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Government debt issuing shake-up From pg B1 Central Bank, rather than broker/dealers. As a result, Tribune Business was told that the Bahamas Government Stock (BGS) and Treasury Note programmes, which were being handled by RoyalFidelity Merchant Bank & Trust, have effectively been placed ‘on hold’ for the time being. The only activity that the Bahamas-based investment bank is currently conducting is the ‘roll over’ of existing short-term Treasury Note issues as they mature. In contrast, the Central Bank has already placed a $30 million, 20-year Bahamas Government Registered Stock (BGRS) issue, which was fully subscribed
at end-August and with all categories - individual investors, institutions and credit unions “fully allocated”. John Rolle, the Central Bank’s governor, told Tribune Business that the regulator would be “more active than last year” when it came to the issuance and placement of the Government’s domestic debt securities. While not commenting directly on the changes, Mr Rolle confirmed that the Commonwealth Secretariat had “provided general advice.... in terms of the approach” the Government should take. “Even with the private bank [RoyalFidelity] managing some of the issues, there were occasional issues
where the Central Bank handled things,” he told Tribune Business. “In instances where there needed to be a swift issue, the Central Bank resold it.” Mr Rolle said several key reforms for the Government’s domestic debt market are set to be unveiled over the next year, including changes to the way bond issues (BGRS/BGS) are priced so as to obtain “the best interest rate possible” and minimise the administration’s debt servicing costs. He added that the planned reforms also involve moving to an electronic ‘book entry’ system for recording the ownership of government debt securities, and away from the unwieldy paper-based certificates currently in use now. “Going forward, you should expect to see some initiatives from the Government side that are focused
on important modernisation of the Government’s securities,” Mr Rolle told Tribune Business. “There are certain rules that the Central Bank has to follow in terms of making these advances. We’ve spoken for many years about moving away from paper certificates, and a lot of the issues last year would have been in book entry form. “One of the changes that will bring innovation going forward is making sure that system is perfect for government bonds,” the Central Bank’s governor added. “That will have a lot of other benefits for how these securities are used in other transactions; how you can use them as collateral. “You can use them as collateral now, but it’s a more convoluted process as the certificates [proving government bond ownership] have to move about and have certain changes made to them.
THE TRIBUNE
Whereas when we move to an electronic platform, these changes will happen much more conveniently.” Then there is the pricing of government debt securities. “The other modernisation change that we have been focused on is the way the pricing of government debt is done in the market,” Mr Rolle told Tribune Business. “We want to get to a state where the Government auctions issues and we get the best interest rate possible on the issue.” Mr Rolle said the reform initiatives were likely to be announced as joint initiatives between the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank moving forward. “I think we believe we can make some advances in this area,” he added. “I would expect that over the year some of these reforms will start to materialise. We’ll certainly be making
some announcements later in the year in terms of what they start to look like; the major deliverables.” The Government’s domestic debt market accounts for the biggest component of the Bahamian capital markets, with between $3-$4 billion in issues currently outstanding. It provides the administration with its greatest source of debt financing. “We’ve gotten general advice from the Commonwealth Secretariat in terms of the approach,” Mr Rolle said. “We would have got comprehensive input from them in terms of the approach. “It would have been more the kind of infrastructure we should go to, a fully functioning book entry system; the auction system, and issues relating to the control and trading of government securities, and how to track trades.”
Yelp warns California lawsuit could scrub critical reviews SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yelp.com is warning that a California lawsuit targeting critical posts about a law firm could lead to the removal of negative reviews and leave consumers with a skewed assessment of restaurants and other businesses. Lawyer Dawn Hassell said the business review website is exaggerating the stakes of her legal effort,
which aims only to remove from Yelp lies, not just negative statements, that damaged the reputation of her law firm. Though its impact is in dispute, the case is getting attention from some of the biggest Internet companies in the world, which say a ruling against Yelp could stifle free speech online and effectively gut other websites whose main func-
Legal Notice
NOTICE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT (No. 45 of 2000)
UNICORN ASSOCIATES LIMITED In Voluntary liquidation
Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act (No. 45 of 2000), UNICORN ASSOCIATES LIMITED is in Dissolution.”
tion is offering consumers reviews of services and businesses. A San Francisco judge determined the posts were defamatory and ordered the company to remove them two years ago, which a second judge and a state appeals court upheld. Yelp is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn the order. The high court faces an Oct. 14 deadline to decide whether to hear the case or let the lower-court ruling stand. Experts expect Yelp to prevail.
ATLANTIS PARADISE ISLAND, THE BAHAMAS REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
RE: IHCL -017 MEDICAL CLINIC SERVICE MANAGEMENT – ATLANTIS
The date of commencement of dissolution is the 16th day of September, 2016.
Mr. John Collins M.B.E., F.C.I.B Suite 1, Artemis House, 67 Fort Street George Town, Grand Cayman Cayman Islands Liquidator
The Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas is soliciting proposals from qualified companies to facilitate the Medical Clinic Services for both Guests & Staff of Atlantis.The RFP and vendor selection process can be obtained by contacting: Patrice L. Carroll – Director of Purchasing via email: patrice.carroll@atlantisparadise.com This invitation is open as of
September 15, 2016 thru. October 15, 2016
Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman poses at his company’s headquarters in San Francisco. Yelp.com is warning that a California lawsuit targeting a disgruntled former client’s critical posts about a law firm could lead to the removal of negative reviews and leave consumers with a skewed assessment of restaurants and other businesses. (AP Photo) “There were a lot of people who were unhappy about this opinion,” said Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law. Internet giants Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft said in a letter to the California Supreme Court last month that the ruling “radically departs from a large, unanimous and settled body of federal and state court precedent” and could be used to “silence a vast quantity of protected and important speech.” Yelp said it would give businesses unhappy about negative reviews a new legal pathway for getting them removed. They could sue the person who posted the content and then get a court order demanding the Internet company remove it. But Hassell disputes the ruling would do anything that drastic. Her 2013 lawsuit accused a client she briefly represented in a personal injury case of defaming her on Yelp by falsely claiming that her firm failed to communicate with the client, among other things. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Donald Sulli-
van ordered the client and Yelp to remove the statements. Hassell said the client failed to answer her lawsuit or remove the posts, so she had to seek a court order demanding that Yelp do it. “We have an impeccable reputation,” she said of her firm, Hassell Law Group. “We have a right to protect it.” Yelp says the judge’s order violates a 1996 federal law that courts have widely interpreted as protecting Internet companies from liability for posts by thirdparty users. A federal appeals court cited the law in a Monday ruling saying Yelp’s star rating system did not make it responsible for a negative review of a Washington state locksmith business because the overall rating is based on user reviews. In Hassell’s case, a threejudge appeals panel has said the order requiring Yelp to remove the defamatory statements did not violate the 1996 Communications Decency Act because the company was not facing liability. That’s because Hassell’s lawsuit named her former client and not Yelp, the appellate court said.
NOTICE
IN THE ESTATE OF JAMES EMMANUEL FORBES late of Sandford Drive in the Western District of the Island of New Providence one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, deceased. NOTICE is hereby given that all persons having any claim or demand against the above Estate are required to send the same duly certified in writing to the Undersigned on or before the 28th day of October, A.D. 2016, after which date the Executrix will proceed to distribute the assets having regard only to the claims to which she shall then have had notice. AND NOTICE is hereby given that all persons indebted to the said Estate are requested to make full settlement on or before the date hereinbefore mentioned. MERIDIAN LAW CHAMBERS Attorneys for the Executrix Chambers, P.O.Box N-168, East Bay Shopping Center, East Bay Street, Nassau, Bahamas.