By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Legal profession ‘liberalisation’ “will not advance” unless research shows a majority of Bar Association members are in favour, a group of attorneys pledged yesterday.
The Financial Services Group (FSG), a Bar Association committee, said in a statement that its only goal was to create “an open forum” for attorneys on whether attorneys and law firms specialising in financial services should be allowed to practice in the Bahamas.
Emphasising that they were neither for nor against ‘liberalisation’, the FSG said it first wanted to obtain “empirical data” by surveying Bar Association members to determine whether they supported such a move.
Their statement came amid suggestions by some attorneys that focusing on legal ‘liberalisation’ masked the real issues as to why the Bahamian services industry was not growing.
Paul Moss, president of Bahamas-based Dominion Management Services, told Tribune Business that inadequate promotion coupled with impediments to the ‘ease of doing business’ were the main factors inhibiting the industry’s development.
Illustrating the problems facing the industry and its clients, he said: “I have written to the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister’s Office, with respect to a client seeking a particular service.
“The letter was delivered on June 7, and so far, nothing. No response. This is what people are complaining about; the ‘ease of doing business’. It’s so chaotic, and people do not come to a country that does not work.”
Arguing that the Bahamas was failing to tackle the weaknesses that matter, Mr Moss added: “Here, we do no work. All we do is bang on the table, throw chairs and hurl insults.
“Nothing is being achieved, and that is part of the problem we have yet to correct. Meanwhile, Cayman is going out there, passing laws and promoting the jurisdiction.”
Mr Moss said the Bahamas Financial Services Board’s (BFSB) annual promotional budget paled when set alongside the $10 million at the Cayman Islands’ disposal.
As a result, high net worth and institutional clients, and their key intermediary advisers, all lacked knowledge of the Bahamas and what it has to offer in terms of products and services.
And Mr Moss argued that, as a consequence, key portfolios and ‘books of business’ were directed elsewhere because of this lack of familiarity.
“Because we’re not serious, we’re trying to find excuses and are afraid to go where the problems lie,” he told Tribune Business.
“The problems are that we’re an inefficient country that does not work. Until we man up to it and find solutions that are low hanging fruit, we will not find the problems that create the symptoms we feel.
“We need to be focused and have an honest approach. The power goes off at any moment, and generators do not always start up in time.”
Prime Minister Perry Christie, and his current and former financial services ministers, Hope Strachan and Ryan Pinder, have all argued that the Bahamas is losing business because of perceptions that the Bar Association operates ‘a closed shop’.
They, and senior attorneys such as Brian Moree QC and Bryan Glinton, say insufficient specialist capacity among Bahamian lawyers, coupled with the inability of foreign practitioners to operate from here, encourages potential clients to seek out other jurisdictions.
However, those in favour of legal ‘liberalisation’ have been quick to point out they are not advocating an ‘Open Sesame’. Specific practice areas, such as criminal and family law, would still be reserved for Bahamian attorneys and law firms only.
However, Mr Moss argued that ‘opening up’ to specialist foreign attorneys and intermediaries was not a ‘magic bullet’ that will kick-start explosive growth in the financial services industry.
“You can bring in the most ‘hot shot’ QC from around the world. He still has to deal with the broken court system where you can’t get documents when you go to the Registry, because they’ve been misplaced,” Mr Moss said.
“Immigration officers are working in the same conditions as they were in the 1960s. The inefficiency is all around, but we always look to pass the buck without doing the heavy lifting.”
Mr Moss also reiterated his view that any Bar Association ‘liberalisation’ was “obsolete” and 25 years too late, as technology enabled foreign attorneys to easily work with their Bahamian counterparts in devising products and structures tailor-made for client needs.
“Just this morning, I’ve been working with lawyers in Dubai, lawyers in BVI, and a lawyer in Switzerland to put some documents together,” he added. “Technology has passed this by. Today, the phone bill is virtually zero.”
Mr Moss suggested that legal profession ‘liberalisation’ was being pushed by the BFSB “in concert with other financial services groups”, along with the larger Bahamian law firms who were keen to revive earnings generated by the industry.
He said they had pinpointed Cayman’s relative success, in comparison to the Bahamas, as stemming from the ability of foreign lawyers - with the necessary contacts and expertise - to practice in that jurisdiction.
However, Mr Moss said this argument did not account for the fact that Cayman, BVI and Bermuda were all Crown dependencies, and thus subject to pressures from the UK.
The FSG, in its statement yesterday, said it was formed as a committee of the Bar Association in August 2015 to advance the interests of attorneys practicing in the financial services industry.
Describing its work, it explained: “One of the major initiatives is the issue of the liberalisation of the Bar.
“It is our belief that we can contribute to the discussion on liberalisation by providing an open forum for members of the Bar to state their position and concerns, and to provide recommendations that will form the basis of carefully-considered policies regarding liberalisation and other matters.....
“It is important for us to convey that without empirical data, FSG does not - and will not -advance any arguments in support of or against liberalisation. We advocate that all members be given an opportunity to be heard on this and other related issues for the purpose of charting a viable course of action to promote and encourage growth in the legal profession.”
Turning to the proposed survey, the FSG said the results would provide a “factual basis” as to whether Bar members favoured ‘liberalisation’, and an assessment of expertise and training needs.
It added that the survey results would enable the Bar Association to develop a policy on the issue, and also make any necessary recommendations to the Government.
“The scope of this initiative is to advance an evidence-based approach to the issue of liberalisation, and to facilitate discussions on the improvement of legal services in the Bahamas,” the FSG said, “while balancing the need to protect members’ interests and to improve the competitiveness of our members and the jurisdiction in the provision of financial services.”
It is now awaiting a response from the Bar Council as to whether it is willing to fund the $6,000 cost of conducting the proposed member survey.
Comments
bogart 7 years, 8 months ago
Inflows of foreign capital to build offices, partnerships, networking into global companies, renting offices, hiring staff, etc should be an incentive for many of the thousand plus lawyers who would want to create more income and be able to compete with the big firms who have their own specialists.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID