By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The Bahamas “cannot survive many incidents” similar to this week’s detention of a senior UBS banker, a leading QC warning it will reinforce perceptions in some quarters that this nation has a “hostile” Immigration policy.
Brian Moree QC, senior partner at McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes, yesterday said the Immigration Department’s treatment of Emmanuel Fiaux was “bound to cause” the Swiss bank, a financial services giant, to review its presence in the Bahamas.
Expressing hope that UBS would not overreact, Mr Moree nevertheless agreed the incident was “counterproductive” and “very damaging” to the Bahamas’ efforts to promote itself as an international financial and business centre.
“The entire incident was extremely unfortunate, as it tends to play into the perceptions that many people have about the Bahamas,” he told Tribune Business.
“While this incident was clearly an aberration, it’s real harm to the country is that it feeds into the perception that we have a very restrictive and hostile Immigration policy.
“We know that in reality that is not correct, but one’s perception tends to be one’s reality, and the great danger of this incident is that it tends to negate a great deal of good work, and positive marketing, that we have accomplished. People tend to focus more on the bad than the good.”
Mr Moree added: “The net result is adverse for us as a jurisdiction, and every effort needs to be made, and presumably is being made, to avoid any further occurrence.”
The incident with Mr Fiaux, UBS (Bahamas) executive director, threatens to undermine the work the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) and other industry bodies have done in influencing positive perceptions of this jurisdiction among institutions’ global head offices.
Mr Moree alluded to this concern, telling Tribune Business: “I would guess, discern, the [UBS] head office will be very concerned about the way their senior officer was treated, and that is bound to cause them to carefully review their presence in the Bahamas.
“While one would hope their head office does not react to this incident, as bad as it was, and they would accept it was an aberration, it nevertheless provides a very unpleasant, a very unfortunate, impression of the jurisdiction.
“The hope is that they’ll look at it in context, and not let a single event govern their overriding view of the jurisdiction.”
The well-known QC said the “damage to the country” was disproportionate to the incident involving Mr Fiaux.
He added that the Bahamas now had “to reassure the international banking community this..... does not represent the policy of the Government”.
But, from a competitive standpoint, Mr Moree agreed that the episode threatened to undermine the attractiveness of the Bahamas as a financial centre and place to do international business.
“It’s very counterproductive to a great deal of good work that’s been done on that front,” he told Tribune Business.
“We know, in this very competitive environment, the private and public sectors all work very hard to promote the Bahamas’ reputation as a financial centre and centre that is pro-business.
“This type of incident is clearly very damaging to those efforts..... We cannot survive many incidents of that nature without taking a major hit.”
Comments
jackflash 10 years, 3 months ago
Yes, The man should have had his ID on him. But seeing that he was well dressed and on his way to the office, probably in a company car it could have been handled with more tact.
The officer could have done a few different things
1) Call the immigration headquarters and asked to pull the guys file and find out if he was straight. (oh, this stop was at 815am and back at the office they were still in the lunch room finishing their Tuna& Grits)
or 2) Send the man to work under the instructions that proof must be submitted to Hawkins hill that morning.
The officer could have reminded the man that he needed to carry his ID Card with him.
BUT - Let's leave the scene with the rich expat and lock him up.
Having said that I am sure that the guy lost his cool and said some choice words and that escalated everything.
It should have been handled differently.
GrassRoot 10 years, 3 months ago
your story does not add up. the immigration officer was out of credit on his cell phone and no top up seller anywhere nearby. So No. 1 is out the window. No. 2 does not work neihter - white expats don't have work, they are only rich. I guess what happened is that the officer was hoping to get a 20 dollar bill to let the guy off the hook.Too bad Swiss people must be cheap.
SP 10 years, 3 months ago
Brian Moree is overplaying this situation for his own personal agenda.
I would like to hear the other side of the story. What did this Emmanuel Fiaux say to the officer?
Chances are he stuck his nose into the air "true Swiss style" and berated the officers.
I will stick with Mr. Mitchel on this one...The guy probably was his own worst enemy and purposely caused the problem.
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 3 months ago
I believe he behaved badly, but officers are supposed to be trained to maintain their cool. They're the ones we call to diffuse situations.
GQ 10 years, 3 months ago
When all the comments are over and done the jackass who is minister of immigration's comments will be most damaging to this country. He?/she?/shim? has only one agenda and that is to become prime minister and is playing into the hands of the ignorant who want to make it a racial matter. Little do they realize the importance a company like UBS is to us. I am sick and tired of these little tin gods who only want to control peoples lives and squeeze every last dollar out of Bahamians.
jackbnimble 10 years, 3 months ago
So if I were a white illegal (and we do have those) and I wanted to get over in a road raid to catch illegals, then going forward all I would do was say, "I work for UBS, the largest bank in the world who is supplying your country with badly neded financial resources. But guess what? I don't have my papers on me so you can't arrest me". Cool way to get over, don't you think?
birdiestrachan 10 years, 3 months ago
The comments of Brian Moree are typical of him " I would guess, discern the UBS head office will be concerned about how their Officer was treated and they will review their presence in the Bahamas" How was he treated? Does he know?. All Countries have laws and the laws are for every one. He assumes the Bahamian Officers are wrong and this man is right.
Companies are concerned with profits. Brian is pontificating as usual.
concernedcitizen 10 years, 3 months ago
Would it have been different if he were a well dressed black banker here on a work permit ??THE LONG AND SHORT OF DID ,WE DON,T EAT WITH OUT WHITE TOURIST ,WHITE FDI, AND WHITE FOREIGN BANKS ,,,IT IS REALLY THAT SIMPLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
concernedcitizen 10 years, 3 months ago
Do you talk to people like that face to face ,if you do you must get punched in the mouth a lot . I have the right to work in two countries and have worked in another country for twenty years before returning home ten years ago . I am fifty now and when i turn 65 will collect a pension from my work out of the Bahamas and my NIB . You are just a smart mouth little punk given to bad language and hyperbole ..
SP 10 years, 3 months ago
@ rory..Please do not refer to concernedcitizen as a dummy or slave. Idiots like him make dummies and slaves look good!
concernedcitizen is a conkyjoe wanna-be white individual trapped in a black persons body.
Frankly rory, I am surprised you waste time reading anything he blogs. This clown is one of the 49% among us that supported the UBP/FNM and prefer a white master than freedom.
John 10 years, 3 months ago
I just travelled to the USA. The US Customs agents took me in a room where they did a body search and a full inspection of the one bag I was taking with me. Why was this done? Because I had some US currency (not much) in the pocket of a jacket I had in my bag and it showed up when they did an x ray scan of the bag. Did the customs and boarder patrol agent apologize after he searched me and found I was not smuggling currency? NO!!!..all he said was 'keep your money in your pocket or carry on bag the next time you travel to avoid situations like this...
jackbnimble 10 years, 3 months ago
A friend reiterated this story to me on the weekend. She recently tried to go through US Customs and Immigration and the US Officer was giving her an "attitude". She let the Bahamian in her rise up and proceeded to cuss the officer out. Needless to say, she did not travel that day even though she had a valid passport and US-issued visa!
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