The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A leading authority on arbitration yesterday said it was not too late for the Bahamas to establish itself as an international hub, adding that it must determine its market and likely level of demand.

“We need to find out what the reality of the situation is and what the prospects are if the Bahamas offers itself to the international users who are now going elsewhere,” said Professor Jan Paulsson, the Government’s top external consultant on the arbitration centre project.

“If the Bahamas proposes something to them which is attractive to them, I have no doubt that you will look back at the beginning of this path toward becoming a leading international jurisdiction, thinking: ‘We should have started before, but it’s not too late’.”

Addressing a Ministry of Financial Services luncheon, Professor Paulsson added: “There are many countries who sought to become international arbitration hubs, and the reason they have failed is because they were long on enthusiasm but short on hard thinking.

“In the example of the Bahamas, the project being designed now is trying to think things through very carefully.

“You hear people talk a lot about becoming a great hub for international arbitration. You hear a lot of talk about Singapore and so you should; it’s a wonderful success story, but you can’t just copy what Singapore did.

“If you do exactly what Singapore did I guarantee you will not have the same results, but it’s instructive to think about how Singapore has gone about it. It didn’t happen by magic because Singapore had the right ideas from the beginning. There was a lot of local resistance, for instance what it meant for their practice. Singapore was very reluctant to go along. The Singapore lawyers had a 100 per cent monopoly,” said Professor Paulsson.

    He added that Singapore lawyers have taken a serious interest in arbitration, which has helped to establish the jurisdiction’s reputation as an international hub.

“Local lawyers have said that since we are living in the jurisdiction, which is the leading jurisdiction for international arbitration, we have to raise our game; we have to understand this,” said Professor Paulsson.

“They have taken an interest in international arbitration. In the beginning, foreign litigants perhaps did not use them very much, but that changed as time went on.”

    “Now I can’t think of one Singaporean law firm that has disappeared.  I can name half a dozen Singaporean lawyers who have  attained prominence in the field of arbitration, leave Singapore and arbitrate all over the world.”