05242019 BUSINESS

Page 1

business@tribunemedia.net

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2019

$4.90 Growth platform laid for Sebas’ investment house By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

INVESTAR Securities’ mutual fund launch is the first step in developing a fully-fledged investment bank, its chairman said yesterday, describing some local investments as “a crap shoot”. Hillary Deveaux, the former Securities Commission chief who now heads Sebas Bastian’s capital markets venture, explained that the absence of a credit rating agency made it

harder to properly assess the risk presented by investing in Bahamian companies. “We don’t have investment grade companies,” he explained. “We don’t have rating agencies; that’s one of the challenges we have. Sometimes, it’s a crap shoot.” Besides providing investment vehicles for both sophisticated investors and “ordinary working” Bahamians (see other article on Page 1B), Investar’s two Titan funds are designed to fuel economic growth.

SEE PAGE 4

Bran: WTO can’t ‘take bread from Bahamian people’ By NATARIO MCKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net THE government must ensure it does not “take bread out of the mouths of Bahamians” by taking this country into full WTO membership, the DNA’s former leader said yesterday. Branville McCartney, pictured, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas should only follow through with World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession if it

and, by extension, Bahamians stood to reap significant economic benefits. He said: “In the march towards World Trade Organisation accession what must always be in the background of the government is that the Bahamian people, and the Bahamian economy, must always be first. “We have seen in other countries where, quite frankly, WTO has not been

SEE PAGE 5

‘Handicapped’ over disabled building access By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE level of access disabled people have to Bahamian commercial buildings is “awful” because of an inability to enforce the law, a private sector executive blasted yesterday. Peter Goudie, a member of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, told Tribune Business that it simply had no inspectors or regulations to ensure the private sector and public buildings comply with the Persons with Disabilities Equal Opportunity Act. That Act imposed a December 31, 2017, deadline for private and public buildings to provide full access for disabled persons, and Mr Goudie said several companies - including Baha Mar and Bahama First - had been called the Commission out to conduct inspections on their buildings.

PETER GOUDIE Arguing that much more needs to be done, Mr Goudie said compliance with the Act was simply good business sense for Bahamian companies as it ensured they received more customers while also performing a wider social need. The former City Markets human resources chief, who sits as one of the private sector representatives on the National Tripartite Council, added that studies had also shown that disabled employees - when given proper access to their

SEE PAGE 6

Multilinguals Required! ActivTrades seeks the following candidates in Nassau

Account Representatives Client Onboarding Assistants No experience is required as full training will be provided. Knowledge of financial markets is desirable but not mandatory. Candidates should be open to travel opportunities.

Fluency in Chinese is compulsory. Applicants can send their CVs to careers@activtrades.bs For further information visit www.activtrades.bs

Online Broker since 2001

ActivTrades is a leading global online broker, with headquarters in London, United Kingdom. It provides trading services in Forex, Contracts for Difference (CFDs) and Spread Betting.

$4.95

$4.91

$4.95

Sebas fund no Island Luck ‘back door’ IPO By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

T

HE two mutual funds launched yesterday by Sebas Bastian’s new investment house are not an alternative “back door” to an Island Luck initial public offering (IPO), top executives said. Investar Securities directors reassured that the Gaming Act’s requirements, combined with the restrictions imposed on how much can be placed with any single investment, meant the Titan funds would own less than five percent of the web shop and its parent, Playtech Systems.

• Web shop chief’s Investar in funds launch • But ‘restricted’ to under 5% of Island Luck • Targeting ‘financial democracy’ and ‘small man’

STANDING from left: Felix Stubbs, Titan funds' director; Dirk Simmons, Titan funds' director; Heather Bellot-Hazarian, Titan funds' director; Ansel Watson, Investar's president and chief executive; Khalil Braithwaite, Leno Corporate Services. SEATED from left: Scott Godet, Investar director; Hillary Deveaux, Investar chairman; and Lowell Mortimer, Investar director.

Investar, which unveiled the Titan products to highlight its long-awaited emergence as a capital markets player, said no other Bahamas-domiciled investment fund was likely to have “undergone more scrutiny” due to its planned holding in Island Luck. Besides the web shop investment, Hillary Deveaux, Investar’s chairman, said the Titan Balanced Fund would also

SEE PAGE 4

Sandals: Try $30m sexual assault case in The Bahamas By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SANDALS is urging a New York judge to dismiss a $30m sexual assault claim because it occurred at its Nassau resort and should therefore be heard by a Bahamian court. US attorneys for Sandals Resorts International, in a May 17 letter to the southern New York federal court, argued that John Pascarella and Ashley Reid Pascarella - whose allegations received widespread TV and print coverage on both sides of the Atlantic - had signed a document agreeing that all legal disputes with the resort chain be resolved in The Bahamas. They added that the couple, who

MORAL ADDERLEY claim Mrs Pascarella was sexually assaulted by Moral Adderley, the butler assigned to them during their stay at Sandals Royal Bahamian, had been shown this clause on both their booking invoice and guest registration card. It stipulates that “all claims” against Sandals “shall be governed solely by the laws of Bahamas as

the exclusive choice of law, and further that the courts of Bahamas shall be the exclusive venue/forum for any proceedings, claims or litigation whatsoever”. In addition, Sandals’ attorneys argued that The Bahamas was the most appropriate judicial forum to hear the claim as all events, evidence and witnesses were in this nation - and there is absolutely no connection to New York. “The claims also are subject to dismissal based on the doctrine of forum non conveniens because all of the events underlying the claim and the evidence exists in the Bahamas - the forum plaintiffs consented to and to which Sandals Resorts International agrees,” Tara Nicola, of the Fitzpatrick, Hunt,

Pagano, Aubert law firm, wrote. “As non-residents of New York, plaintiffs’ choice of forum is entitled to little to no deference. The Bahamas is an adequate and available forum given that Sandals Resorts International consents to jurisdiction of the Bahamian courts. “In addition, Bahamian courts recognise negligence claims and permit recovery for pecuniary and nonpecuniary losses. Bahamian courts also provide for pre-trial discovery.” Ms Nicola added that The Bahamas had a strong reason to try the case because the events complained of allegedly occurred in this nation, adding: “The public and

SEE PAGE 5


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.