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FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2018

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Web shops: Patron tax ‘making us break law’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

W

EB shops last night warned the five percent patron tax is effectively forcing them to break the law as they launched their longpromised lawsuit against the Government’s tax hikes.

Sebas Bastian, Island Luck’s principal, told Tribune Business that the “arbitrary” dates announced by the Ministry of Finance for the levy’s introduction on customer deposits and

* Industry launches lawsuit against govt * Minister: ‘Govt has inalienable right to tax’ * Gaiming Act requires games re-certified

SEBAS BASTIAN

DIONISIO D’AGUILAR

over-the-counter (OTC) lottery sales meant operators were potentially being placed in breach of the Gaming Act and its regulations.

He explained that web shops had been given insufficient time to-certify their games, technology platforms and platforms to accommodate the five percent levy, with the offering of any uncertified games violating

the law and potentially “eroding public confidence” in the sector.

Mr Bastian spoke out as Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism with responsibility for gaming, pushed back against the web shop industry’s long-threatened class-action lawsuit, arguing: “The Government has an inalienable right to tax.”

The minister confirmed that his ministry had been served with legal documents by the sector’s attorneys yesterday, with the matter scheduled to have its first

THE Attorney General yesterday expressed confidence that The Bahamas can both meet EU demands and enable financial services to recover from “two decades of punishing losses”.

Carl Bethel QC, speaking as the Government unveiled its legislative response to the European Union’s (EU) “economic substance” and “ring fencing” requirements for wide industry consultation, said it was aiming to “strike the correct balance that will enable the industry to regain its footing”.

He told Tribune Business that the Commercial Entities (Substance Requirements) Bill 2018, which was discussed at yesterday’s financial services industry briefing, was intended to

* AG ‘confident’ it can be reversed * EU Bill to ‘strike right balance’

CARL BETHEL QC

fulfill The Bahamas’ international commitments while repositioning the sector for future growth.

“This is something that we want a good consensus position on across the board,” Mr Bethel said of the bill, “which addresses

Transparency concerns from BPL board battle

By NATARIO MCKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net ANTI-CORRUPTION campaigners yesterday said the corporate governance issues raised by the Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) Boardroom battle create major transparency concerns.

Lemarque Campbell, of Citizens for a Better Bahamas, the local Transparency International contact, told Tribune Business: “All of the concerns surrounding political interference, conflict of interest and not following strict corporate

governance practices affect all of us as residents and taxpayers who have to deal with the unreliable service and exorbitant costs from BPL. “These concerns do give a perception that the management and public procurement processes of Bahamian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are not transparent at all. With this lack of transparency this raises a lot of red flags, as it basically paves the way for increased corrupt activity which causes the taxpayer to suffer in the long run.”

SEE PAGE 5

Landfill bidder targeting Monday award sign-off

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE winning landfill bidder yesterday pledged to “sign-off” on the contract award by Monday and begin talks on commercial terms with the Government in the same week.

Kenwood Kerr, Providence Advisors’ chief executive, told Tribune Business: “The Providence/ Waste Resources Development Group (WRDG) is aggressively trying to conclude the sign-off of the award letter, and have that

in by Monday.

“Then we will organise a team to start negotiations with the Attorney General in the same week, subject to their availability. We’re pretty excited. The whole team is good to go. We have some stuff we think will make a real difference.”

Mr Kerr’s comments came as long-time critics of the New Providence landfill’s health and environmental hazards hailed the consortium’s selection as preferred bidder as “a step in the right direction”,

SEE PAGE 6

international concerns but preserves, to the extent possible, the space for growth in our industry as we reposition ourselves in the international financial services community.

“It’s a balance that has to be struck. We have given

our commitment to best practices and to adhere to international standards; to adhere to all commitments.

Our industry understands that, and our industry is prepared to adapt as required and to grow.

“That’s our intention: To have space for our industry to grow. After two decades of punishing losses we hope to strike the correct balance that enables the industry to regain its footing and grow.

I’m confident it can be done, and I hope others - if they don’t already - come to share that confidence.”

Mr Bethel’s reference to “two decades of punishing losses” refers to the Bahamian financial services industry’s contraction, and subsequent growth struggles, following the onslaught of international regulatory initiatives that culminated in this nation’s 2000 “blacklisting”

Rival landfill bids ‘too ambitious’ on waste-to-energy

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The comprehensive overhaul of this nation’s financial services regulatory regime, enacted by the thenIngraham administration, resulted in the number of licensed Bahamas bank and trust companies dropping from 410 to today’s figure of around 250 - though some would argue it got rid of many marginal players, while the “blue chip” institutions stayed.

The Bahamas was illprepared for the new global financial services environment, one based on transparency and non-tax driven business, with its reliance on this industry as the second “economic pillar” and source of high-paying jobs resulting in reduced incomes and economic

RIVAL proposals were too ambitious over the “enormous amount” of waste-to-energy they believe the New Providence landfill can generate, the winning bidder argued yesterday.

Kenwood Kerr, pictured, Providence Advisors’ chief executive, told Tribune Business that the 15 megawatts (MW) of biomass-generated energy targeted by his group was deliberately “conservative” and designed to minimise any loss to Bahamas Power & Light (BPL).

Mr Kerr, whose investment house won the bid in partnership with the nine to ten Bahamian garbage management providers that make up the Waste Resources Development Group (WRDG), said the group’s power plant could be “scaled up” and expand should the landfill’s incoming waste volumes and their energy-generating content - be greater than expected.

He argued, though, that it was better for the consortium to start small, with New Providence’s population and waste volumes unlikely to be sufficient to support the amount of waste-to-energy predicted by some of its competitors.

The Bahamas WTP group, one of the final two rivals to Providence/ WRDG, had proposed an 80 MW waste-to-energy plant that would supply 60-65 MW per hour to BPL, but Mr Kerr was sceptical that the landfill could fuel such

SEE PAGE 6

SEE PAGE 5

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Financial sector’s ‘two decades of punishing losses’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

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PAGE 2, Friday, August 31, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

GIVE EMPLOYEES A VOICE IN THE JOB E

MPLOYEES need to have a voice in every company.

We hear from them at the beginning of their engagement via the employee interview, but this is often the first and last time time this happens. There are also a few companies who insist that employees, upon resigning, complete an “exit survey” to determine the reason for their departure.

The conversation before, and at the end, of the worker’s time with the company is good, but what is missing is the dialogue during their career. We must ask: How often do companies ask for feedback from team members, and how do they obtain this information? How do they use this information to strengthen

their company? Why even bother soliciting feedback from employees?

Here are a few of the potential benefits from employee surveys: Benefit 1: A portal for feedback Employee surveys provide a vehicle to collect feedback. The most cost efficient way of conducting these surveys is done online through e-mail. This is done via a simple list exchange of employee e-mail contacts.

Benefit 2: Opportunity for follow-up and discussion Surveys provide the management team with an opportunity to create follow-up meetings and dialogue with teams. Although this is not as confidential as an online study, it serves as a follow-up item to take the next steps with

the data. These follow-ups allow management to dig a little deeper into the survey findings.

Benefit 3: Measure levels of satisfaction This is an obvious benefit but also crucial. By measuring satisfaction levels you will understand where your scores sit relative to competitors. It also serves as a great metric to track year-over-year to see what improved and what did not.

Benefit 4: Understand key improvement areas This vital benefit identifies those core areas and factors that are important to employees, but also the ones they are less than satisfied with. These become priority action items for your management and human resources teams. It ensures that, post-survey, you will be

spending your time on the items that matter most to employees.

Benefit 5: Break down results by management team This helps identify which managers are doing well, and which are not, from the perspective of their subordinates. This type of data can also provide your company with unique training items and follow-up criteria that is manager-specific.

Benefit 6: Improves communication Employee surveys are a great step to opening the lines of communication with employees. Since everyone has a chance to reply, employees can share all of the good and the bad feedback about the company.

All in all, it is better to be aware of what employees think and need, rather than

assume. If you do not ask you will never know.

Benefit 7: Show your employees you care The simple act of reaching out and listening carries a lot of weight. It is a proactive approach to show you care. The tone is much different than reacting to employee complaints on a daily or monthly basis.

Employee surveys force companies to change, and are an excellent first step to shifting their culture.

The responses are usually anonymous, and employees can freely share their thoughts. These surveys, then, help business proactively identify and address common problems in an anonymous forum.

NB: Ian R Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development

IAN FERGUSON BY

consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at iferguson@ bahamas.com.

TOURISM AIMING TO REVERSE ‘POOR JOB’ ON CRUISE VISITORS #108 ALBANY GOLF COURSE SUPERB VALUE

THE ‘Tourist Money Never Done’ workshop aims to spur greater entrepreneurial opportunities in the tourism-related business sector. From left: Justin Sturrup, deputy managing director, Bahamas Development Bank (BDB); Janet Johnson, Ministry of Tourism’s director of business development; Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism; Dave Smith, managing director, BDB; and Patrick Rahming, chief executive, Patrick Rahming & Associates.

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THE Bahamas is doing “a poor job” of extracting more spending from cruise visitors, a cabinet minister said yesterday, ahead of a workshop aiming to spur tourism entrepreneurship.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism, was speaking as officials at his ministry and the Bahamas Development Bank (BDB) joined forces to host a two-day “Tourist Money Never Done” workshop.

He said statistics show that 6.3 million foreign visitors travel to The Bahamas on an annual basis, 75 percent of them by cruise ship and 25 percent as stopover visitors. The 75 percent of cruise passengers, however, represent only 11 percent “of the spend”.

“So that tells me right off the top that all of these cruise passengers are coming to The Bahamas; the Ministry of Tourism is doing a great job attracting them here, and we are doing a poor job of increasing the spend from those foreign visitors when they get here,” Mr D’Aguilar said.

The workshop will take place from September 13-14 at the British Colonial Hilton.

Presenters will include Janet Johnson, director of business development at the Ministry of Tourism; Patrick Rahming, chief executive, Patrick Rahming & Associates; Brendan Foulkes, lecturer, University of The Bahamas; Davinia Blair, executive director, Small Business Development Centre; Justin Sturrup, deputy managing director, Bahamas Development Bank; Quintin Curry, business consultant;

and Craig Mortimer senior, manager, tours and transportation department, Ministry of Tourism.

Mr D’Aguilar said the workshop’s content was geared towards “capturing the imagination of budding entrepreneurs who already have an inkling to start a tourism-related business, and are seeking guidance and funding”.

Up to $50,000 will be available from the Bahamas Development Bank for participants, depending on the project and its potential.

Technical and management support for the workshop will be provided by officials from the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC), the Tourism Development Corporation (TDC) and the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA).

“This workshop is designed to give participants the best chance for success by providing two organisations – the TDC (Tourism Development Corporation) and the SBDC (Small Business Development Centre) - to support the Bahamas Development Bank in this endeavour,” Mr D’Aguilar said.

“It is the first in a series of workshops that we plan to eventually take to the other islands, intended to create jobs and improve the quality of life throughout the islands. It is a people-centred approach that is intended to inspire local entrepreneurs to think about getting involved in the tourist business, offering related products and services to increase tourism spend and help to distribute the wealth.”

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, August 31, 2018, PAGE 3

FISH-FARMED TILAPIAS TO HIT MARKET IN 2019 SOME 3,000 Androsgrown, fish-farmed tilapia will hit the Bahamian retail market in early 2019 to help meet demand following the Nassau Grouper season’s closure.

Alaasis Braynen, the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute’s (BAMSI) chief executive, announced the initiative that marks the beginning of the Institute’s planned venture into aquaculture.

Michael Pintard, minister of agriculture and marine resources, said his primary interest lies in the institute’s ability to use the tilapia

as a research initiative that would provide scientific data for Bahamians who may be interested in commercial aquaculture.

He encouraged BAMSI to aggressively explore opportunities for publicprivate partnerships (PPPs) so the project could benefit from private funding and expertise, aiding its growth and profitability.

The all-male Nile tilapia were introduced to BAMSI’s aquaponics facility in North Andros earlier this month, and are expected to be ready for harvest in six months. Their release is part of the Government’s

commitment to support sustainable fisheries, and invest in initiatives needed to push the nation toward a food-secure future.

Mr Braynen said the first consumers of the tilapia will be BAMSI’s own students.

“BAMSI has the mandate ‘‘we eat what we grow’, then commercially, it’s part of the strategy to reduce BAMSI’s financial dependence on the Government.

It’s really going to increase our revenue thereby, reducing the Government’s subvention,” he added.

The growing interest in tilapia by restaurants, wholesale fisheries and

retail agencies comes at a time when the Nassau Grouper, which is a popular fish among Bahamians and tourists, has been listed as endangered due to over-fishing, poaching and unregulated fishing methods.

A fixed season, with government-backed oversight, now limits the amount of grouper available to the market, opening the way for new fish varieties to satisfy Bahamian consumers.

With BAMSI entering the fish farm arena, it means that a viable source of protein will be available year-round. Going forward, BAMSI plans on bringing in the tilapia fingerlings every six weeks to replenish its stock.

Vallierre Deleveaux, head of BAMSI’s marine division, personally travelled to Florida to select the species, and engineered the method of successful transport to the Andros research/tutorial farm.

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YOUR

SOME 3,000 Tilapia fingerlings were brought into Andros

A NETTING material covers each of the holding tanks to prevent birds and other predators from attacking the fish.

CHOICE FOR THE FAMILY WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/JOYFM1019 THE FINGERLINGS go through the acclimation process.

PAGE 4, Friday, August 31, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Web shops: Patron tax ‘making us break law’ FROM PAGE ONE hearing before Justice Indra Charles at 9.30am this morning.

Mr D’Aguilar said the papers listed three plaintiffs, TIG Investments (The Island Game), Paradise Games and GLK Ltd. The defendants are the Treasurer; acting financial secretary, Marlon Johnson; and the Gaming Board as industry regulator.

“I’d been advised it was on its way,” the Minister told Tribune Business. “My first response is that the beautiful thing about The Bahamas is this is a democracy, so any person has the right to bring legal action against anybody.

“The Government feels strongly, and I’m sure it’s going to be defended vigorously by the Attorney General’s Office, that the Government has an inalienable right to tax. These are

Acts of Parliament, but I guess if they feel they’re unfairly treated they have a right to contest it.”

Mr D’Aguilar said the Government had deferred implementation of the five percent patron tax several times in response to web shop concerns, and allow them to re-certify their games, but indicated there would be no more extensions.

“We’ve extended it to the first of September. It’s our intention to commence collection of that tax at that time,” he told Tribune Business of a levy set to be imposed tomorrow.

Mr Bastian, though, said his main complaint was the lack of due process and meaningful consultation between the Government, Gaming Board and web shop industry over the new and increased taxes.

He argued that Island Luck, and other operators,

had “a reasonable expectation” that the Gaming Board would consult regularly with all licensees and “provide guidance in any changes to the carefully and strictly-regulated gaming system”.

“I cannot modify my gaming platform unless it is done under the prescribed standards of the Gaming Board, is properly tested and then certified by an independent gaming laboratory,” Mr Bastian told Tribune Business. “The Gaming Act and regulations have criminal penalties and civil liability for any breach of their provision.

“The ministry of finance has arbitrarily announced unreasonable and impractical implementation dates for the modification of gaming platforms without any consultation with the industry and no proper regard for the statutory requirements for the modification of gaming platforms.

“Any uncertified modifications to a gaming platform would violate the Gaming Act and regulations, undermine the integrity of the gaming industry, erode public confidence and could possible expose our jurisdiction to international sanctions.”

Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business last month that this was precisely the reason the Government deferred implementation of the five percent patron tax - to give the domestic gaming operators the opportunity to have their games re-certified.

The Island Luck chief’s comments indicate this was still insufficient, with Mr Bastian last night saying the best-regulated and most competitive gaming jurisdictions all enjoyed strong partnerships between regulator and operators “based on mutual trust and frequent consultations”.

“In The Bahamas I expect

NOTICE

NOTICE

SUPRA BOUNTIFUL LIMITED

PERMATA INVESTMENTS LIMITED N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows: (a) SUPRA BOUNTIFUL LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000. (b) The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 28th August, 2018 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General. (c) The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas Dated this 31st day of August, A. D. 2018 _________________________________ Bukit Merah Limited Liquidator

(a) PERMATA INVESTMENTS LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000. (b) The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 28th August, 2018 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General. (c) The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas Dated this 31st day of August, A. D. 2018 _________________________________ Bukit Merah Limited Liquidator

no less,” he told Tribune Business. “It leaves me to question: Why is it so hard to do this the right way?”

The long-threatened web shop industry lawsuit is the next phase of the rift that emerged with the Government after it imposed a new tax structure, together with higher rates, on the sector in the 2018-2019 budget.

Alfred Sears QC, the Bahamas Gaming Operators Association’s attorney, in a furious postBudget counter-attack told the Minnis administration that the tax increases were so “drastic” that the government’s main motive appeared to be “expropriation” of the domestic gaming sector - meaning that it was seeking to seize, and take over, their property.

He warned that the increases will “decimate” all operators and 3,000 jobs in less than a year, and accused the Government “expropriatory, discriminatory, excessive and penal” tax rises of up to 355 percent.

Mr Sears also added that the proposed “sliding scale” tax structure the Government was imposing on the industry was tantamount to “compulsorily acquiring more than 90 percent” of its revenue.

Studies commissioned by the industry, while retreating slightly from those numbers, still predicted mass web shop location closures, lay-offs and reduced economic activity. Many of the threatened closures, though, have yet to materialise.

“I’m delighted they haven’t made any mention of that for a while,” Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business of the forecast downsizing, although he declined to comment further.

The Minister previously told Tribune Business that The Bahamas’ “national interest” demanded that the government “slow down the rate of growth” in web shop gaming through

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increased taxation.

He said too many Bahamians are “robbing their livelihood” to feed an industry whose gross gaming revenue (GGR) will have almost doubled in just four years if 2018 forecasts prove accurate.

The minister, who has responsibility for gaming regulation, reiterated his belief that a web shop sector generating around $50m in collective profits would be able to absorb the tax hikes more easily than it is letting on.

Pointing to the 92 percent top-line growth forecast to be enjoyed by the web shops since 2014, Mr D’Aguilar said this $100m-plus revenue rise was evidence that the sector had been able to shrug off a much greater trauma - the impact of its legalisation four years ago.

“The gaming industry is growing so exponentially,” he told Tribune Business, pointing out that web shops’ collective GGR had increased from $112m in 2014 to $154m in 2015, representing a $42m yearover-year increase in the first year of legal operations.

Mr D’Aguilar added that the industry’s revenues had grown by around $20m “every year thereafter”, hitting $175m and $195m in 2016 and 2017 respectively, with projections of similar growth to $215m for 2018 (prior to the budget’s tax changes).

“It’s almost doubled in four years,” the minister said of GGR. “It’s in the national interest to slow down the rate of growth. We don’t want people to keep throwing money into this.

“People clearly want disposable income to put into gaming. They’re robbing their livelihood, quality of life, in order to feed this past-time.”

Under the web shop industry’s new sliding scale tax, those operators earning up to $20m in revenue will be taxed at a rate of 20 percent. Six of the seven chains fall only within this bracket.

Revenues falling between $20m and $40m will be taxed at a rate of 25 percent, while earnings between $40m and $60m will be taxed at a rate of 30 percent.

Revenues between $60m and $80m will attract a rate of 35 percent; those between $80m and $100m, some 40 percent; and those over $100m will be levied at 50 percent.

NOTICE

EVEN TIME LIMITED N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows: (a) EVEN TIME LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000. (b) The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 28th August, 2018 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General. (c) The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas Dated this 31st day of August, A. D. 2018 _________________________________ Bukit Merah Limited Liquidator NOTICE

LUIS INVESTMENTS LIMITED N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows: (a) LUIS INVESTMENTS LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000. (b) The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 28th August, 2018 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General. (c) The Liquidator of the said company is CST Administration (Bahamas) Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, Nassau, Bahamas Dated this 31st day of August, A. D. 2018 _________________________________ CST Administration (Bahamas) Limited Liquidator

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, August 31, 2018, PAGE 5

Rival landfill bids ‘too ambitious’ on waste-to-energy FROM PAGE ONE amounts.

“Other stories have alluded to enormous amounts of mega watts to put on the grid,” he told Tribune Business, “but those [scale of power plants] have proven to be very expensive in North America and Europe.

“We as a group decided to do something that was conservative, achievable and could be financed. Those were our priorities to get something on to the grid and not create loss to BPL; that was compatible with BPL. It’s structured where it’s expandable.”

BPL will be incurring extra cost in purchasing renewable energy from the Providence/ WRDG plant, and foregoing power it could generate itself, so Mr Kerr said the consortium did not want to undermine the utility’s financial position by supplying huge quantities.

And, while Bahamas WTP’s proposed waste-toenergy plant was six times’ larger than the winning bidder’s in terms of the maximum power it could produce, the Providence chief questioned its “sustainability”.

Mr Kerr argued that

industry experience has shown waste-to-energy plants with that output needed to be located in major cities or population centres where millions lived.

New Providence, with its six-figure population, simply could not generate the necessary garbage volumes.

“By comparison I’ve seen news stories speaking to 80 MW, 65 MW. That requires a significant size of population and volume of garbage coming into the landfill which we don’t have in New Providence, raising questions of sustainability,” Mr Kerr told Tribune Business.

“We decided on something that was more achievable, conservative, expandable and applicable to the Family Islands as well. That was the premise from which we defined the amount of MW of power we wanted to produce for biomass.

“If we want to increase the size [of the plant], we can always increase the size on scalability. It’s scaleable; that’s the key. It wouldn’t be disruptive to the financial modelling.”

Mr Kerr said Providence/WRDG’s renewable energy plant, which will also

produce the same amount (15 MW) of solar, could be constructed within nine to 12 months of getting “all the ‘i’s’ dotted and ‘t’s’ crossed” on the landfill contract with the Government.

He cautioned, though, that the consortium would also have to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals; negotiate a power purchase agreement (PPA) with BPL; and solve technical/engineering issues related to interconnection with BPL’s grid before its supply of renewable energy reached end-users.

“We’ll need to get Independent Power Producer (IPP) status and negotiate a PPA with BPL, all of which has to be in compliance with the Electricity Act 2015,” Mr Kerr explained.

“We have to have grid compatibility. Once we pass the regulatory issues we go to the infrastructure ones.

Power has to get on to the BPL grid. We’re doing several things at once to cause that to be a fluid exercise.”

Bahamas WTP, in a statement issued to Tribune Business on Monday, challenged the Government to ensure the winning bidder offers “the same or

Transparency concerns from BPL board battle FROM PAGE ONE Mr Campbell said this was evident in the Alstom case initiated by the US under its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which exposed bribes that were paid in relation to the procurement of generation engines by the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC).

“Therefore, SOEs have to be very careful as to the perception they give off, especially as they contract with a lot of international companies. The perception of any corruption in public procurement, or the potential to influence the decision-making

process, would alarm the compliance departments of multinational corporations that deal directly with our SOEs, especially those tied to the US and subjected to the FCPA,” Mr Campbell said.

“The FCPA would cover any of the following entities or persons conducting business in The Bahamas: Any American person or business; any American or foreign public companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States or which are required to file periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission; as well as certain foreign persons and businesses.

“The most important aspect of the FCPA is that

even though it’s US legislation it has extra-territorial reach, meaning it would be triggered once any one of these these entities or persons find themselves involved in any corrupt activity in The Bahamas.”

Mr Campbell added: “We must ensure that qualified and competent individuals are appointed to every government board, and given the mandate to govern those boards independently without fear of any influence, following strict corporate governance practices, and making prudent decisions to benefit the shareholders, which are essentially us, the Bahamian taxpayers and resident investors.”

more” as its proposed $400m investment, up to 200 jobs and two renewable energy solutions.

Fay Russell, a Bahamas permanent resident and one of Bahamas WTP’s principals, said it had proposed supplying BPL with wasteto-energy priced at 25 cents per kilowatt hour for the plant’s first ten years.

Describing this as a 50 percent reduction to present energy costs, he disclosed that the price paid by BPL would fall to ten cents per kilowatt hours after that decade as Bahamas WTP would have recovered its construction costs and be generating the necessary return on investment (ROI).

The other remaining rival to Providence/WRDG, the Bahamas Waste/Bahamas Hot Mix group, had also proposed a waste-to-energy plant as part of its landfill solution. Peter Andrews, Bahamas Waste’s chairman, writing in the company’s

annual report said: “In the next year, we will endeavour to put together a proposal for the remediation of the dump and a waste-to-energy plant to eliminate the need for a dump in the future.”

Mr Kerr, meanwhile, said Providence/WRDG’s $130m landfill transformation was “up there in terms of being one of the largest publictype infrastructure projects to-date, if not the largest” in Bahamian history.

“The project is significant in many respects,” he told Tribune Business. “One is the environment and social quality of life issue. It’s significant in being the largest PPP, it’s significant in how it affects tourism and the quality of the visitor product, particularly the western infrastructure - Baha Mar, Albany and Lyford Cay - as the prevailing wind blows fumes in that direction.

“It’s being led by a group of Bahamians who have a vested interest, not only

from an economic perspective but being Bahamians who will benefit from all the social and qualitative elements. We’re going to work as quickly as we can within the confines of the project, but there will certainly be visible changes in the operation of the landfill that will be seen and can be measured.”

Mr Kerr said Providence/ WRDG was targeting several ‘quick wins’ once it took over, including cleaning up the landfill’s Tonique Williams Highway entrance and minimising traffic hazards, plus removing garbage from the roads.

While efforts will be led by a team of four-five foreign landfill experts, he added that the majority of employees will be Bahamians - a number of whom will be appointed as “understudies” and trained to take over, with knowledge transfer a priority.

PAGE 6, Friday, August 31, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Financial sector’s ‘two decades of punishing losses’ FROM PAGE ONE activity, plus higher unemployment.

While the FATF ‘blacklisting’ was related to anti-money laundering and terror financing, the basis of the initiatives facing The Bahamas and other international financial centres (IFCs) soon shifted to tax-related concerns advanced by the likes of the US, EU and Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

The EU’s demands, which the Commercial Entities (Substance Requirements) Bill is intended to address, is merely the latest offensive that the Bahamas has to defend itself against. It has until December 31 to address the EU’s anti-tax avoidance demands if it is to avoid ending up on the 28-nation bloc’s ‘blacklist’ again.

Mr Bethel yesterday acknowledged that The Bahamas was working to a tight industry consultation timeline of “a matter of weeks”, given that it ideally needed to have its legislative reforms enacted and in place

by December 1.

He said the Government was talking to the financial services industry “a high level to address any questions, and take on any concerns” they have with the bill. Legislative changes would be assessed, and possibly incorporated, into the bill so long as they did not undermine the concepts behind it.

“The important thing is that while there appear to be questions there’s no outright objection to the draft,” the

Attorney General told Tribune Business.

He explained that, based on industry feedback, the Government had decided to address the EU’s “economic substance” and “ring fencing” demands in one Bill rather than separate them because the two issues were interlinked.

“One of the early feedbacks we got prior to settling of the draft was that substance requirements and ring fencing are really tied at the hip,” Mr Bethel said. “It was accepted that they be dealt with in one bill.

“We are right now consulting domestically with our industry. It’s high-level consultation; very technical, very in-depth, that is being foreshadowed. Because it’s still an enormously sensitive matter we have to proceed in a way that is in tandem with industry.

“As they are raising questions we are answering, and engaging in dialogue that is designed to shape the best possible legislation in the view of all concerned and in the circumstances.”

The Commercial Entities (Substance Requirements) Bill is designed to address the EU’s demand for all nations to impose “economic substance” regimes that effectively require companies to have a physical presence - and do “real business” - in a jurisdiction.

It wants corporate profits, revenues and assets to be taxed in the jurisdictions where they are generated. They are thus aiming to prevent companies,

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that ELISSA JUNIOR GERVE of Marsh Harbour, Abaco Bahamas of Clark Alley #12, St. James Road, Nassau, Bahamasis applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 30th day of August, 2018 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

especially multinational corporations, from exploiting gaps in tax types, rates and rules to artificially shift profits from jurisdictions where they are generated to low or “no tax” jurisdictions, thus lowering their tax bill.

The EU also wants the elimination of “ring fencing”, or preferential tax regimes for non-resident entities and foreign investors.

However, many Bahamian financial services executives are calling on the Government to exploit the EU’s demands to reposition the industry and wider economy by using the “economic substance” requirement to attract companies to do ‘real business’ here.

Ryan Pinder, a former financial services minister, told a BFSB-sponsored seminar this year that family offices, intellectual property, information technology and regional distribution/trade hubs, the latter with World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership in mind, were among the industries The Bahamas could target via a transparent, preferential tax regime associated with “economic substance”.

The EU previously “blacklisted” The Bahamas on March 13 for allegedly being non-cooperative in the fight against large-scale tax avoidance by multinational companies, forcing the Government into a rapid scramble that ultimately persuaded the bloc to de-list this nation.

It had complained it did not receive the “high level political commitment” it had been seeking from The Bahamas to address its concerns on “ring fencing” and the absence of “economic substance” requirements for corporate vehicles operating in this jurisdiction.

Landfill bidder targeting Monday award sign-off FROM PAGE ONE although some raised concerns over the Government’s transparency.

Branville McCartney, the former Democratic National Alliance (DNA) leader, whose home and wife’s school have frequently been impacted by the landfill’s fires, expressed hope that the landfill’s outsourcing to private management meant he would “no longer have to leave my home at night”.

“That was good news,” he said of the award to Providence/WRDG. “It’s a long time coming. I’m hoping, trusting and praying that they would do what they say they’re going to do.

“I am thankful that for the last few months we haven’t had any fires. It’s only been one for the year, if I’m not mistaken.

We certainly need to get it resolved and move forward. We’ve been affected by it all around for 15-plus years.”

Mr McCartney expressed hope that Providence/ WRDG would fare better than Renew Bahamas, the company selected by the former Christie administration to operate the landfill, but which walked away in Hurricane Matthew’s aftermath in October 2016.

“That was a waste of time and money,” he told Tribune Business. “Knowing some of the persons involved in Providence/ WRDG I think it’s going to be a positive outlook. I was very much encouraged to see where we have Bahamians coming together

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

The Public is hereby advised that I, CHARLES PATRICK CAREY, of Emerald Coast P.O.Box CB12825, intend to change my name to PATRICK CHARLES CAREY. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

MARKET REPORT THURSDAY, 30 AUGUST 2018

t. 242.323.2330 | f. 242.323.2320 | www.bisxbahamas.com

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE 1,962.31 | CHG -11.40 | %CHG -0.58 | YTD -101.26 | YTD% -4.91 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.50 19.17 7.50 4.46 1.26 0.19 3.92 9.17 6.60 5.30 12.50 2.71 1.77 8.21 6.21 13.00 7.00 13.67 13.01

52WK LOW 3.50 19.17 7.50 3.32 0.90 0.12 2.60 8.55 6.09 3.33 9.00 2.30 1.40 7.25 6.00 9.50 5.67 3.25 12.50

1050.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

PREFERENCE SHARES

1.00 103.00 100.00 106.00 105.00 103.00 100.00 10.00 1.01

1.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Bank of Bahamas Benchmark Cable Bahamas CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Colina Holdings Commonwealth Bank Commonwealth Brewery Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank Finco Focol J. S. Johnson Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Commonwealth Bank Class E Commonwealth Bank Class J Commonwealth Bank Class K Commonwealth Bank Class L Commonwealth Bank Class M Commonwealth Bank Class N Fidelity Bank Class A Focol Class B

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00

115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 ##########

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

SYMBOL AML APD BPF BWL BOB BBL CAB CIB CHL CBL CBB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FIN FCL JSJ CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA CBLE CBLJ CBLK CBLL CBLM CBLN FBBA FCLB

SECURITY Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) +

SYMBOL FBB22

Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2015-1-3Y BGS: 2014-12-5Y BGS: 2015-1-5Y BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-3Y BGS: 2015-6-5Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-3Y BGS: 2015-10-5Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y

BAH29 BG0203 BG0105 BG0205 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0303 BG0305 BG0307 BG0330 BG0403 BG0405 BG0407

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing)

LAST CLOSE 3.90 17.43 9.09 4.06 1.00 0.18 2.60 9.17 6.15 3.75 12.50 2.68 1.75 7.75 6.21 13.00 6.36 3.75 13.00

CLOSE 3.90 17.43 9.09 4.45 1.01 0.18 2.60 9.17 6.15 3.68 12.40 2.69 1.75 7.79 6.21 13.00 6.31 3.72 13.01

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.39 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.07 -0.10 0.01 0.00 0.04 0.00 0.00 -0.05 -0.03 0.01

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 100.00 100.00 100.40 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 100.00 100.00 100.40 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

CLOSE 100.00

CHANGE 0.00

108.71 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

-0.03 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

LAST SALE 100.00 108.74 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

VOLUME 100 5,600 1,451 5,780 22,550 2,000

500 3,350 4,000 1,200 3,000

VOLUME

EPS$ 0.268 0.932 -0.306 0.317 0.059 0.000 -0.996 0.700 0.573 0.171 0.627 0.102 0.231 0.000 0.545 0.679 0.719 0.277 0.631

DIV$ 0.100 1.130 0.000 0.230 0.000 0.010 0.000 0.710 0.220 0.120 0.620 0.060 0.070 0.084 0.320 0.500 0.200 0.120 0.590

P/E 14.6 18.7 N/M 14.0 N/M N/M -2.6 13.1 10.7 21.5 19.8 26.4 7.6 N/M 11.4 19.1 8.8 13.4 20.6

YIELD 2.56% 6.48% 0.00% 5.17% 0.00% 5.56% 0.00% 7.74% 3.58% 3.26% 5.00% 2.23% 4.00% 1.08% 5.15% 3.85% 3.17% 3.23% 4.53%

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 6.25% 6.25% 6.25% 6.25% 6.25% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 6.95% 4.00% 4.25% 4.25% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.00% 4.25% 4.50% 6.25% 3.50% 3.88% 4.25%

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022 ############### 30-Jul-2018 16-Dec-2019 30-Jul-2020 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2018 26-Jun-2020 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2018 15-Oct-2020 15-Oct-2022

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.17 4.16 2.01 180.30 157.58 1.56 1.70 1.64 1.10 6.99 8.54 6.15 10.52 11.46 10.46 10.00 8.45 11.20

52WK LOW 1.67 3.04 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.50 1.62 1.58 1.08 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund FG Financial Preferred Income Fund FG Financial Growth Fund FG Financial Diversified Fund FG Financial Global USD Bond Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Equities Sub Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - High Yield Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

NAV 2.17 4.14 2.01 180.30 155.10 1.56 1.70 1.65 1.09 7.27 8.32 6.48 11.32 11.71 10.31 9.93 8.45 11.20

YTD% 12 MTH% 2.24% 4.15% 0.03% 4.59% 1.23% 2.26% 0.90% 3.44% 1.11% 6.05% 2.14% 4.33% 0.17% 4.01% 1.67% 4.18% -0.96% 0.73% -1.08% 1.77% -5.96% -3.05% 1.90% 4.59% 7.24% 11.96% 2.77% 3.88% 3.94% 4.69% -0.61% 0.75% 1.13% N/A 2.95% N/A

NAV Date 31-Jul-2018 31-Jul-2018 27-Jul-2018 30-Jun-2018 30-Jun-2018 30-Jun-2018 30-Jun-2018 30-Jun-2018 30-Jun-2018 30-Jul-2018 30-Jul-2018 30-Jul-2018 30-Jul-2018 30-Jul-2018 30-Jul-2018 30-Jun-2018 30-Jun-2018 30-Jun-2018

MARKET TERMS BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00 52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks 52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume Change - Change in closing price from day to day Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths NAV - Net Asset Value N/M - Not Meaningful

TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | FG CAPITAL MARKETS 242-396-4000 | COLONIAL 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225

NEW PROVIDENCE LANDFILL

for this initiative.

“It would be good to see in other things Bahamians coming together to be owners of part of their country. Hopefully we will see the end of this vexing problem, although we don’t expect it to be overnight.

The fact it has now started is a good thing.

“From a health point of view you can’t live in the area properly, especially when the dump is burning.

I’ve had instances of having to leave my home at night because it’s so unbearable.

Baha Mar is right there and there’s no way that business can survive in terms of what happened in 2017; the fires in March 2017. There’s no way any business can survive like that, especially the opening of that type of resort.”

San Duncombe, head of the reEarth environmental group, told Tribune Business that the selection of Providence/WRDG as preferred bidder for the landfill contract was “a step in the right direction”.

She argued, though, that public consultation should have occurred prior to the award, and again slammed the Government for lack of transparency as Bahamians

were unaware of what all bidders had offered.

“We seem to miss the point of being transparent,” Mrs Duncombe said.

“I don’t know why any government has an issue understanding what that word means. We have no idea who all the players are, who bid what, and what they were offering.

“It would be wise to have an idea of what kind of proposals were on the table.

At this point we’re kind of shooting in the dark in terms of what other tenders were offering. We can look at their [Providence/ WRDG] proposal and say it sound great, but the reality is maybe there are other ones out there that are better, but we’ll never know.

“We operate in the dark in this country like every issue is a national security issue and has to be kept secret. There’s no transparency ever. We keep getting half of this, half of that.”

The Government had named all 18 entities that responded to the initial Expression of Interest (EOI) request, while also identifying all those who qualified and moved on to each new round at every step of the process.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, August 31, 2018, PAGE 7

Argentina hikes interest rate to 60 percent; peso plunges

A WOMAN walks past a wall spray painted with a message that reads in Spanish: “Macri lies” in reference to the country’s president, Mauricio Marci, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, yesterday. Argentina’s Central Bank yesterday increased its benchmark interest rate to 60 percent — the world’s highest — in an effort to halt a sharp slide in the value of the peso, which plunged to a new record low.

Photo: Natacha Pisarenko/AP BUESNOS AIRES Associated Press ARGENTINA’S Central Bank yesterday increased its benchmark interest rate to 60 percent — the world’s highest — in an effort to halt a sharp slide in the value of the peso, which plunged to a record low.

The peso fell more than 15 percent against the dollar yesterday, trading at 40.5 per greenback, after slipping about seven percent the day before.

The Central Bank said in a statement that it was hiking its benchmark interest rate by 15 percentage points to 60 percent in response to the currency problems and the risk of greater impact on local inflation, which is already running at about 30 percent a year.

The tumult in the exchange market came a day after President Mauricio Macri said he was asking for an early release of some IMF funds under an $50bn backup financing arrangement approved earlier.

Some experts said the announcement, combined with the interest rate hike, had the unintended effect of fueling the crisis of confidence.

“I think today’s interest hike announcement will do nothing but leave investors even more jittery,” said Monica de Bolle, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

“I’m finding it difficult to understand why, after yesterday’s announcement about front-loading more of the IMF funding, the government thought the hike was warranted. Hyperactivity starts to look like desperation.”

Macri has struggled to calm markets and bring confidence to Argentines who continue to lose purchasing power.

Many are frustrated with layoffs, higher utility rates and a rise in poverty levels.

Many also have bad memories of the IMF and blame its free-market economic policies for contributing to the country’s worst crisis in 2001-2002, when one of every five Argentines went unemployed and millions fell into poverty.

Seeing journalists filming screens showing the exchange rates in downtown Buenos Aires, Ruben Montiel, 55, burst out: “Macri is an embarrassment!

“You can’t live like this.

The prices of everything go up on a daily basis,” he said.

“There’s no work, utility rates

have gone through the roof ... people are sleeping on the streets.”

Macri, a pro-business conservative who came into office in 2015, had promised to trim Argentina’s fiscal deficit, reduce poverty and curb inflation. He cut red tape and tried to reduce the government’s budget deficit by ordering layoffs and cutting utility subsidies, but it triggered labor unrest.

Then in December, officials announced a rise in the inflation target, which caused investors to begin doubting Macri’s commitment to taming price rises.

Meanwhile, the peso slumped against the dollar as rising US interest rates lured investors to pull greenbacks out of Argentina.

That caused jitters among Argentines, who have been used to stashing away dollars as a cushion since the 2001 crisis, when banks froze deposits and put up sheet-metal barricades as thousands of protesters unsuccessfully tried to withdraw their savings. Dozens died in protests and looting in December 2001 as the economy unraveled and Argentina eventually suffered a record $100bn debt default.