business@tribunemedia.net
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019
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Leading doctor faces $300k Fidelity payout By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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TOP heart doctor was yesterday ordered to pay almost $300,000 to RoyalFidelity Merchant Bank & Trust after losing his “negligent/ fraudulent misrepresentation” appeal over a disputed margin loan. The Court of Appeal, in a unanimous verdict, found Dr Conville Brown “was in breach” of a near two decade-old agreement he made to borrow money from the
• Dr Conville Brown ‘in breach’ of margin loan • Unable to prove ‘misrepresentation claim’ • Stock sale failed to cover debt to bank
DR CONVILLE BROWN
Bahamas-based investment bank. The loan, which was secured against the value of the stocks and securities in his brokerage account at RoyalFidelity, stipulated that the sum borrowed must never exceed 50 percent of these investments’ collective value otherwise it would fall into default. These securities were
valued at $329,751 when the loan was agreed on February 17, 2000, and RoyalFidelity agreed to advance a margin facility of $164,875 that was worth 50 percent of the collateral pledged. However, the Bahamian stock market - and value of the securities in Dr Brown’s
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DPM’s ‘total disgust’ on France blacklist By YOURI KEMP and NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Reporters THE deputy prime minister yesterday voiced his “total disgust” over France’s decision to blacklist The Bahamas as he blasted the “devious” way in which it had been implemented. Confirming that Paris had formally notified the Minnis administration of its decision yesterday morning, K Peter Turnquest slammed its “surreptitious” decision as “an affront” to
K PETER TURNQUEST
Tax cheats warned: Don’t exploit Dorian recovery incentives By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net TAX cheats and fraudsters were yesterday warned that the government’s revenue authorities will be “stepping up surveillance” to protect the post-Dorian Economic Recovery Zones from abuse. K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister, in tabling the order to bring these zones into effect, emphasised the government’s determination that their multiple tax breaks will not become a “universal tax holiday” or “free for all” to be exploited by persons and
businesses not impacted by the disaster. “We understand that as much as we try to be progressive there are those that take advantage of the system,” he told the House of Assembly, adding that the government could simply not afford for the zones in Abaco and Grand Bahama to become major revenue leakage sources given Dorian’s estimated $3.4bn impact. He added that the revenue foregone by establishing these zones, which will remain in effect until
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BOB IT manager’s conviction for $21k client theft upheld By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER Bank of The Bahamas information technology (IT) manager yesterday failed to overturn his conviction for stealing $21,000 from customer accounts in early 2015. The Court of Appeal, upholding the Magistrate’s Court verdict against Renrick Bowe, sentenced the former bank executive to three years and five months in Fox Hill Prison with the sentence to start running as of yesterday. He will have to serve an extra year if he fails to repay
the stolen $21,000 by the time his sentence is completed, after the Court of Appeal reaffirmed his conviction on 13 counts of stealing by reason of employment, five counts of attempted stealing by employment and five counts of unauthorised use of a computer. Appeal justice Roy Jones, in a unanimous Court of Appeal verdict, recalled how Mr Bowe had been employed to a position of trust by the BISX-listed bank in June 2013. “His responsibility included the support of all information technology applications at Bank of The
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international diplomatic norms and the relationship this nation had sought to build with France. He added that The Bahamas’ inclusion on France’s list of countries deemed non-cooperative in the fight against tax-related crimes stemmed from “the perception by the French authorities” that this nation “has not been responding to requests for information in a manner that is satisfactory to them”. Mr Turnquest did not say whether it was the speed
or content of responses to French requests on their citizens/companies via the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) between the two countries that had troubled Paris, other than it felt “our response was not sufficient”. He added, though, that an inter-governmental investigation had not turned up any French tax information requests that remained outstanding or had not been
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‘How much more can financial services take?’
TANYA MCCARTNEY
CRAIG A GOMEZ
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
financial services professionals argued that the French move was merely the latest example of how little control the industry has over its destiny, leading some to openly wonder how long the industry can maintain its status as a “significant player” in the face of such “continuous bombardment”. Craig A “Tony” Gomez, the Baker Tilly Gomez accountant and partner, told Tribune Business: “This again serves as another indication that the financial services industry is moving further away from our control and into the full control of those G-7 and OECD countries. “From a practical perspective, as a practitioner in the financial services industry we are challenged on a daily basis to serve clients and potential clients because of the vast amount of regulations we are bombarded with.” Pointing to a new set of regulations just issued by the Securities Commission and Compliance Commission, Mr Gomez added: “Again,
THE Bahamian financial services industry was yesterday said to be “astounded” by France’s decision to “blacklist” this nation, with some asking: “How much more can the sector take?” Tanya McCartney, the Bahamas Financial Services Board’s (BFSB) chief executive, told Tribune Business that the organisation and its industry members were “equally as surprised as the government” by the French action as there had been no advance warning it was imminent. While any impact will be much less severe than if The Bahamas had been targeted by a multinational body, such as the European Union (EU) or Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), Ms McCartney added that “no adverse listing is welcome news” for a sector struggling for growth following a two decade-long assault by international regulatory initiatives. And several Bahamian
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