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Bahamas shrugs off FTX for perfect ‘40 out of 40’
The Bahamas yesterday shrugged off FTX’s implosion through what the attorney general hailed as the “enormous accomplishment” of a perfect score in the fight against financial crime.
Water Corp: $1.2m claim was resort financing ploy
The Water & Sewerage Corporation has defeated a $1.227m damages claim for trespass that it alleges was merely a ploy attempting to force it to finance a planned Andros eco-resort.
Sarkis loss ‘over $3bn’ if Baha Mar hit targets
Sarkis Izmirlian would so far have “lost more than $3bn” in potential profits alone if the Baha Mar resort from which he was ousted hit his financial projections, an analyst’s report has calculated.
Insurers: ‘Light at end of tunnel’ over taxation
Bahamian insurers yesterday voiced relief that there is “light at the end of the tunnel” after the Government said it would drop plans to move the industry to a Business Licence fee taxation regime.
Bank payment charges need ‘legitimate redress’
THE Central Bank yesterday appeared to concede that fees for payment services were too high and “require legitimate redress”, a view shared by 78 per cent of Bahamians.
Pensioners left with 30% in City Markets HQ sale
* Claim trustees ‘not acting in our best interest’ * Trustees retain 27% of $3m sale to AML Foods * And lawyer paid almost one-third of proceeds
City Markets pensioners have been “kept in the dark” over the $3 million sale of the plan’s main asset, with just 30 per cent of the proceeds seemingly left for their benefit.
Title questions raised over $3m AML deal
CITY Markets pension fund trustees have no legal standing to sell the defunct supermarket chain’s former head office to AML Foods for $3 million, it was alleged yesterday.
Development Bank fund ‘sinking’: Covers 1/3 of $46m bonds
* Just 28.4% of loans ‘performing’ * Accumulated losses over $60m * Solvency deficiency at $31.31m
THE Bahamas Development Bank’s (BDB) ‘sinking fund’ covered just one-third of its $46 million outstanding bond debt at year-end 2016, with only 28.4 per cent of its loans ‘performing’. The BDB’s 2016 financial statements, tabled in the House of Assembly in Wednesday by the Prime Minister, reveal the parlous state of another state-owned enterprise (SOE) that has racked up more than $60 million in losses for the Bahamian taxpayer during its 43-year existence.
AML Foods closes Carl’s Jr franchise
AML Foods has decided to pull the plug on its Carl’s Jr franchise and close all three outlets, Tribune Business confirmed yesterday, although no job losses will result.
Kosoy, Sterling eye Hurricane Hole deal
David Kosoy’s Sterling Global Financial is in negotiations to acquire Paradise Island’s Hurricane Hole property from Atlantis’s owner, Tribune Business can reveal.
McCartney: ‘Look elsewhere’ for Baha Mar purchaser
The Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) leader yesterday said Baha Mar’s potential purchaser would not be granted a casino licence if the Gaming Board “did proper due diligence”, as he accused the Government of “playing with fire”.
PHA: 20% local spend rise rebuts ‘wipe out’ fears
The Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) yesterday said the 20 per cent increase in spending with Bahamian pharmaceutical wholesalers over a two-year period proves that fears it is intent on “wiping out” the industry are groundless.
‘Penny wise and pound foolish’
A well-known surgeon has branded the Public Hospitals Authority’s (PHA) move to exclude Bahamian wholesalers from the pharmaceutical drugs supply chain as “penny wise and pound foolish”.
Liquidator targeting Govt’s $720k oil fee
Some $720,000 in oil exploration license fees that were paid to the Bahamas Government are being targeted by a Cayman-based liquidator, who has written to two Cabinet ministers seeking their assistance in recovering the funds.
Baha Mar expat staff face October 31 wait
Former foreign employees of Baha Mar have to wait until October 31 to see if they will recover what is owed to them, while their Bahamian counterparts have been reminded of the “take it or leave it” approach.
Receiver dismisses 'uninsurable' Baha Mar allegations
Baha Mar's receiver yesterday dismissed claims by firebrand FNM MP, Dr Andre Rollins, that the $3.5 billion development is both "uninsurable" and will cost a further $1.8 billion to complete.
Govt ‘encourages’ Bahamian group’s landfill ‘win-win’
The Government is seeking a “holistic” solution to the New Providence landfill’s numerous challenges, and is encouraging a Bahamian consortium to advance its proposal for taking away 25 per cent of existing waste streams.
‘Deceptive indicators’ hurt Budget estimates
The Chamber of Commerce’s chairman believes the use of “misnomers and deceptive indicators” are causing the Government to consistently miss unrealistic Budget and fiscal targets.
Bahamas exports decline by 36% to five-year low
The Bahamas’ merchandise trade deficit fell by 12.3 per cent in 2015 to $2.719 billion, as the decline in imports offset a more than one-third reduction in exports.
Ex-Hard Rock franchisee queries transfer to ex-MP
Hard Rock Cafe's former Nassau franchisee has questioned why the business was so readily handed to its Bahamian landlord, when a decade earlier he had been "forced" to pay $1 million to end their partnership.
