a company can help develop The Bahamas from a capital markets standpoint. It’s a good thing. It’s very necessary. World markets don’t stand still and neither should we.”

Ms Rolle, meanwhile, described the passage and implementation of mandatory pension legislation as “the biggest factor” that can stimulate Bahamian capital markets expansion.

Acknowledging that it is “fair” to assert that The Bahamas has not come close to fulfilling its potential in this area, she added that the pensions would operate similar to the 401(K) model in the US.

“We started with a paper where we were looking at hindrances to growth in the Bahamian capital markets,” Ms Rolle told Tribune Business. “The biggest factor, which will probably lead to some growth in our capital markets, would be if there were mandatory pensions.

“If you look throughout the world, pension funds are some of the biggest participants in the capital markets. Pension funds will also improve the savings rate in the country and lead to more capital that can be accessed in the capital markets.” This, in turn, would create a larger capital pool to finance entrepreneurs and business growth.

Pension plan penetration in The Bahamas has long been reported as relatively low, with just between 25-30 percent of employees participating in such schemes. The 401(K), offered by many US employers, provides a retirement savings account for their

employees. It functions as a contributory pension plan, where a portion of the worker’s salary is paid into the account with employers able to match this.

“We honestly believe that with the implementation of something like mandatory pensions that is probably going to be one of the biggest game changers for The Bahamas since the implementation of NIB,” Ms Rolle told this newspaper. “I think it’s that important.”

She added that the Government’s plans to pass legislation introducing a contributory pension scheme for civil servants “dovetails nicely” with the Securities Commission’s call for mandatory private pensions. The Bill to introduce the civil service scheme has already been circulated for consultation, and the Commission plans to provide feedback and comments on it.

“If the Government is moving in that direction, it will take a couple of tweaks to make contributory pensions portable and that works very nicely with what we are proposing,” Ms Rolle said. She added that the mandatory 401(K) style pensions, and the investment pool they will create, “can answer a very significant question for the growth of the economy” by providing the funding craved by local entrepreneurs.

Singer Lenny Kravitz has also been “re-engaged” to assist in marketing and promoting The Bahamas as a destination.

Assessing the Ministry of Tourism’s “digital performance” for the eight months to end-February, Ms Duncombe said its audience is eight-million strong and it had generated 146m “impressions”, 33m video views and 2.1m page views. That audience is segmented into leisure, fishing, boating, diving and aviation interests so it can better target its marketing.

“From a website perspective, and for our fiscal year, which would represent July 2023 to February 2024, we’ve had three million visits,” the director-general added. “The conversion rate is at 7 percent. We’ve sent out 215,000 hotel leads.” The US accounts for 69 percent of website visits, with a further 11 percent originating in Canada.

“If we can address this issue of access to capital it will be extremely important for the development of the country,” the Securities Commission’s executive director affirmed.

Mandatory pensions have long been a discussion topic in The Bahamas. Legislation was previously drafted and reached Parliament, but was never debated or passed into law. Ms Rolle said her recollection of the last legislative effort was that it did not go as far as making pensions mandatory, instead requiring that all plans be properly administered.

She acknowledged, though, that Bahamian employers will “have something to say” about making pensions mandatory given that many will view it as a “tax on their business. And, if not a tax, certainly an additional cost to their business”.

Asked when the Securities Commission will finish and publish its review, Ms Rolle said she was targeting June this year, which she described as “a very conservative deadline”. She added: “We’ve been working on this for about a year-and-a-half. We’re just completing the final internal processes and we’ll provide it to the Government and publish it.”

Donald Trump has posted a $175 million bond to avert asset seizure as he appeals NY fraud penalty

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press

DONALD Trump posted a $175 million bond on Monday in his New York civil fraud case, halting collection of the more than $454 million he owes and preventing the state from seizing his assets to satisfy the debt while he appeals, according to a court filing.

A New York appellate court had given the former president 10 days to put up the money after a panel of judges agreed last month to slash the amount needed to stop the clock on enforcement.

The bond Trump is posting with the court now is essentially a placeholder, meant to guarantee payment if the judgment is upheld. If that happens, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee will have to pay the state the whole sum, which grows with daily interest.

If Trump wins, he won't have to pay the state anything and will get back the money he has put up now.

"As promised, President Trump has posted bond. He looks forward to vindicating his rights on appeal and overturning this unjust

verdict," said one of Trump's lawyers, Alina Habba.

Until the appeals court intervened to lower the required bond, New York Attorney General Letitia James had been poised to initiate efforts to collect the judgment, possibly by seizing some of Trump's marquee properties. James, a Democrat, brought the lawsuit on the state's behalf. Her office declined to comment Monday. The court ruled after Trump's lawyers complained it was "a practical impossibility" to get an underwriter to sign off on a bond for the $454 million, plus interest, that he owes.

The company that underwrote the bond is Knight Specialty Insurance, which is part of the Knight Insurance Group. The chairman of that company, billionaire Don Hankey, told The Associated Press that both cash and bond were used as collateral for Trump's appellate bond.

"This is what we do at Knight Insurance, and we're happy to do this for anyone who needs a bond," said Hankey, who is best known in the business world for making high-risk, highinterest loans to car buyers with flawed credit histories. Hankey told the AP he has never met or spoken with

most

companies

eral

recently claimed to have almost a half-billion dollars

of

— along with

— but said he wanted to have some cash available for his presidential run.

In February, Trump paid the $392,638 in legal fees a judge ordered him to cover for The New York Times and three reporters after he unsuccessfully sued them over a Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 story about his family's wealth and tax practices.

In March, a British court ordered Trump to pay to pay legal fees of 300,000 pounds ($382,000) to a company he unsuccessfully sued over the so-called Steele dossier that contained salacious allegations about him. Trump said those claims were false.

Trump could eventually generate cash by selling some of the nearly 60% of stock he owns in his newly public social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group — but that would be a longer-term play. Trump's stake could be worth billions of dollars, but a "lock-up" provision prevents insiders like him from selling their shares for six months.

legal debts have taken a sizable chunk out of Trump's cash reserves. In addition to the $175 million he had to put up in the New York case, Trump has posted a bond and cash worth more than $97 million to cover money he owes to writer E. Jean Carroll while he appeals verdicts in a pair of federal civil trials. Juries found that he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s and defamed her when she went public with the allegation in 2019. He denies all the allegations.

By JIM SALTER Associated Press

CHEMICAL manu-

facturer 3M will begin payments starting in the third quarter to many U.S. public drinking water systems as part of a multibillion-dollar settlement over contamination with potentially harmful compounds used in firefighting foam and several consumer products, the company said. St. Paul, Minnesotabased 3M announced

Monday that last year's lawsuit settlement received final approval from the U.S. District Court in Charleston, South Carolina. The agreement called for payouts through 2036. Depending on what additional contamination is found, the amount paid out will range from $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion.

"This is yet another important step forward for 3M as we continue to deliver on our priorities.

The final approval of this settlement and continued progress toward exiting all PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025 will further our efforts to reduce risk and uncertainty as we move

forward," 3M's chairman and CEO, Mike Roman, said in a news release. The deal compensates water providers for pollution with per- and polyfluorinated substances, known collectively as PFAS — a broad class of chemicals used in nonstick, water- and grease-resistant products such as clothing and cookware.

PFAS have been described as "forever chemicals" because they don't degrade naturally in the environment. They've been linked to a variety of health problems, including liver and immune-system damage and some cancers.

The compounds have been detected at varying levels in drinking water nationwide. The Environmental Protection Agency in March 2023 proposed strict limits on two common types, PFOA and PFOS, and said it wanted to regulate four others. Water providers would be responsible for monitoring their systems for the chemicals. The 3M settlement first announced in June came in a lawsuit by Stuart, Florida, one of about 300 communities that had filed similar

suits against companies that produced firefighting foam or the PFAS it contained. The payment will help cover the costs of filtering PFAS from systems. Some of the settlement money will help additional water systems test for contamination from PFAS, said Scott Summy, one of the lead attorneys for those suing 3M and other manufacturers. They have until June 2026 to apply for compensation if contamination is found.

"That's great news for American citizens who drink from that water," Summy said. "It'll help rid our public drinking water systems of PFAS, and that's the most important thing about the settlement."

Also, last June, DuPont de Nemours Inc. and

Photo:

REPUBLICAN presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump speaks during the Club Golf Awards at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, March 24, 2024. Photo:Terry Renna/AP

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer

GOOGLE has agreed to purge billions of records containing personal information collected from more than 136 million people in the U.S. surfing the internet through its Chrome web browser.

The massive housecleaning comes as part of a settlement in a lawsuit accusing the search giant of illegal surveillance.

The details of the deal emerged in a court filing Monday, more than three months after Google and the attorneys handling the class-action case disclosed they had resolved a June 2020 lawsuit targeting Chrome's privacy controls.

Among other allegations, the lawsuit accused Google of tracking Chrome users' internet activity even when they had switched the browser to the "Incognito" setting that is supposed to shield them from being shadowed by the Mountain View, California, company.

Google vigorously fought the lawsuit until U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected a request to dismiss the case last August, setting up a potential trial. The

settlement was negotiated during the next four months, culminating in Monday's disclosure of the terms, which Rogers still must approve during a hearing scheduled for July 30 in Oakland, California, federal court.

The settlement requires Google to expunge billions of personal records stored in its data centers and make more prominent privacy disclosures about Chrome's Incognito option when it is activated. It also imposes other controls designed to limit Google's collection of personal information.

Consumers represented in the class-action lawsuit won't receive any damages or any other payments in the settlement, a point that Google emphasized in a Monday statement about the deal.

"We are pleased to settle this lawsuit, which we always believed was meritless," Google said. The company asserted it is only being required to "delete old personal technical data that was never associated with an individual and was never used for any form of personalization."

In court papers, the attorneys representing Chrome users painted a much

different picture, depicting the settlement as a major victory for personal privacy in an age of ever-increasing digital surveillance.

The lawyers valued the settlement at $4.75 billion to $7.8 billion, relying on calculations based primarily on the potential ad sales that the personal information collected through Chrome could have generated in the past and future without the new restrictions.

The settlement also doesn't shield Google from more lawsuits revolving around the same issues covered in the class-action case. That means individual consumers can still pursue damages against the company by filing their own civil complaints in state courts around the U.S. Investors apparently aren't too worried about the settlement terms affecting the digital ad sales that account for the bulk of the more than $300 billion in annual revenue pouring into Google's corporate parent, Alphabet Inc. Shares in Alphabet rose 3% to close Monday at $155.49, giving the company a market value of $1.9 trillion.

Wall Street slips as bond yields jump on surprisingly strong manufacturing data

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer

MOST U.S. stocks slipped Monday after a surprisingly strong report on U.S. manufacturing cast doubts on how much interest rates can ease this year.

The S&P 500 dipped 10.58 points, or 0.2%, from its all-time high to finish at 5,243.77. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 240.52 points, or 0.6%, from its record to 39,566.85.

The Nasdaq composite was an outlier and added 17.37, or 0.1%, to 16,396.83.

FedEx fell 3.3% after it said it did not extend its contract with the U.S. Postal Service to deliver air cargo domestically, which will end Sept. 29. Donald Trump's social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, lost more than a fifth of its value in another frenetic day of trading. The company, whose main business is the Truth Social platform, said that it lost $58.2 million last year on just $4.1 million in revenue. Its stock tumbled 21.5%.

Universal Health Services sank 4% for one of the S&P 500's larger losses. It said a jury in Illinois awarded $535 million in damages to a patient who alleged negligence in a sexual-assault case involving another patient. The company said it has insurance to cover some of the amount, but the case's final resolution may end up having a material effect on its financials.

Helping to keep the losses in check was Newmont. The miner's stock rose 1.6% as the price of gold continues to set records.

In the bond market, Treasury yields spurted higher after a report said U.S. manufacturing unexpectedly returned to growth last month. It snapped a 16-month run of contraction, according to the Institute for Supply Management.

It's the latest evidence showing the U.S. economy remains strong despite high interest rates. That's a positive for the stock market because it can drive growth in profits for companies. But it can also keep upward pressure on inflation. That in turn could mean a more hesitant Federal Reserve when it comes to the cuts to interest rates that investors crave. Following the manufacturing data, traders on Wall Street briefly trimmed bets on the first cut to rates coming as soon as June. That's still a "reasonable baseline" expectation, according to Deutsche Bank economists, but they

say tough talk from Fed officials recently could hint at interest rates staying higher for longer than earlier thought. The Fed has hiked its main rate to the highest level since 2001 in order to slow the economy and hurt investment prices enough to get inflation under control.

Expectations for coming cuts have been a major reason the S&P 500 soared more than 20% from October through March.

This week will offer several economic reports that could sway the Fed's thinking, including updates on job openings across the country and the strength of U.S. services businesses.

The headliner arrives on Friday, when economists expect a report to show that hiring cooled a bit last month.

A slowdown would be welcome on Wall Street, where the hope is that the economy remains solid but not so strong that it pushes inflation higher. Inflation is milder than it was at its peak nearly two years ago. But progress has become bumpier recently, with reports this year coming in hotter than expected. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said again on Friday that the central bank is waiting to get "more good inflation readings" before cutting interest rates this year. It's been sticking with an outlook for three cuts to rates in 2024.

On Friday, a report said inflation is behaving as expected, at least by the measure that the Federal Reserve prefers to use. Both the U.S. bond and stock markets were closed that day.

Wall Street traders now largely see three cuts as the likeliest possibility this year, after earlier forecasting more, but some bets shaded toward the possibility of fewer cuts following the morning's better-than-expected data on manufacturing.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 4.31% from 4.21% late Thursday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, climbed to 4.71% from 4.63%.

In stock markets abroad, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 1.4% after a Bank of Japan quarterly survey on business conditions showed sentiment among large manufacturers declined for the first time in a year.

In China, stocks gained 1.2% in Shanghai after surveys suggested the country's manufacturing industry is strengthening.

In Europe, stock markets were closed for a holiday.

SIGNS at the intersection of Wall St. and Broad St. are shown outside the New York Stock Exchange, March. 21, 2024, in New York. Photo:Yuki Iwamura/AP