11142019 BUSINESS

business@tribunemedia.net

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14TH, 2019

$4.52 Bahamas’ 6.4% bookings drop-off ‘pretty remarkable’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A CABINET minister last night said it was “pretty bloody remarkable” that The Bahamas’ forward bookings for November to January 2020 were only off 6.4 percent given Hurricane Dorian’s impact.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business he was “not concerned at all” about the year-overyear slippage given that it paled in comparison to the 17 percent stopover arrivals share previously enjoyed by storm-ravaged Abaco and Grand Bahama.

He voiced optimism that the tourism industry’s forward booking pace would come in line with prior year comparatives “by the first quarter of 2020”, with forecasts indicating that the extent of the decline was reducing every month.

Based on data from Forward Keys, the Ministry of Tourism partner that analyses forward booking data from The Bahamas’ key visitor source markets in The Bahamas and the US, Mr D’Aguilar said the drop-off had fallen from 12.2 percent in September 2019 to 10 percent in both October and November.

The pace of decline is projected to slacken further to four to five percent for December, the Christmas month, with the New Year expected to bring forward bookings back close in line with early 2019 comparatives.

Mr D’Aguilar argued that the trend showed potential visitors were

DESMOND BANNISTER

DIONISIO D’AGUILAR “shrugging off” negative Dorian-related news and planning to travel to islands unaffected by the storm, “although not at the scale we can overcome the shortfall created by Abaco and Grand Bahama’s tourism sectors being taken off-line.

“We must always remember that 17 percent of our foreign visitors went to Abaco and Grand Bahama,” he told Tribune Business. “If they were to melt away by themselves our arrivals would be down by 17 percent.

“The fact that we’ve managed to claw back those visitors to only be down by 6.4 percent on forward bookings is pretty bloody remarkable. What you’ll find is that November will be down by probably ten percent, and Christmas will be down by four to five percent, and January will be down by a decreasing percentage. We should see that the difference is getting smaller the further we move away from the storm.”

Mr D’Aguilar spoke out after a study by FowardKeys revealed that The Bahamas was one of the few Caribbean jurisdictions,

SEE PAGE 4

DORIAN-related insurance losses are “heavily skewed” towards Abaco with one resort development potentially accounting for $800m to $1bn worth of claims by itself.

Charles Johnson, a Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA) council member, told the annual Accountants’ week conference that 86 percent of the industry’s losses are in Abaco with the Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean

Resort on Great Guana Cay potentially accounting for up to 50 percent of all damages.

With the more sparselypopulated eastern Grand Bahama taking the brunt of Dorian, as opposed to Freeport and West End, he added that the island was set to account for just 12 percent of claims.

Yet Mr Johnson warned that the financial recovery picture was even bleaker

SEE PAGE 8

BPL’s $66m bad debt major worry for bond proposal

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE $66m in delinquent debt owed to Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) by homeowners and businesses exposes the potential weakness in plans for the utility’s multi-million dollar refinancing.

The extent of the private sector’s receivables was highlighted by Dr Donovan Moxey, BPL’s chairman, in his presentation to the Accountants’ Week seminar where he revealed that a collective $88.2m is

now past due.

Some 74.9 percent, or three-quarters, of the latter sum is 90 days or more past due, making it equivalent to a bank’s non-performing loan and demonstrating just why BPL has to crack down on deadbeat bill payers if it is to generate sufficient income to meet repayments to investors who buy into the planned $650m National Utility Investment Bond.

Dr Moxey did not respond to Tribune Business inquiries before press time last night,

SEE PAGE 7

S

$4.60

$4.60

Shell open to new power plant IPO

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Baker’s Bay alone a $1bn Dorian loss

By YOURI KEMP

$4.57

HELL North America last night confirmed it is willing to permit Bahamian ownership in part of its New Providence power plant project through what could be this nation’s largestever public share offering.

A spokesperson for the global energy giant, responding to Tribune Business inquiries, confirmed that local investors may get the chance to invest via an initial public offering (IPO) in the company that will be formed to hold the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and associated infrastructure supplying fuel to the proposed new plant at Clifton Pier.

Desmond Bannister, minister of works, revealed to this newspaper that Shell executives have already been holding talks with Bahamas-based finance houses and major investor groups in a series of meetings understood to have continued this week.

Tribune Business understands that these discussions, which are exploratory in nature, are designed to gauge investor appetite for an equity interest in the project’s LNG component

and how this would be structured.

While the size of the minority stake that could be made available to Bahamian investors has not been finalised, several sources

- speaking on condition of anonymity - said it could be worth as much as $70m.

That would make the offering - if it comes to fruition - the largest IPO in Bahamian history,

exceeding the $62.5m equity interest previously offered

by Commonwealth Brewery. Sources said any IPO would be part of a larger

SEE PAGE 6

PAGE 2, Thursday, November 14, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

GOVT IN ‘REVOLUTIONARY’ $30M DIGITAL OVERHAUL

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE $30m project to transform the government’s digital/IT infrastructure was yesterday branded “one of the most revolutionary things that has happened in the country for decades”.

Jeffrey Beckles, pictured, the Chamber of Commerce’s chief executive, told Tribune Business that the the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) funded project would have “a huge impact” on the “millions of man hours” Bahamian businesses lose every year due to their employees having to stand in-line at government agencies while on corporate and personal business.

Speaking as the government and IDB officially launched the project’s operational phase, Mr Beckles said that while “long overdue” it will ultimately place all public services on an “integrated online platform” that can be easily accessed by citizens and businesses alike.

He added that, if executed properly, it will boost The Bahamas’ economic competitiveness and “ease of doing business” through the elimination of bureaucratic manual processes that

government agencies have relied upon for years.

While individual agencies, such as Customs and now the National Insurance Board (NIB), have embraced technology to provide solutions that both aid customers and improve compliance, the IDB-financed project aims to pull this together across all public sector agencies so that service delivery is modernised and becomes fit for the 21st century economy.

Mr Beckles said yesterday’s announcement that passport renewal applications can now be made online, due to the combined efforts of the Passport Office and the government’s Department for Transformation and Digitisation, had given the private sector “a lot of confidence” that the wider project is for real and can work.

“It’s going to be a huge,

huge, huge, huge positive impact,” Mr Beckles told Tribune Business of the IDBfunded initiative. “I think it’s going to be one of the most revolutionary things that has happened in the country for decades.

“One, it makes accessing services a lot easier. It’s going to cut down on frustration and time. It’s going to cut down on losing productivity when you have to send people to stand online from government agency to government agency.

“A lot of people don’t calculate the cost of the lost man hours with our current system. I think that if you add up those man hours throughout the private sector you’ll find that seven million man hours are lost standing on lines. These things have a quantifiable impact for businesses,” the chamber chief continued.

“For the average citizen, they will be able to go online and access government services without all the headaches experienced in the past. From a business standpoint it will have a tremendous positive impact on expense and the bottom line.”

Mr Beckles said Bahamian companies suffered greatly

from lost productivity when employees had to wait for the likes of driver’s licence and passport renewals, plus birth and marriage certificates. “Now, they have the ability to do that online, and all that lost productivity goes away,” he added.

“Businesses will now have greater ability to interact with government. Look at the ease of doing business.

It goes to our whole rating.

Potential investors will say: ‘Wow’. They’re easy to do business with’. A lot of things hinge on that. One agency at a time, eventually they’ll all be integrated to where government is seen as a functional government because it’s an integrated platform.”

The chamber chief said the joint IDB/government team that will steer the public sector-wide modernisation conceded during yesterday’s presentation that the effort was “long overdue”, and that it had started late, but delivered the message that “we’re no longer procrastinating but getting things done”.

“Obviously the task ahead is quite significant, but the presentation on what has already been done gives a lot of confidence and hope to us in the private sector,” Mr Beckles added, describing the ability to apply for passport renewals online as “a giant step forward in the right direction”.

“In the first instance the customer is the taxpayer, and it was very good to see them put the needs of

customers as top priority,” he said.

The IDB highlighted just how far behind The Bahamas was lagging in adopting modern, efficient and technology-based methods for delivering public services and interacting with taxpayers when it first unveiled the $30m project in early 2018.

Revealing that registering a company in The Bahamas was then “four times’ costlier” than in developed countries, with less than three per cent of government procedures able to be completed online, the IDB report warned that stifling red tape “increases the opportunities for corruption”.

It added that the government suffered from “a silo culture” where just four out of 18 agencies were equipped to properly exchange information due to a paper-dominated system, while officials were “inadequately trained” to offer services that focused on citizen and business needs. The Ministry of Public Service’s $150,000 training budget enabling it to assist just 200 civil servants - only one per cent of the total - per year.

The IDB subsequently revealed that more than 40,000 tax payments in 2017 were made manually, highlighting how far the government and private sector have to travel to achieve true digital or e-government.

Despite filing and payment requirements for all

three taxes being available online, data disclosed by the IDB showed that 9,554 VAT payments; 7,592 business license fee payments; and 24,019 real property tax payments were not made digitally. Some 1,308 business registrations were also done manually, or “in person”.

The IDB report showed it was a similar tale at other key government agencies, such as the Registrar General’s Department, National Insurance Board (NIB) and Road Traffic Department - all of which dealt with between 50,000 to upwards of 60,000 transactions for key services manually in 2017, despite many of them being available online.

However, KP Turnquest, deputy prime minister, yesterday told Tribune Business that the launch presentation showed that “some of our regional counterparts are behind us” when it came to digital government.

“We’re not doing terrible, but are not doing excellent either,” he said. “When you look at the way business is being done around the world, if we want to maintain our competitive position we have to find ways to be more efficient and more effective in service delivery and reduce the cost of doing business. This is very important to our overall economic growth and retaining existing market share.”

BAKERY TO EXPAND VIA $75K RBC LOAN

GREGORY Collie presents his pitch during RBC Pitch Night.

A BAHAMIAN bakery has obtained a

$75,000 loan from Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) through the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC).

Gregory Collie started the Cookie Caterer from his home in 2012. It specialises in homemade, freshly-baked cookies that can be customised and delivered directly to consumers. A fan of sweets, Mr Collie started experimenting with cookies just for personal enjoyment.

“I am what most Bahamians would call ‘sweet mouth’,” Mr Collie said.

“Back in 2011, I started experimenting with making cookies from scratch. At the time I wasn’t selling cookies because I had a full-time job, so I was making them to eat during football games or I would give them away to friends and family.”

Encouraged to sell his sweet treats, Mr Collie constantly declined because he did not see the need.

However, in 2012, the budding baker lost his job and turned to his passion for comfort and as a means to generate income. With just a Facebook page and pictures of the cookies, the Cookie Caterer was born.

Already in business for six years, Mr Collie heard about the SBDC and its services when he was on a quest for financing.

“The organisation was providing an opportunity for funding,” he explained. “Funding is one of the most important things needed for entrepreneurs to start or grow their business. At that point, I was looking to grow the business, so funding would have served us well. I felt like I had nothing to lose and everything to gain, so we joined the SBDC.” The RBC financing means the Cookie Caterer can execute its plans, and strive for its goals, sooner than originally planned.

Mr Collie said: “We already had plans of

expansion, so the funding now provides the cash to buy more and better equipment to upgrade what we have. We will also be able to secure new locations that we wouldn’t be able to at this point.

“The goal for us is expansion. We want to grow. We want a lot more locations, we want to afford more of the population an opportunity to have their hands and mouths on our products. By doing this, we also want to hire as many Bahamians as we can in the process.”

Mr Collie credited one of the SBDC’s programmes, RBC Pitch Night, for preparing him to present his company to investors.

“I tell people about the SBDC because it’s a great learning experience,” he said. “The RBC Pitch Night really helped me to be ready for the actual pitching of my company. I had never pitched before, so the event gave me that experience of pitching in front of investors. Also, the questions asked after the pitch helped me to have more insight into what exactly investors are looking for and the things they like to hear.

“The SBDC is also providing entrepreneurs with an opportunity to access funding, and we all know how important funding is to not only start-up businesses but for businesses already in existence to help them grow and expand.”

The SBDC is the product of a tripartite arrangement between the Government, through the Ministry of Finance, University of The Bahamas (UB) and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC).

The Centre works to guide the development, funding, growth, and evolution of micro, small, and mediumsized Enterprises (MSMEs) in The Bahamas.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 14, 2019, PAGE 3

Contractor president slams ‘haphazard’ dorian clean-up

By YOURI KEMP THE Bahamian Contractors Association’s (BCA) president yesterday slammed “the haphazard way” in which Hurricane Dorian clean-up and reconstruction is being handled.

Michael Pratt told the annual Accountants Week seminars: “I have concerns with the time being wasted by contractors in the Abaco clean-up. Contractors are being told to separate debris on-site before they take it to the city dump, only for the same debris to be put at the dump site all mixed-up again. The reconstruction is being done in the same haphazard way as

the clean-up efforts.”

While expressing satisfaction with Bahamas Power and Light’s (BPL) Abaco rebuilding efforts, with the utility having already put some “9,000 poles in the ground”, Mr Pratt said the Water and Sewerage Corporation is still “lagging behind” on its own rebuilding.

“An Inter-American Development Bank study said that only 22 percent of our firms are innovative.

We need more innovation to assist with the reconstruction and recovery efforts,” Mr Pratt asserted.

“As a result of the lack of innovation in the private sector and the impact of Hurricane Dorian,

the construction industry has formed an alliance between the Institute of Bahamian Architects, the Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) and the Bahamas Society of Engineers called (ACE), where we have submitted a report to the Ministry of Works and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) along with several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and recommended several considerations for industry experts to help with matters in the event of natural disasters of this scale.”

The BCA chief told Tribune Business that the report appears to have gained little traction with the government, and he again appealed for the government to fully implement the Construction Contractors Act by appointing the Board that will enforce its self-regulatory mechanisms.

Mr Pratt said: “Right now we have no licensed contractors in The Bahamas.

Anyone can get a business license and become a contractor, so when we talk about enforcing building

codes we have to make sure we hold random contractors accountable by having a board established.”

He then highlighted how many Bahamians are being priced out of the housing market, noting that in The Bahams the “cost of financing” is some 20 percent compared to two percent in the US. This, the BCA chief, also deterred persons from building stronger, more storm resistant and durable homes.

“We need to educate Bahamians on what it takes to build a strong home, and also educate them on what ‘value engineering’ is and what a ‘change order’ means,” Mr Pratt said.

He added that The Bahamas should consider mandating shear windows and construction piles, which go underneath homes, as a way to improve their resilience in Doriantype storms.

Mr Pratt also argued that The Bahamas should follow the lead of the Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean Club project in Abaco and increase the pounds per square inch (PSI) that concrete can withstand to more than 7,000.

BANK STAFF THREATENED IN DORIAN’S AFTERMATH

By YOURI KEMP

BANK vaults were destroyed and employees threatened by persons desperate to access cash in Hurricane Dorian’s immediate aftermath, the Clearing Banks Association chair revealed yesterday.

LaSonya Missick, who is also Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) Bahamian managing director, said the industry was working together to develop “shared locations” such as “mobile trailers” in a bid to restore banking services to Abaco more than two months after the category five storm devastated Abaco.

She said automated teller machines (ATMs) “could be back on Abaco within two to three weeks, but added: “It is hard to determine what to give to Abaco because everything is gone.” The restoration of full access to

banking services and other financial products is viewed as a critical component to efforts to rebuild the island.

Highlighting the threats to bank and staff security in Dorian’s wake, Ms Missick revealed: “In Abaco, vaults and night deposits were destroyed or tampered with, as well as there were threats to bank employees because persons thought that these employees had access to vault entry information and other cash that may have been in the bank.”

She added that “bank team members are making bi-weekly trips to Abaco to conduct loan assessments for clients” as part of the recovery effort, with the industry in the “mid-term” rebuilding stage where banks have to start “stepping up” with consumer education on disaster relief programmes, digital facilities and encouraging clients to

“diversify their asset portfolios”.

Highlighting that many Bahamians may be land rich but cash poor, the RBC chief suggested that some seek to liquidate such assets to build-up cash reserves and savings as a safeguard against future Dorian-type events.

Focusing on the “longterm” post-Dorian, Ms Missick stressed that “digital solutions” and “banking without a physical presence” will be the Clearing Banks Association’s focus for Abaco and Grand Bahama as a test for how this would work throughout The Bahamas.

Speaking at yesterday’s Accountants Week seminars, Ms Missick said customer numbers and deposits/investments may drop industry-wide due to persons leaving The Bahamas in Dorian’s wake. She added, though, that it was too early

to forecast any increase in non-performing loans as this would only become evident when bank relief programmes end in February next year “Client portfolios across all banks may be reduced as a result of clients leaving as a result of the fall-out from Hurricane Dorian,” Ms Missick confirmed. “We have not yet determined the delinquency losses just yet, but we will have a better idea as to what that has done to our books when the emergency deferral payment period is over.”

She said banks have granted loan payment deferrals of between one to five months for persons affected by the storm, and added: “Consumer lending to customers in Abaco and Grand Bahama, and also to those who have left those islands and are now in New Providence, has started.”

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PAGE 4, Thursday, November 14, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Bahamas’ 6.4% bookings drop-off ‘pretty remarkable’ FROM PAGE ONE together with the Dominican Republic and Aruba, to be showing a year-over-year decline in forward bookings for the November 2019 to January 2020 period compared to the prior year.

While The Bahamas’ drop-off was greater than Aruba’s 1.4 percent decline, it was less than half of the Dominican Republic’s 14.2 percent fall. And, had Dorian never happened, and Abaco and Grand Bahama maintained their 17 percent market share, it is possible that The Bahamas’ forward bookings could have been up 10.6 percent over 2018 for the same three-month period.

“I’m not concerned at all,” Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business. “You expect the numbers to be down

because we’re missing inventory, missing Abaco, so it’s natural. You can’t get around that. It’s not like everybody going to Abaco shifted to another island in The Bahamas. A lot of them are second homeowners, very loyal and very focused on going to that destination.

“I’m not surprised, not worried. Abaco attracted 120,000 visitors last year and you have to redirect them to other islands. I’m not worried at all. We’re aware of the problem but are not overly concerned because the decrease in numbers is far less than what Abaco and Grand Bahama represented to stopover tourist arrivals.

“People are moving to other islands in The Bahamas, returning to islands that were impacted. The travelling public has shrugged off news about the hurricane

and are coming to The Bahamas and other islands, although not at the scale that we overcome the shortfall experiences as a result of Grand Bahama and Abaco.”

Mr D’Aguilar said himself and senior Ministry of Tourism officials were “continuing to work the stump and get out on the road” to deliver the message to The Bahamas’ key source markets that this nation remains open for visitors on 14 of 16 islands.

He added that Joy Jibrilu, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general, had been interviewed extensively

by TV networks such as CNN during the week-long World Travel Market in London, while the minister himself will next week undertake a seven-day Canadian tour spanning markets such as Vancouver,

Calgary and Toronto.

“Our core market is the US,” Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business, “and we’ve been inserting ourselves into as many TV shows as possible using as many channels to market as possible; going to shows like the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show and aviation shows, getting the message out to let people know The Bahamas is open for business.”

The ForwardKeys survey found that September air arrivals to Freeport and Marsh Harbour fell by 50.9 percent and 67.9 percent, respectively, when compared to prior year numbers due to Dorian’s impact.

Air arrival to Nassau were also down by 7.4 percent year-over-year, but those for Exuma and north Eleuthera increased by 10.6 percent and 30.7

percent, respectively. The ForwardKeys study also reiterated that The Bahamas is expected to recover much more quickly than the likes of Puerto Rico and St Maarten, with stopover arrivals returning to 80 percent of pre-storm numbers in just one month.

Ms Jibrilu said in a statement: “The Bahamas is an archipelago with more than 700 islands and cays, spread over 100,000 square miles of ocean. Because of our unique geography, a hurricane can impact some parts of the country but leave other parts untouched.

“That is the case with Hurricane Dorian. The majority of our country remains beautiful and palm-fringed, with unspoiled beaches in several shades of white and pink. We would like everyone to know that the best

thing they can do for us right now is visit. Our beautiful island nation is ready to welcome you.”

Olivier Ponti, vice-president of insights for ForwardKeys, added: “What we have seen in recent years is that the Caribbean is an incredibly popular destination. When some parts of it have been hit with horrendous hurricanes and other issues, tourists did not give up on their desire for a holiday in paradise; they chose other parts of it to visit instead.

“We saw that syndrome earlier this year, when stories in the US media about tourists who had died in the Dominican Republic caused bookings to collapse;. However, other islands - most notably Jamaica, The Bahamas and Aruba - saw a visitor surge.”

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THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 14, 2019, PAGE 5

Minister in pledge on carbon neutrality

By YOURI KEMP A CABINET minister yesterday pledged to develop “more resilient communities” and move towards “carbon neutrality” as part of Hurricane Dorian rebuilding and reconstruction efforts.

Romauld Ferreira, pictured, minister of the environment and housing, told the annual Accountants Week conference that his ministry is 75 percent complete with a geographical and spatial data “mapping” study of The Bahamas that will provide information “right down to the house”.

He explained that gathering spatial data is critical to building “climate resilience”, as it helps to guide where persons decide to build and determines land elevation impacting every house and lot.

“Immediately after the passage of Hurricane Dorian, the Ministry of the Environment and Housing declared the country to be in the midst of a climate change emergency,” Mr Ferreira said. “The prime minister, in his last address to the United Nations, said virtually the same thing in that ‘climate change is the greatest existential threat to human existence’.

“Some of the other

things we are doing towards achieving carbon neutrality is that we have also installed approximately one megawatt (MW) of renewable energy with grid-tie at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium. We put over 450 kilowatts on Anatol Rodgers [High School], and the other one will be at TG Glover with grant funding from the United Arab Emirates.”

Minister Ferreira also highlighted the proposed Environmental Planning and Protection Bill, and other legislation such as the Ministry of The Environment Bill 2019, the Bahamas National Trust Amendment Bill 2019 and the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund Bill as examples of the reforms that the government plans to introduce.

Responding to concerns that not all environmental groups have been included

in consultations on the environmental Bills, he said: “The environmental groups have been consulted, and are being consulted, on these pieces of legislation, and the ministry and government remain open to any and all suggestions from these groups.”

Mr Ferreira said the government’s greatest concern upon coming to office was the state of the New Providence landfill, and the environmental and health risks stemming from the frequent outbreak of fires at the site.

“We handed that over to private management, and that means that we now control the amount of methane gas that is now released into the atmosphere,” he added. “We also stopped the leak of oil coming down from the rock face at Clifton Pier by redeveloping the pier, and now it has oil recovery systems.”

Minister Ferreira expressed satisfaction

PUBLIC NOTICE Extension

PUBLIC CONSULTATION-Renewable Energy Self Generation (RESG) Projects Proposed Guidelines The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), advises the public that the deadline to submit responses to URCA’s Renewable Energy Self Generation, RESG Projects Proposed Guidelines, Consultation Document, ES 05/2019, has been EXTENDED to November 30, 2019.

URCA reminds the public that responses to the said Consultation Document can be sent via email to info@urcabamas.bs, faxed to (242) 393-0237/393-0153, mailed to P.O. Box N-4860 or hand delivered to the URCA office situated at Frederick House, Frederick Street, New Providence to the attention of the Director of Utilities and Energy.

URCA issues this Notice in accordance with section 41(4) of the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority Act, 2009.

with the progress being made by New Providence Ecology Park, the landfill’s new manager, as there was now access to roadways at the tipping points. The compaction and coverage of waste had also improved.

“The beauty of it is is that the tyres that were at the landfill, the company shredded them to use as the ‘road base’. So they are reusing the materials at the landfill to make the situation better.

We are consistently monitoring the situation and we have no concerns about the contractor moving forward at this time,” he added.

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PAGE 6, Thursday, November 14, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Shell open to new power plant IPO FROM PAGE ONE $250m-$300m capital raise to finance the LNG terminal’s construction, with Shell retaining the majority stake and working with select Bahamian investors to raise the $180m-$230m balance.

Shell’s spokesperson last night declined to confirm any figures, but revealed that the project designed to resolve New Providence’s long-standing energy woes will be split into two entities. Besides the company owning the LNG terminal and related facilities, there will be a separate vehicle to own the actual power generation plant itself.

They explained that the power plant vehicle will be a “joint venture” between Shell and Bahamas Power & Light (BPL), with the latter buying all energy it produces via a power purchase agreement (PPA) that the two sides are still negotiating.

However, Tribune Business contacts yesterday suggested that neither the BPL Board or the government have made a final decision on the state-owned utility monopoly taking an equity interest in the power plant joint venture. This is despite Whitney Heastie, BPL’s chief executive, telling this newspaper earlier this year that the utility would seek such a stake as compensation for its $95m investment in the new Wartsila engines.

Still, the Shell spokesperson confirmed to Tribune Business: “The plans are that Shell and BPL would form a JV (joint venture) for the ‘Power Company’ part of the project. The ‘Terminal Company’ would also be formed as a joint venture, with Shell as the largest shareholder and certain minority interest shareholders from The Bahamas.

“We are in commercial discussions, and will share

further details when we are able. In the future, there may be the opportunity for the ‘Terminal Company’ to issue shares in an IPO to Bahamians, subject to market conditions and further discussions amongst shareholders.”

The “certain minority interest shareholders” were not identified, but this is likely to refer to the likes of BISX-listed FOCOL Holdings and the late Tennyson Wells’ Source River group, which acquired the former Bacardi plant in south-western New Providence.

Both companies own land at Clifton Pier that Shell will need access to for constructing the pier, pipelines and terminal infrastructure that will bring LNG from incoming ships to shore, where it will be converted back to gas from liquid form and then used as fuel by the new power plant. Granting them an equity interest would help compensate for use of their property.

Tribune Business’s contacts suggested another potential investor could be the National Insurance Board (NIB), which

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, right, tours BPL’s Clifton Pier plant with Whitney Heastie. would also contribute to the $180m-$230m to be raised outside the IPO. “I know Shell is exploring the possibility of raising capital here,” one financial services industry source said on condition of anonymity. “I know they’re looking at raising $250m-$300m in capital, but most of it will be from outside. They were looking to source $230m and bring $70m to market here.

The $70m was what I understood they wanted investors

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that ALIYAH KHALILAH SAUNDERS , Pioneers Way West 7A Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas is 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 14th day of November 2019 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

to come up with here.”

Desmond Bannister, minister of works, said permitting Bahamian ownership in the planned 222 Mega Watt (MW) Shell power plant would comply with the promises made in the Free National Movement’s 2017 election manifesto.

“I can’t confirm the figures but I can tell you they’ve been contacting local investors and have a number that have indicated interest; Bahamian investors.

They will be continuing that effort,” Mr Bannister told Tribune Business of Shell.

“One of the commitments we made in our election manifesto was to ensure that if a portion of BPL was privatised that Bahamian investors would have the fullest opportunity to invest in it.” In fact, the manifesto commits the Government “to ensure Bahamian ownership through a majority shareholding” - not the minority stake being offered.

And some observers would argue that talk of IPOs and capital raising is premature given that the government and Shell have yet to sign a final agreement for the new plant’s construction. While they previously agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), key details - such as the price BPL will pay Shell for the energy produced by the new

plant under a PPA. However, Mr Bannister and BPL executives have continued to speak as if the deal’s conclusion is a near certainty. The minister assured Tribune Business recently that the new plant would be completed and ready to begin operations before year-end 2021, even though construction has yet to start.

Dr Donovan Moxey, BPL’s chairman, in his presentation to this week’s Accountants Week conference confirmed that the LNG aspect of Shell’s plant would be ready by December 2021 or in early 2022, providing a lower-cost, more efficient and environmentally-friendly fuel that will reduce consumer energy bills.

“The completion of a gas-to-power plant by Shell North America will mark the completion of the second phase of our generation turnaround strategy,” Dr Moxey said. “Shell has been a wonderful partner to BPL so far on this venture.

“We signed a Memorandum of Understanding on November 2, 2018, and we are now negotiating the definitive agreements. The Shell relationship includes 220 MW of generation capacity. Station A [the Wartsila engines] is the first 130 MW of that 220 MW.”

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that GUETLY ST FLEUR, #20 Southern Heights P.O.Box NP1170, New Providence, The Bahamas is 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 14th day of November 2019 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

FINAL NOTICE Pursuant to the provisions of section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act 2000, notice is hereby given that:CATSO Investments Limited has been dissolved and struck off the Register pursuant to Certificate of Dissolution issued by the Registrar General on 25th October, 2019.

Kim D. Thompson Liquidator

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 14, 2019, PAGE 7

BPL’s $66m bad debt major worry for bond proposal FROM PAGE ONE but the figures he revealed give further weight to warnings by Paul Maynard, the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU) president, that the state-owned utility must significantly improve its collection methods if compliant bill payers are not to be burdened with everincreasing bond repayment fees.

Bahamian households and businesses are effectively being called upon to bail-out BPL from decades of financial mismanagement and waste by paying a bond servicing fee that will be attached to their bills, and Mr Maynard said its introduction once the bond issue is placed in early 2020 will mean an end to the practice where bill duckers have been able to rely on friends, family and political connections to avoid disconnection.

BPL executives have repeatedly said the bond servicing fee will be a small charge compared to customers’ overall bills, and will be more than offset by greater savings generated by the more efficient Wartsila engines and, ultimately, the proposed Shell power plant.

Yet the utility’s executives will have to make sure they collect on all bills, and it is unclear whether a collections crack down would go so far as to cut-off delinquent resorts and other large employers given the significant impact it would

DR DONOVAN MOXEY have on jobs.

Some $46.602m, or 37.33 percent, of BPL’s total receivables were current, representing sums billed in the current cycle. Yet some $5.334m, or 4.27 percent, was over 30 days past due and another $6.818m or 5.46 percent over 60 days’ past due.

“At year end, total receivables from the private sector stood at $125m, up from the prior year’s $123m,” Dr Moxey told the Accountants Week’ seminar of BPL’s financial position. “Amounts due for greater than 60 days stand at $72.9m (2017: $69.8m).

“Challenging economic times and higher fuel costs continues to impact the Corporation as poor payment results in reduced cash flow for the essential operational and capital projects.”

Defending the decision to refinance BPL via the upcoming bond issue rather than sources such as bank

debt, Dr Moxey said the fee associated with the former “would be about half as much for consumers” when compared to traditional loans.

“We compared the tool that had already been envisioned, the rate reduction bond (RRB), with traditional bank debt, and the bond is clearly the optimal choice for financing both the restructuring of our legacy debt and the upgrade of our generation system,” Dr Moxey said.

“The reasons include a global universe of investors rather than the smaller universe of banks, a broader lender base, relief to the government balance sheet in that it does away with the government guarantee.

“If that isn’t clear enough, let’s look directly at the pain-point: The fee itself. As you can see, by all reasonable measures the fee imposed due to the RRB would be about half as much as bank debt would require.”

While the bond’s servicing costs can be spread out over its 20-25 year maturity, Dr Moxey said bank debt would have to be repaid over a much shorter term and therefore impose higher payments on BPL’s customers.

Arguing that stabilising energy supply reliability and costs will be “a game changer for the economy of The Bahamas”, the BPL chairman said: “Part of our problem in the

EY STAFF CERTIFIED TO FIGHT FINANCIAL CRIME MORE than 30 Ernst & Young (EY) staff from The Bahamas and wider Caribbean region were recently designated as Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (CAMS).

They received their credentials from the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS).

Recipients included firm partners, principals, executive directors and directors at EY across its assurance, advisory, tax and quality services segments.

The CAMS credential is viewed as the highest standard in anti-money laundering certifications, and is held by very few in the region. It is recognised internationally by financial institutions, governments and regulators as evidence of a commitment to protecting the financial system against money laundering.

“The CAMS certification is a valuable investment in the skills of our professionals in our region, as it enables them to help our clients detect breaches and safeguard against reputational and financial risks associated with financial crimes,” said Dan Scott, EY regional managing partner.

“This is just one more way we are demonstrating our commitment to bringing the exceptional service and expertise to our clients on the ground with the highest level of responsiveness.”

LaNishka FarringtonMcSweeney, EY assurance partner and regional financial crime and anti-money laundering solutions leader, said: “It was important for us to ensure that our EY professionals have the most up-to-date skills and training in order to assist clients across the countries in the northern Caribbean, Bermuda and The Bahamas with complex regulations.

It is also a piece of good corporate citizenship as we do our part to help countries and their regulators combat this ever increasing problem.”

“As highly skilled teams staffed with subject matter experts, this training and

distinction ensures that we stay current and committed to combating money laundering as well as providing this expertise to clients,” said Michele Thompson, Bahamas country managing partner and regional assurance leader.

The new specialists received their certificates after completing 40 hours of self-study, an all-day bootcamp and examination

to show their aptitude and expertise in anti-money laundering detection and enforcement.

This included the best practices to stop money laundering, terrorism financing and other financial crimes, they key legislation in place worldwide, global antimoney laundering standards and developing defenses for financial institutions.

Position Available If you: • Possess good working skills • Have good oral and written communication skills • Are able to work Flexible Hours Main Responsibilities: • Report inconsistencies with company rules and regulations to Supervisor • Provide written reports on a regular basis • Investigate compliance disputes • Conduct spot checks • Liaise with law enforcement officers to ensure proper reporting violations • Ensure security procedures are adhered to • Conduct field investigations to ensure compliance with company rules and regulations • Investigate violations • Conducts surveillance to ensure all regulations are adhered to • Provide temporary solutions to minor problems • Any other duties assigned DOCUMENTS REQUIRED 1. Copy of your valid Bahamian Passport 2. Copy of your valid NIB Smart Card 3. Copy of your Police Record 4. 2- References 5. 2- Recent Passport photos Email to

jobs2018bah@gmail.com Deadline: November 18th, 2019

past has been that when we did have cash we spent it poorly.

“And the undercapitalisation that has plagued the company since the unsupported decision to slash the base rates has put us perennially in a position to play defense. With the cash infusion from the RRB, we

will at last be able to go on offense.

“We took a real beating this summer due to the fact that our aging and poorly maintained generation fleet just wasn’t up to the challenge. We didn’t have the capacity to meet demand, and it was a mad scramble to keep as many customers

on as possible at any given time.

“We want to clearly say everyone at BPL, from leadership on down, understands the anger and frustration our inability to keep the lights on during the summer caused, but I am here to say that we have turned the corner.”

PAGE 8, Thursday, November 14, 2019

Baker’s Bay alone a $1bn Dorian loss FROM PAGE ONE

than that allowed by K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister, who earlier this week estimated that 80 percent of losses incurred by private homeowners and businesses were uninsured.

The BIA council member added that of the 20 percent who had insurance cover, some 75 percent were likely under-insured or lacked proper coverage such as business interruption insurance. As a result, some 95 percent of Dorian victims

THE TRIBUNE may lack either the correct insurance or any insurance at all.

“The remaining 20 percent of the persons that are insured, some 75 percent of that number is underinsured,” Mr Johnson confirmed. “The BIA estimates that there is a $1.5bn to $2bn financial impact as a result of Hurricane Dorian, which is the single largest pay-out event in The Bahamas. The BIA has already accounted for $1bn of that estimated amount in payments already, with most of

these claims to be settled before the end of the year.”

He encouraged accountants to push for “business interruption insurance” for their clients considering the magnitude of what has happened and the sheer amount of losses accumulating.

“Eighty-six percent of the losses are in Abaco, and 12 percent are in Grand Bahama,” Mr Johnson said.

He added that the numbers are “heavily skewed” towards Abaco because of the sheer amount of damage and expected claims volume that would happen as a result of Baker’s Bay being impacted.

“There is over $800m, and upwards to $1bn, in estimated insurance value as a result of the value of the buildings on Baker’s Bay,” he added. Turning to the

collective impact, the insurance executive said: “One percent of the damages are in motor vehicles and another one percent is in marine losses. Sixty-two percent of the damages are homes and 37 percent are in commercial properties.”

Mr Johnson said that “without question” deductibles for catastrophic insurance will increase from two percent to three percent, but he urging homeowners and businesses to in future “insure for the replacement value”. He added that Bahamians should also expect a “30 percent rate increase from reinsurers”, as the industry tries to avoid highrisk areas and reduce losses.

“What may happen is smaller companies may decide to leave the market as a result of all of the

pressure being placed on them as a result of Dorian,” Mr Johnson said. He added that this may create an opportunity similar to what happened after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, when several American companies left the market, leading to the emergence of local insurers such as Bahamas First.

“The BIA encourages a review of the building codes in The Bahamas along with the use of stilts in low lying areas,” Mr Johnson said. “In addition, we are strongly encouraging persons to insure their property at the ‘replacement value’ and to continually ‘re-value’ their homes to ensure that they are covered for the right amount in the event that something like Dorian happens again.”

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THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 14, 2019, PAGE 9

MAYBE BANKING CULTURE DOESN’T ALWAYS MAKE PEOPLE DISHONEST NEW YORK Associated Press SCIENTISTS say they were unable to confirm a highly publicised 2014 study that suggested banking culture can promote dishonesty.

New lab experiments with bankers in the Middle East and Asia Pacific turned out differently, maybe indicating that the original finding doesn’t apply worldwide, researchers reported yesterday in the journal Nature.

In response, the authors of the original work pointed to several differences between the two studies and stressed that they never intended to imply that all banks have a problematic business culture.

Instead, the point of the 2014 study is that such a culture could be part of the reason for episodes of fraudulent or unethical

CUT stacks of $100 bills make their way down the line at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Researchers reported yesterday in the journal Nature that they were unable to confirm a highly publicised 2014 study that suggested banking culture can promote dishonesty. behaviour, Alain Cohn and colleagues of the University of Zurich wrote in Nature.

In fact, the original study focused on employees of a large international bank that was involved in several high-profile legal disputes involving “problematic

business practices”, they wrote. They did not identify the bank or its location because they had promised confidentiality, but said it was involved in trading, asset management, investment banking and private banking.

The original work, covered by The Associated Press and other news agencies, subjected 128 employees of that bank to a laboratory test of honesty.

Each repeatedly flipped a coin and reported the results, knowing that certain outcomes would earn them money. The question was how often they’d lie about the results.

Participants who had just been asked about their work at the bank showed evidence of cheating, while other bank employees, who hadn’t been asked about their work, did not. That indicates the employees were basically honest, but that thinking about their jobs triggered dishonesty.

That suggests that banking culture favours dishonest

behaviour, Cohn and his colleagues concluded in 2014.

The new study repeated that experiment with 620 commercial bankers from a large institution in the Asia Pacific region and 148 commercial bankers from a medium-sized institution in the Middle East. It found no statistically significant effect of asking employees about their work ahead of the coin-flipping.

Zoe Rahwan of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin and co-authors of the new study suggested several possible explanations for the disparate results.

One is that the banking culture sampled in the original study is different in other places, they said. Another is

that only “ethical” banks let their employees participate in the new study, following widespread press coverage of the 2014 results. The new work was done in 2015 and 2016.

Cohn and colleagues agreed that banks with history of misconduct were probably less likely to let their employees participate in the new work, resulting in a sample different from the one they tested.

That and some procedural differences between the studies — one studied a bank involved in trading and investment, the other studied a commercial bank, for example — suggest the new work can’t address whether the 2014 study applies to different institutions or countries, they said.

PAGE 12, Thursday, November 14, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 14, 2019, PAGE 13

Fed’s Powell sees steady growth, signals pause in rate cuts WASHINGTON Associated Press FEDERAL Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, pictured, said yesterday that the Fed is likely to keep its benchmark short-term interest rate unchanged in the coming months, unless the economy shows signs of worsening.

But for now, in testimony before a congressional panel, Powell expressed optimism about the US economy and said he expects it will grow at a solid pace, though it still faces risks from slower growth overseas and trade tensions.

“Looking ahead, my colleagues and I see a sustained expansion of economic activity, a strong labor market, and inflation near our symmetric 2% objective as most likely,” Powell said before Congress’ Joint Economic Committee.

Fed policymakers are unlikely to cut rates, Powell said, unless the economy slows enough to cause them to make a “material reassessment” of their outlook.

The Fed cut short-term rates last month for the third time this year, to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%.

“It now looks increasingly likely that the Fed will move to the sidelines for an extended period,” said Andrew Hunter, an economist at Capital Economics, a forecasting firm.

Still, when asked if he expected rates to remain unchanged over the next year, Powell said, “I wouldn’t say that at all.”

Powell’s testimony comes a day after President Donald Trump took credit for an “economic boom” and attacked the Fed for not cutting interest rates further. Powell and other Fed officials, however, argue that their rate cuts, by lowering borrowing costs on mortgages and other loans, have spurred home sales and boosted the economy.

Powell was asked about negative interest rates, which Trump also called for on Tuesday, and responded that they “would certainly not be appropriate in the current environment.”

Negative rates occur “at times when growth is quite low, and inflation is quite low, and you really don’t

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see that here,” Powell said.

Other Fed officials have also questioned whether cutting rates below zero has actually succeeded in boosting growth in places like Europe and Japan, where central banks have pushed rates into negative territory.

Despite Trump’s attacks, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers took a largely respectful approach to Powell. Several complimented him for the “Fed Listens” events the central bank has held around the country, which have sought input from a range of groups, including unions and nonprofits, on ways the Fed could update

its monetary policy framework.

Powell repeatedly demurred when Sen Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pressed him on how higher tax rates would affect the economy, including wealth taxes that have been proposed by Democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

But Powell did concede, under questioning from Cruz, that a ban on fracking would “not be a good thing for the economy”. Some Democrats have called for a fracking ban over environmental concerns about the controversial method for drilling for oil and gas.

Recent data suggests that growth remains solid if not spectacular. The economy expanded at a 1.9% annual rate in the July-September quarter, down from 3.1% in the first three months of the year. The unemployment rate is near a 50-year low of 3.6% and hiring is strong enough to potentially push the rate even lower.

Inflation, according to the Fed’s preferred gauge, is just 1.3%, though it has been held down in recent months by lower energy costs and most Fed officials expect it to move higher in the coming months.

Yet Powell reiterated that higher tariffs from the Trump administration’s trade war with China and uncertainty over potential future duties have caused many businesses to delay or cut back on their spending on large equipment and buildings. That has slowed economic growth.

Powell also urged Congress to lower the federal budget deficit so that lawmakers would have more flexibility to cut taxes or boost spending to counter a future recession.

Other Fed officials have voiced similar concerns. Patrick Harker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, said on Tuesday that the large deficit, and the constraints it imposes on Congress in the event of a recession, “is one of the things I do lose sleep over”.

Powell also noted that with the Fed’s benchmark rate at historically low levels, the central bank is considering whether it needs new tools to help boost growth whenever the next downturn arrives.

“Central banks around the world are going to have less room to cut in this new normal of low rates and low inflation,” he said.

The Fed is exploring an alternative policy framework, Powell said, that it

hopes will provide more flexibility. In typical recessions, the Fed cuts short-term rates by roughly five percentage points.

Powell reiterated that the Fed believes the unemployment rate could fall further without necessarily pushing inflation higher, a view that suggests the central bank is a long way off from hiking rates.

“The data is not sending any signal that the labor market is so hot or that inflation is moving up,” he said in response to a question from New York Rep Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat and vice chair of the Joint Economic Committee. “What we have learned ... is that the US economy can operate at a much lower level of unemployment than many thought.”

Historically, super-low unemployment has been seen as likely to push up inflation, as workers push for higher pay and companies offer greater salaries to find and keep workers.

Most analysts forecast that the Fed will hold rates steady when it meets next month.

But some economists expect growth will slow in the coming months and the Fed will likely have to cut again next year.

PAGE 14, Thursday, November 14, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF THE CHILDREN AT RANFURLY

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For more information visit: www.ranfurlyhome.org Please “Like” us on Facebook Ranfurly Home for Children, Mackey Street P.O. Box 1413 Nassau, Bahamas 242-393-3115

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 14, 2019, PAGE 15

PUTIN ENCOURAGES BRICS TO COLLABORATE ON ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAMMES BRASILIA Associated Press RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin told fellow leaders of the BRICS group of emerging economy nations yesterday that he supports more co-operation in information and computing.

“We would like the other countries to look at our advances in those areas to participate with us, including in anti-virus programmes that are fundamental for the information

sector,” Putin said.

Speaking at an event for business executives, Putin also told the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa that Russia has proposed a dataexchange network to help small- and medium-size companies in their nations to find suppliers more efficiently.

The five leaders gathered in Brazil’s capital underscored in speeches yesterday night their greater integration aimed at boosting the countries’ economic growth.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said mounting protectionism and threats in the world have eroded international trade and investment, weighing down global growth.

China is in the midst of trade fight with the US that has caused economic forecasts to slide.

Still, Xi said, the outlook for continued Chinese growth provides opportunities for the world.

“Looking forward, China’s resolve to open its market remains unchanged and so does its positive growth trajectory,” Xi said.

Prime Minister Narenda Modi of India said that taxation and customs process have become simpler between the five countries and that the business environment is becoming more conducive. But he asked business leaders

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN

for their help.

“Inter-BRICS trade and investment targets must be more ambitious.

Your suggestions for further reducing trade costs between us will be very useful,” Modi said. “I would also like to request that we identify priority business sectors for us in the next ten years and on the basis of these we create a blueprint for inter-BRICS cooperation.”

Today, the leaders will hold the plenary session of the BRICS session and hold bilateral meetings.

PAGE 16, Thursday, November 14, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Debunked Ukraine conspiracy theory is knocked down - again

By FRANK BAJAK Associated Press A DISCREDITED conspiracy theory that blames Ukraine, and not Russia, for interference in the 2016 US presidential election reared its head again during the first day of public impeachment hearings into President Donald Trump’s alleged attempt to pressure Ukraine into investigating a political opponent.

First, California Rep Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, referenced it obliquely in defending Trump, saying “indications of Ukrainian election meddling” had

troubled the president.

Subsequently, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George P Kent, under questioning, said there was “no factual basis” to any theory of Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election — while there is ample evidence of Russian interference.

In broad outline, the theory contends, without evidence, that the 2016 hacking of the Democratic National Committee was a setup somehow perpetrated with Ukrainian complicity in which computer records were fabricated to cast blame on Russia. One key figure in this supposed conspiracy: CrowdStrike, a

security firm hired by the DNC that detected and analysed the hack five months before the 2016 election.

Kent said yesterday that he hadn’t even heard of the theory until a whistleblower alerted the public to a July 25 call between Trump and the Ukrainian president.

Here’s how the call brought the debunked theory back into currency.

THE CALL During that July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump made a brief and cryptic reference to CrowdStrike. According to a reconstructed transcript of the call released by the White House, which is not a verbatim account, he said: “I would like to find

out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say CrowdStrike . I guess you have one of your wealthy people. The server, they say Ukraine has it.” Trump added that he’d like to have Attorney General William Barr call “you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it”.

THE FACTS CrowdStrike determined in June 2016 that Russian agents had broken into the committee’s network and stolen emails that were subsequently published by WikiLeaks. Its findings were confirmed by FBI investigators, with whom it later shared the forensic evidence.

Based on those findings, Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 members of Russia’s military intelligence agency and later concluded that their operation sought to favor Trump’s candidacy.

Mueller testified before the US Congress the day before Trump’s phone call with Zelenskiy.

In the call, Trump mentioned Mueller’s “incompetent performance” and said “they say it started with Ukraine”.

THE FICTIONS Ukraine and Russia have essentially been at war since Russia’s 2014 military intervention and annexation of Crimea.

Unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about a purported Ukrainian link to the DNC hack began circulating almost immediately after it was discovered.

Some propagated by Russian media and online included mention of a supposed “hidden DNC server”, which acolytes of the Republican political operative Roger Stone picked up and circulated.

Stone is now standing trial for allegedly lying to Congress, obstructing justice and

witness tampering after getting swept up in the Mueller probe. He has claimed that CrowdStrike is concealing evidence that could presumably clear Russia of culpability.

The presiding judge has denied Stone’s efforts to challenge the investigation into the hack.

CrowdStrike has also worked for the GOP. It helped the National Republican Congressional Committee investigate email thefts by unidentified hackers during the 2018 campaign, the company told the AP in December.

THE UKRAINIAN CONNECTION One version of the conspiracy theory holds that CrowdStrike is owned by a wealthy Ukrainian. In fact, company co-founder Dmitri Alperovitch is a Russian-born US citizen who immigrated as a child and graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Trump himself has made this erroneous reference before.

In an April 2017 interview with The Associated Press, Trump said: “Why wouldn’t (former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John) Podesta and Hillary Clinton allow the FBI to see the server? They brought in another company that I hear is Ukrainian-based.”

“CrowdStrike?” the interviewer asked.

“That’s what I heard,” Trump replied. “I heard it’s owned by a very rich Ukrainian, that’s what I heard. But they brought in another company to investigate the server. Why didn’t they allow the FBI in to investigate the server? I mean, there is so many things that nobody writes about. It’s incredible.”

WHY IT MATTERS The reference raises questions about Trump’s ability — or, perhaps, willingness

— to sort between fact and fiction, analysts say.

“If we take Trump’s words at face value, then it appears that the president of the United States is intellectually unable to distinguish between utterly outlandish conspiracy theories and solid intelligence assessments based on facts,” said Thomas Rid, a Johns Hopkins security studies professor.

Joan Donovan of Harvard University said conspiracy theories generally have two principal attributes: They simplify matters and lack attribution. And some political actors see a benefit to encouraging them.

“Who can know the truth in these conditions? No one,” said Donovan, who directs the Kennedy School’s technology and social change research project.

CrowdStrike said in a statement that it “provided all forensic evidence and analysis to the FBI.” It added: “We stand by our findings and conclusions that have been fully supported by the US Intelligence community.”

A PREVIOIUS REFERENCE In October, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said the Trump administration’s decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine was linked to his demand that Kyiv investigate the DNC and the 2016 campaign. Those who believe Trump should be impeached say there is ample evidence the aid was frozen in order to pressure Zelenskiy to investigate political rival Joe Biden’s son’s business activities in Ukraine.

“The look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about in corruption with that nation,” Mulvaney said.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 14, 2019, PAGE 17

Wobbly day on Wall Street ends mixed; New highs for S&P, Dow

By ALEX VEIGA Associated Press WALL Street capped a wobbly day for stocks with another record-setting finish yesterday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 index each eked out a modest gain that was good enough to nudge them to record highs. The Nasdaq closed just below its all-time high set a day earlier.

The latest milestones came after the market bounced back from a late-afternoon slide that coincided with a published report that highlighted snags in the ongoing USChina trade negotiations.

Stocks spent much of the morning with slight gains after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told a congressional panel that the central bank is likely to hold off on cutting interest rates again, citing optimism about the US economy.

Investors’ optimism that Washington and Beijing are nearing a stopgap trade deal and Fed interest rate cuts have helped lift the market in recent weeks.

Surprisingly good corporate earnings and data showing the economy is still growing solidly have also put

investors in a buying mood.

Yesterday, much of that buying involved safe-play stocks like utilities, real estate companies and makers of consumer products that tend to pay higher dividends.

Those sectors outweighed losses in banks, industrial stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending. Demand for bonds also increased, sending bond yields lower.

“It’s a safe-haven kind of approach, but it has more to do with a focus on income,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “(Investors) are willing to go into these different areas of the market because the economy is strong enough to sustain those dividends.”

The S&P 500 rose 2.20 points, or 0.1%, to 3,094.04, a record. The benchmark index edged past its last record close, set on Friday.

It has now hit new highs 20 times this year, eclipsing the 19 it hit in 2018.

The Dow gained 92.10 points, or 0.3%, to 27,783.59. It also closed at a record high on Monday.

The Nasdaq dropped 3.99 points, or 0.1%, to 8,482.10.

Small-company stocks lagged the broader market, sending the Russell 2000 index down 5.94 points, or

TRADER STEPHEN GILMARTIN, right, works with specialist Dilip Patel on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, yesterday. Stocks are opening slightly lower on Wall Street led by declines in banks and industrial companies. Photo: Richard Drew/AP 0.4%, to 1,589.18.

More stocks fell than rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Stock indexes in Europe finished broadly lower.

Treasury yields continued to fall as demand for bonds increased, driving their prices higher. The yield on the ten-year Treasury note slipped to 1.89% from 1.91% late Friday. It was below 1.50% in early September and has been

rallying with confidence in the economy’s strength.

Stocks got off to a sluggish start Wednesday as investors awaited the remarks from Powell, who kicked off two days of testimony before congressional panels.

They perked up after the Fed chairman said that the central bank is unlikely to cut rates unless the economy slows enough to cause Fed policymakers to make

(Incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas) Consolidated Statement of Financial Position (Unaudited) As of 30 September 2019 (Expressed in Bahamian dollars)

Capital – Ordinary Shares $

Capital – Preference Shares $

Revaluation Reserve $

Reserve for Credit Losses $

Retained Earnings $

Total $

20,380,694

15,000,000

330,695

-

54,156,529

89,867,918

Net income

-

-

-

-

19,653,807

19,653,807

Total comprehensive income

-

-

-

-

19,653,807

19,653,807

Depreciation transfer

-

-

(32,235 )

-

32,235

-

Total transfers

-

-

(32,235 )

-

32,235

-

29,356

-

-

-

77,394

106,750

-

-

-

-

(483,493)

(483,493 ) (8,371,334 )

As of 1 January 2019 Comprehensive income

2019 $

2018 $

ASSETS Cash on hand and at banks Investment securities Loans and advances to customers Other assets Assets held for sale Investments in joint ventures Property, plant and equipment

146,715,638 86,117,840 430,981,491 3,101,292 11,911,419 212,944 9,884,971

106,498,105 83,057,535 439,699,830 4,668,546 13,319,401 215,957 10,441,514

Total assets

688,925,595

657,900,888

Transfers

Transactions with owners Issuance of ordinary shares Dividends – preference shares Dividends – ordinary shares Total transactions with owners As of 30 September 2019

LIABILITIES Deposits from customers Accrued expenses and other liabilities Debt securities

551,630,004 1,842,706 34,679,237

532,734,531 1,333,981 33,964,458

Total liabilities

588,151,947

568,032,970

EQUITY Capital – ordinary shares Capital – preference shares Revaluation reserve Reserve for credit losses Retained earnings

20,410,050 15,000,000 298,460 65,065,138

Total equity

100,773,648

20,380,694 15,000,000 330,695 54,156,529 89,867,918

Dividends per share

Total liabilities and equity

688,925,595

657,900,888

9 Months Ended 30 September 30 September 2019 2018 $ $

As of 31 December 2017 Effects of changes in accounting Policies

46,965,682 2,681,582

17,555,358

52,545,888

49,647,264

Interest expense

(3,239,452 )

(9,521,004 )

(9,865,973 )

Net interest income

14,315,906

43,024,884

39,781,291

816,068 63,211

2,255,842 20,156 191,114

2,127,761 60,469 241,610

15,195,185

45,491,996

42,211,131

EXPENSES General and administrative Salaries and employee benefits Provision for loan losses Depreciation and amortisation

3,399,495 3,186,596 2,266,985 340,334

9,592,297 9,463,220 7,326,323 1,061,235

8,580,332 8,621,745 8,121,610 1,095,577

Total expenses

9,193,410

27,443,075

26,419,264

Operating profit

6,001,775

18,048,921

15,791,867

3,332

13,808

37,871

6,005,107

18,062,729

15,829,738

566,345

1,591,078

1,477,880

6,571,452

19,653,807

17,307,618

Net income from continuing operations Profits of operations held for sale Net income and total comprehensive income Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding Earnings per share

-

(8,371,334)

-

-

(8,777,433)

20,410,050

15,000,000

298,460

-

65,065,138

100,773,648

0.29

0.32

(8,748,077 )

Capital – Ordinary Shares $

Capital – Preference Shares $

Revaluation Reserve $

Reserve for Credit Losses $

Retained Earnings $

Total $

20,363,328

15,000,000

373,659

4,090,372

49,489,244

89,316,603

-

-

-

(1,803,042 )

(5,893,414 )

15,000,000

373,659

-

47,686,202

83,423,189

(4,090,372)

Net income

-

-

-

-

22,364,469

22,364,469

Total comprehensive income

-

-

-

-

22,364,469

22,364,469

Depreciation transfer

-

-

(42,964 )

-

42,964

-

Total transfers

-

-

(42,964 )

-

42,964

-

17,366

-

-

-

48,562

65,928

-

-

-

-

(975,000)

(975,000 )

Comprehensive income

Transactions with owners Issuance of ordinary shares Dividends – preference shares Dividends – ordinary shares

As of 31 December 2018

49,805,876 2,740,012

Share of profits of joint ventures

-

-

20,363,328

Total transactions with owners

16,660,948 894,410

Total income

-

Transfers

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income (Unaudited) For the Nine Months Ended 30 September 2019 (Expressed in Bahamian dollars) 3 Months Ended 30 September 2019 $

29,356

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity (Unaudited) For the Year Ended 31 December 2018 (Expressed in Bahamian dollars)

As of 1 January 2018

Fees and commissions Rental income Other income

a “material reassessment” of their outlook.

“Most people going in pretty much assumed that the Fed is now on hold,” Stovall said. “Investors were encouraged that Chairman Powell did not say anything totally out of what was expected.”

The Fed cut short-term rates last month for the third time this year, to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%, in a bid to shield the economy

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity (Unaudited) For the Nine Months Ended 30 September 2019 (Expressed in Bahamian dollars)

Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited

INCOME Interest income Bank deposits, loans and advances Investment securities

from slower global growth and the US-China trade war.

ADT was among the stocks that helped drive the market higher yesterday. The home and business security company climbed 8.2% after its latest quarterly results topped Wall Street’s expectations. The company also announced a special dividend.

Shares in Energizer Holdings jumped 15.2% after the battery and personal care products maker’s latest quarterly results handily beat Wall Street’s forecasts.

Benchmark crude oil rose 32 cents to settle at $57.12 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, gained 31 cents to close at $62.37 a barrel.

Wholesale gasoline rose three cents to $1.64 per gallon. Heating oil climbed one cent to $1.91 per gallon.

Natural gas fell two cents to $2.60 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold rose $9.60 to $1,461.70 per ounce, silver rose 22 cents to $16.90 per ounce and copper was unchanged at $2.64 per pound.

The dollar fell to 108.79 Japanese yen from 108.94 yen on Tuesday. The euro weakened to $1.1002 from $1.1011.

Dividends per share

-

-

-

-

(15,010,668)

(15,010,668 )

17,366

-

-

-

(15,937,106)

(15,919,740 )

20,380,694

15,000,000

330,695

-

54,156,529

89,867,918

0.52

0.65

Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited) For the Nine Months Ended 30 September 2019 (Expressed in Bahamian dollars) Corresponding Figures Where necessary, corresponding figures are adjusted to conform with changes in presentation in the current year.

Further, corresponding figures presented in the consolidated statement of financial position and related notes are as of 31 December 2018.

Capital Management The objectives of Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited (the Bank) when managing capital, which comprises total equity on the face of the consolidated statement of financial position, are: 

To comply with the capital requirements set by the Central Bank of The Bahamas (the Central Bank).



To safeguard the Bank’s ability to continue as a going concern so that it can continue to provide returns for its shareholders and benefits for other stakeholders; and



To maintain a strong capital base to support the development of its business.

Capital adequacy and the use of regulatory capital are monitored by the Bank’s management, employing techniques designed to ensure compliance with guidelines established by the Central Bank, including quantitative and qualitative measures. The required information is filed with the Central Bank on a quarterly basis.

The Central Bank, the Bank’s principal regulator, requires that the Bank maintains a ratio of total regulatory capital to risk-weighted assets at or above a minimum of 14.00%. For the nine months ended 30 September 2019 and the year ended 31 December 2018, the Bank complied with all of the externally imposed capital requirements to which it is subject.

Subsequent Events

28,815,779

28,812,221

28,802,999

0.22

0.67

0.58

Subsequent to 30 September 2019, the transaction to dispose of the Bank’s shareholding in its joint venture, Royal Fidelity Merchant Bank & Trust Limited, closed with the Bank receiving proceeds of $16,449,000 plus the Bank’s share of retained earnings as of the date of closing, which resulted in a profit on disposal of approximately $7,600,000.

PAGE 18, Thursday, November 14, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Economy in mind, Bolsonaro changes tack and cozies up to Xi BRASILIA Associated Press WHAT a difference a year makes.

In the months before last year’s presidential election in Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro described China as predatory and thumbed his nose at the Chinese government by visiting Taiwan, Beijing’s archrival.

Now, as a more pragmatic president, Bolsonaro welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to an international summit that began yesterday in Brasilia, the capital.

The first item on the agenda for Bolsonaro, a far-right leader who has sometimes tried to hang the communist label on his political rivals in Brazil, is a bilateral meeting with Xi. He received Xi at the foreign relations ministry with smiles and handshakes, and the two signed a handful of memoranda. It’s a sign of how Bolsonaro views China as critical to his ambitions to rejuvenate Brazil’s sluggish economy.

“China is an ever greater part of Brazil’s future,” Bolsonaro said in speech after the two leaders met, adding his government will devote due care, respect and consideration to China.

Gone is last year’s fiery campaign trail rhetoric about China being a rapacious power intent on exploiting Brazilian resources.

China is, after all, Brazil’s biggest trading partner.

As China expanded rapidly in the 2000s, eventually becoming the world’s second largest economy, it relied on commodities from producers. Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, shipped soybeans, iron ore and crude to satisfy China’s expanding appetite. Those three products account for more than 80% of Brazil’s exports to China.

Bolsonaro said his government wants to diversify exports to China, and welcomed a signal from China’s government that it wants

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

(242) 323-2330

WEDNESDAY, 13 NOVEMBER 2019

(242) 323-2320

ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE: 2,200.42 | CHG: 0.27 | %CHG: 0.01 | YTD: 90.97 | YTD%: 4.31 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.45 22.65 7.00 6.10 2.60 2.00 5.47 11.75 6.17 4.64 11.25 2.81 3.85 10.21 7.51 16.90 9.40 3.63 14.20

52WK LOW 3.52 20.91 4.90 4.46 1.01 0.22 2.00 9.30 6.15 3.95 6.75 2.35 1.76 7.51 6.10 12.10 6.41 3.01 13.01

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

SYMBOL AML APD BPF BWL BOB BBL CAB CIB CHL CBL CBB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FIN FCL JSJ

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Fidelity Bank Class A Focol Class B

CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB

PREFERENCE SHARES

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00

115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

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

52WK HI 2.27 4.31 2.07 194.86 158.57 1.65 1.82 1.74 1.21 8.01 9.60 6.83 11.39 12.30 10.68 10.00 8.69 11.79

52WK LOW 1.67 3.04 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.58 1.69 1.66 1.09 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

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)

MUTUAL FUNDS

MARKET TERMS

LAST CLOSE 3.68 17.43 6.00 6.10 2.46 1.80 4.70 11.06 6.16 4.12 8.55 3.19 3.85 9.61 7.51 16.90 9.33 3.20 14.00

CLOSE 3.64 17.43 6.00 6.10 2.46 1.80 4.70 11.06 6.16 4.12 8.57 3.21 3.85 9.82 7.51 16.90 9.33 3.20 14.00

CHANGE -0.04 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.21 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

LAST SALE 100.00

CLOSE 100.00

CHANGE 0.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

0.00 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 0.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Preferred Income Fund Leno Growth Fund Leno Diversified Fund Leno 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

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

VOLUME 22,400

1,700 1,700

20,000

VOLUME

NAV 2.27 4.30 2.07 193.72 158.42 1.65 1.82 1.74 1.19 8.23 10.10 6.85 11.24 12.28 10.74 9.92 8.68 11.38

EPS$ 0.239 0.932 1.760 0.369 0.070 0.000 -0.438 0.722 0.449 0.184 0.140 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.939 0.203 0.631

DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.020 0.000 0.720 0.220 0.120 0.000 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.200 0.120 0.610

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

P/E 15.2 18.7 N/M 16.5 N/M N/M -10.7 15.3 13.7 22.4 61.2 31.5 8.2 15.2 10.3 20.7 9.9 15.8 22.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

YIELD 4.67% 7.23% 0.00% 4.26% 0.00% 1.11% 0.00% 6.51% 3.57% 2.91% 0.00% 13.52% 1.56% 3.34% 3.20% 3.20% 2.14% 3.75% 4.36% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75%

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022

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%

20-Nov-2029 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

YTD% 12 MTH% 2.77% 3.84% 1.38% 3.46% 2.03% 2.76% 4.99% 6.20% 7.18% -0.08% 2.88% 3.80% 4.56% 6.50% 3.35% 4.17% 5.77% 7.89% 7.17% 8.76% 11.07% 12.58% 3.50% 4.96% 8.92% -0.97% 5.22% 5.44% 2.95% 2.64% -0.71% 0.16% 7.40% 2.70% 10.20% 1.30%

NAV Date 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 27-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Mar-2019 30-Mar-2019 30-Mar-2019

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 | COLONIAL 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333

CHINA’s President Xi Jinping, left, and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro wave to reporters upon Xi Jinping’s arrival for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 11th edition of the BRICS Summit, at the Itamaraty Palace, in Brasília, Brazil, yesterday.

Photo: Eraldo Peres/AP to help Brazil add value to to work with both counoutput. tries and not pick sides,” Xi’s visit for a meeting said Pepe Zhang, associof leaders of the BRICS ate China director at the emerging economies — Washington-based Atlantic Brazil, Russia, India, China Council. “So far, it’s doing a and South Africa — is his good job.” first to Brazil since 2014.

In August, amid Western But his relationship with criticism of Brazil’s hanBolsonaro already has been dling of fires raging in the blossoming.

Amazon, China defended Just last month, Bol- Brazil’s sovereignty over sonaro traveled to Beijing the region. Bolsonaro yesfor economic and other terday described China’s accords, including the support as “a grand gesture exemption of Chinese nationals from Brazil visa that strengthened us a lot”.

Xi said China intends requirements. Xi received him at his car and they to increase trade and walked side-by-side on a investment, and will eye opportunities for cooplong, red carpet.

“Bolsonaro discovered eration in areas including how important China is to agriculture, electricity, oil, Brazil and that he can do and infrastructure.

“With even greater business with China. And he’s more or less happy trust, we are going to work to guarantee with that,” said Maurício together Santoro, professor of inter- China and Brazil’s friendnational relations at Rio de ship advances in the right direction, overcomes all Janeiro’s state university.

Before he became presi- difficulties and arrives with dent, Bolsonaro praised the firm steps to a brighter US and President Donald future,” Xi said.

Trump. He often said China As Brazil-Chinese diplocan buy from Brazil, but not macy advances, there are buy Brazil itself — rhetoric delicate issues to navigate. that continued for a while The US, for example, is after he took office Jan 1. pressuring the Brazilian The hostile remarks government to exclude Chididn’t last, though. nese telecommunications Brazil is dependent on giant Huawei from its aucforeign investment, espe- tion next year to provide a cially from China.

5G network.

Confirmed Chinese The US State Departinvestments in Brazil ment says that Huawei between 2007 and 2018 poses cybersecurity risks totaled almost $60bn, more and that it will review the than any other Latin Amerway it shares intelligence ican country, according Venezuela with to the Brazil-China Busi- about Brazil if Huawei is allowed ness Council, a Brazilian to provide 5G service. research center.

The US and Brazil conInvestments faltered in 2018 ahead of Brazil’s sider Venezuelan President election, part of a broader Nicolás Maduro to be illedecline stemming from gitimate and want him to resign. investor caution.

China, eager for repayAfter Bolsonaro won the presidency, he took his first ment of the billions of trip abroad to the US, then dollars in oil-backed loans in the midst of a growing it extended to Venezuelan trade dispute with China. President Nicolas Maduro’s administration, But Brazil didn’t get caught socialist continues to support his in the middle.

“Brazil has all the reasons regime.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, November 14, 2019, PAGE 19

California regulators order inquiry into power outages SAN FRANCISCO Associated Press CALIFORNIA regulators opened a formal investigation yesterday into preemptive power outages that blacked out large parts of the state in October, drawing strong rebukes from public officials and residents who said the shutoffs were too broad and poorly executed.

The unanimous vote by the California Public Utilities Commission followed testimony from a handful of people who pleaded with the panel for leadership at a time of increased danger from fire and other natural disasters.

“Many Californians are debating whether California is still safe. Is this a safe place to live?” said Will Abrams of Santa Rosa, whose house burned down in 2017 in wildfires that roared through Northern California wine country.

The state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co, initiated multiple rounds of shut-offs and plunged nearly 2.5 million people into darkness at one point throughout Northern and Central California. Some of the outages lasted for several days.

PG&E officials insisted on the shut-offs for public safety, but infuriated residents and a parade of public officials, including Gov Gavin Newsom, who said cutting off power should be a last resort and that the company regularly botched communications.

Nevada City Mayor Reinette Senum said yesterday that her rural community had no working phones or internet. She wants local control over the power grid, which she said could take better care than PG&E, which is a for-profit utility.

“Basically, we were sent back into the dark ages,” she said.

Southern California Edison Co and San Diego Gas & Electric Co are also for-profit utilities that shut off power, but to far fewer people.

The outages raised concerns about whether the utilities “properly balanced the need to provide reliable service with public safety,” said the order authorising the investigation.

Commission President Marybel Batjer requested the broad investigation, saying that widespread outages “cannot be the new normal for California”.

Commissioners said yesterday that they want to know what can be done to improve shut-offs or reduce their scope in the future.

Batjer also signed an order on Tuesday directing PG&E to show why it should not be fined for other violations related to the shutdowns. Each violation of state requirements involving power shutdowns could carry a $100,000 penalty.

Bill Johnson, the chief executive of PG&E, has said the outages kept people safe, although a transmission line in Sonoma County that was not powered off malfunctioned minutes before a wildfire erupted Oct 23, forcing about 180,000 people to evacuate.

Utility spokeswoman Ari Vanrenen said again yesterday that the shut-offs were the right call. He said

the company continues to improve and has “made every effort” to implement the commission’s requirements when it cuts power.

Abrams not only lost his home in the 2017 wildfires, but his children had to endure smoke from a deadly 2018 wildfire in Paradise. Last month, the family evacuated from another Sonoma County wildfire.

They were terrified to cross into the San Francisco Bay Area amid smaller grassland fires sparked by PG&E lines falling during high, hot

winds, he said.

“The wonderful thing about regulators is you can cut through the rhetoric,” he said.

Commissioners have been stewing over the outages.

Last month, they grilled PG&E officials at an emergency meeting called by Batjer, demanding answers for why the utility was so unprepared for an Oct 9 shutdown in which counties and customers struggled with a crashing website and overworked call lines to get information.

When many cellphone towers were down and internet services out, the utility told people to get information from a website, through relatives or by calling on a landline.

The outages were astonishing for a state that is one of the world’s economic powerhouses. People made frantic dashes for cash and gas as businesses watched their goods spoil. Some elderly and disabled people were trapped in their apartments with elevators out of service.

PG&E initiated five rounds or shut-offs, with the smallest affecting about 30,000 people and the largest affecting nearly 2.5 million. Residents in San Francisco suburbs and in Northern California wine country were without power for days.

The company is in bankruptcy and faces $30bn in liabilities after its equipment was found to have started several deadly wildfires in 2017 and 2018, including the Camp Fire that killed 85 in Butte County.

In September, PG&E reached an $11bn settlement with most of the insurers covering victims of deadly wildfires, but Newsom is stepping up pressure on PG&E to fork over billions more.

If PG&E doesn’t make changes, Newsom is threatening to try to turn the utility into a customerowned co-operative run by the state and local governments. The company so far has defended its proposal as a fair deal for all parties involved in its bankruptcy.

PAGE 20, Thursday, November 14, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

CALIFORNIA SUED AGAIN FOR REQUIRING WOMEN ON COMPANY BOARDS SACRAMENTO Associated Press

CALIFORNIA’S firstin-the-nation law requiring publicly held companies to put women on their boards of directors is facing a second legal challenge.

The law requires publicly traded companies to have at least one woman on their boards by the end of this year. By 2021, boards with five members must have two women, while those with six directors

STATE Sen Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, addresses the Senate in Sacramento, Calif. California’s first-in-the-nation law requiring publicly held companies to put women on their boards of directors faces its second legal challenge. Pacific Legal Foundation sued in federal court yesterday arguing that the law violates the US Constitution’s equal protection clause.

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The Pacific Legal Foundation provided The Associated Press with the lawsuit it filed in federal court yesterday, arguing that the law violates the equal protection clause of the US Constitution.

The libertarian group wants to block such laws in California and other states.

Similar proposals have been introduced in Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington state, the group said.

Illinois ultimately enacted a pared-down law this year requiring publicly traded companies to report the demographics of their boards and plans for promoting diversity to the state each year.

Some European countries, including Norway and France, already require corporate boards to include women.

“The law mandates exactly what the equal protection clause forbids — taking into account things like sex or race,” foundation attorney

Anastasia Boden said. “The Constitution is meant to ensure that people are free to be individuals. Here, the law assumes that people of the same sex are essentially interchangeable.”

Another conservative group, Judicial Watch, sued in August, arguing that spending taxpayer money to enforce the law would violate the California Constitution.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla is named in both lawsuits. He’s asking a judge to throw out the Judicial Watch lawsuit, saying taxpayers have not been harmed and thus have no standing to sue.

Companies face $100,000 fines if they fail to report their board compositions to Padilla’s office. Those who fail to include the required number of female board members can be fined $100,000 for a first violation and $300,000 for subsequent violations.

Former Gov Jerry Brown signed the measure into law last year as lawmakers reacted to the national #MeToo movement against

sexual misconduct. The Democratic governor said at the time that the legislation had “potential flaws” that could block its implementation but that it was important to send a message.

State Sen Hannah-Beth Jackson said her bill is already having a positive effect but respects the right of anyone to file a challenge.

“I strongly believe — and significant research has shown — that this is a policy that improves a business’ performance and their bottom line,” Jackson said in a statement, noting that many companies have already voluntarily complied.

She said the last all-male board of the S&P 500 added a female director, “showing that diversity is within our grasp, and there are women who are highly qualified and eager to step up”.

The California Chamber of Commerce opposed the measure, saying it would be difficult for companies to implement and violates constitutional prohibitions against discrimination.

The Pacific Legal Foundation’s lawsuit likely comes too late to block this year’s deadline, Boden said, but she’s hoping for a ruling before corporations are required to include more women by the end of 2021.

Boden argued that corporations are putting more women on their boards even without the law. She cited the Equilar Gender Diversity Index by the executive data company, which shows that women filled more than 40 percent of director posts so far this year.

“We are actually near boardroom parity,” Boden said. “We don’t need this law, which will actually cast doubt on the reason behind future hires.”

The foundation said nearly two-thirds of its funding comes from individuals, about a quarter from foundations and the rest from associations, businesses and others, and that no donations — corporate or otherwise — go to support any specific case.