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FINANCIAL PROVIDER UNVEILS NEW WEBSITE BAHAMAS-BASED Sterling Global Financial, the banking and financial services provider with more than $9 billion in assets under management, yesterday announced the launch of its new website at http:// www.sterlinggloballtd. com/ The design features a corporate section focused on information and news about the company’s services, as well as background on the firm’s Board of Directors, including chairman and chief executive, David Kosoy, founder of The Sterling Companies. Other executives include president and chief operating officer, Stephen Tiller, former president of BMO Nesbitt Burns Real Estate in Canada, and Mike Harris, the former Premier of Ontario. The website also features a client portal where investors can manage banking, documents and fiduciary services securely from any device. “The new website reflects the high ethical standards and client-centric services inherent to Sterling Global,” Mr Kosoy said. “We constantly strive to create a comfort level for our investors, marrying the best of convenience with the highest level of security. “As the world of financial services looks to the future, there will be more client-facing portals that enable presentation of information and financial strategies, including any potential risk, in a clear and relatable way online. “Sterling is proud to be at the forefront of this type of information shar-
“The new website reflects the high ethical standards and client-centric services inherent to Sterling Global.” David Kosoy, founder of The Sterling Companies. ing and practical application for our clients, who can now manage their financial affairs with greater ease. “It’s this kind of service that has helped us grow from a relatively small office overseeing a few significant investments at a time to a full-fledged banking and financial services provider with a staff of nearly 40 professionals.” Along with its trust services based in Cayman, Sterling serves more than 1,500 clients. According to MR Tiller, technology to augment expansion is particularly critical when it comes to attracting the next generation of investors. “While many baby boomers prefer faceto-face collaboration, younger investors are accustomed to electronic, fast-paced engagement styles, making it more important than ever for banking and financial services firms to offer clients sophisticated investment services,” Mr Tiller said. “Given that the world we live in is more automated and electronic than ever, the demand for fast, online access and services is especially important for NextGen investors. “We believe the new Sterling Global website delivers on that expectation.”
THE TRIBUNE
Bahamas aims to shine during Caribbean week THE Ministry of Tourism plans to provide attendees with a true ‘down home’ Bahamian experience when ‘Caribbean Week’ hits new York. Obie Wilchcombe, minister of tourism, said the Bahamas must continue to find creative ways to boost visitor arrivals. “The hardworking staff at the Ministry of Tourism has created a schedule of exciting events to give voice to our national story,” he said. “The food, art, culture, music and people will be showcased in such a meaningful way that we will experience a spike in travel from summer 2016 to winter 2017.” Caribbean Week in New York is the largest regional tourism activity, and typically attracts thousands of participants. “It showcases the sights, sounds, colours, culture and unique holiday experiences of the Caribbean, and combines business sessions and consumer-oriented events with food, fashion, entertainment, sales and networking opportunities,” said the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), which organises the event yearly. Caribbean Week will be held from May 31 to June 5. The week of activities will culminate with a Caribbean Rocks concert. Caribbean Rocks is a partnership between the Bahamas, TEMPO and the CTO. As a platinum sponsor, the Bahamas will feature prominently during the show. Organisers are hoping to develop Caribbean Rocks into a premier event
OBIE WILCHCOMBE for Caribbean artists, comparable to sor because we want the islands of the the MTV Video Music Awards and Bahamas to be in the forefront,” Mr BET Honours and Awards Show. Wilchcombe said. Bahamian artists DMac, FanShawn, “We want people to know that the and Stileet, backed by the Spank Bahamas is more than just Nassau and Band, will perform at the concert. Paradise Island. Mr Wilchcombe said: “The concert “We want people to experience the will give Bahamian and other Carib- beauty that all of the islands have to bean artists the opportunity to take offer. Caribbean week offers a great their music to an international stage, platform to showcase our uniquein the world’s most dynamic city.” ness.” Turning to the country’s participaThe Ministry of Tourism will also tion in Caribbean Week generally, Mr host a Bahamas Date Night and parWilchcombe added that the Bahamas ticipate in the CTO’s chef programme. will make its presence felt in a major Prime Minister Perry Christie is way. also scheduled to travel to New York “We signed on as a platinum spon- for the event.
NEW PI RESORT HIRES HOTEL SECTOR VETERAN A NEWLY-RENOVATED Paradise Island hotel has named industry veteran, Benjamin Davis, as general manager of its 244room property. The former Grand Lucayan general manager is taking charge at the Warwick Paradise Island Bahamas, which is set to open this summer as an adultsonly, all-inclusive resort following a $28 million renovation.
Mr Davis is a 38-year hospitality industry veteran, having spent the last 17 years in hotels. He is working with Warwick International Hotels’ executive team, and will oversee every aspect of the day-today operations. “Benjamin Davis’ extensive knowledge and expertise of the hotel industry and the islands of the Bahamas made him the most qualified candidate for general manager of Warwick Paradise Island Bahamas,” said Richard Chiu, Warwick International Hotels’ president. Mr Davis was most recently the general manager at Grand Lucayan, where he spent five years (20112016) managing the 1,271room resort. Prior to that, he served as chief operating officer
for Restaurants Bahamas, and was general manager at Bimini Bay Beach Resort from 2007-2009. Mr Davis held the positions of vice-president and general manager during his four years at the 700-room Radisson Cable Beach and Golf Resort on Nassau. And he was the hotel manager for the then-Our Lucaya when it opened its doors in 1999. Mr Davis has held positions with other Caribbean resorts, including Barbados’ Almond Beach Village and Forte Hotels’ Nassau Beach Hotel in the Bahamas, Jamaica Pegasus in Kingston, and Sandy Lane Hotels in Barbados. He started his career in London, where he worked at the Four Seasons’ Inn on the Park and Forte Hotels’ Grosvenor House.
Benjamin Davis
‘Magical partnership’ urged between Government and private business FROM PAGE ONE
this morning’s Budget communication by Prime Minister Perry Christie. The Bahamas’ ranking in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business’ ratings has declined progressively in recent years to 106th spot, and is viewed as a symptom of a despair malaise undermining this nation’s economic competitiveness and efficiency. “Right now, the business community is suffering from the high cost of doing business,” Mr Sumner emphasised. “We’re looking for improvements and initiatives from the Government to cause doing business in the Bahamas to be more efficient, and less expensive. “Right now, the country is one of the most expensive for tourism and the cost of living, and we’d like to see that reduced.” With a general election less than one year away, the 2016-2017 Budget is unlikely to include any new taxes, or increases to existing ones, given the increased burden imposed on Bahamian consumers and businesses by Value-Added Tax’s (VAT) implementation. The only potential driver of new or increased taxes would be the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, with the Christie administration instead likely to focus on improved revenue collection and administration, and tinkering with certain import duty rates. Mr Sumner, meanwhile, said the private sector was hoping this morning’s Budget would include “the review and consideration for the restructuring of the Business Licence regime in the country, including the fees imposed on businesses”. That alludes to the promise, contained in the Government’s initial 2013 tax reform ‘white paper’, that Business Licences would be reduced to a flat $100 fee across the board once VAT was implemented and meeting revenue targets. Mr Sumner also expressed hope that the Government will raise the turnover threshold, above which companies have to hire an accountant to certify the accuracy of their financials, from $100,000 to $400,000 for Business Licence fees. That is intended to ease the burden on
Bahamian small businesses, and Mr Sumner said the Chamber’s proposal to take over management of the Business Licence register on the Government’s behalf remained on the table. “We’re expecting to advance these discussions in the weeks and months to come with the Government,” Mr Sumner said of the Register proposal, “so hopefully by the time we get into the New Year and the mid-year Budget, and certainly by the time of the 2017 Budget, we will have that initiative implemented by then.” Mr Sumner said the Chamber was also looking for initiatives to incentivise Family Island development in this morning’s Budget, going beyond the exigency orders and relief announced in the aftermath of Hurricane Joaquin. Apart from the now much-anticipated update and announcement on Baha Mar, today’s Budget is likely to contain more spending than taxation initiatives, given the Christie administration’s desire to ‘sweeten up’ voters ahead of the upcoming general election. The Government will be keen to unveil progress on its 2012 campaign promises, so progress updates on initiatives such as NHI, mortgage relief and foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the pipeline are likely to feature prominently. Besides painting a ‘rosy’ economic outlook and taking jabs at the Opposition, the Prime Minister will also likely laud his government’s ‘achievements’ - VAT and fiscal consolidation; BEC/energy reform; the legalisation of web shop gaming; and the recent agreement with the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA). Ongoing initiatives will also feature, with the Prime Minister likely to mention progress on mobile liberalisation and when the second licence will be issued to the Cable Bahamas-managed NewCo. Programmes for apprenticeship, and tackling youth unemployment, will also be included. Outlining his Budget expectations, K P Turnquest, the Opposition’s finance spokesman said: “I’m expecting pretty much more of the same that we’ve had for the last four years. “I’d be very pleased to hear something that’s new and definitive.”