The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Consumer Protection Commission’s (CPC) chairman yesterday repeated his calls for more Bahamian-owned banks and greater regulation of banking fees, arguing: “We have to do what it takes to save banking in the Bahamas.”    

Senator Jerome Gomez, while speaking in the Senate during the debate on the Homeowners Protection Bill, said: “We need more banks and more Bahamian-owned banks. They don’t have to be as big and fancy as the Royal Banks and the Scotia Banks. They can be a as simple as a community bank.”

“We have to do what it takes to save banking in the the Bahamas and make banking in the Bahamas as  easy as possible.”

Mr Gomez reiterated calls for banking fees to be regulated, noting that Jamaica was taking steps to do this. “We cannot allow banks to get away with the activities that they have been doing,” he argued.

“Because banks are not making as much money as they used to in the Caribbean, they are increasing fees. They are not even trying to compete. They just publish their rates. There is room in this market for competition; let Bahamians get involved.”

Mr Gomez described the Homeowners Protection Bill, which was tabled in Parliament in February, as the “first steps” towards Bahamians taking ownership of the banking industry and protecting what is likely to be a person’s biggest investment.

The Homeowners Protection Bill requires lenders to give delinquent borrowers 30 days’ notice before either invoking their ‘power of sale’ or seeking a court-approved foreclosure.

In both cases, borrowers can apply to the Supreme Court for relief. On the foreclosure process, the court can either adjourn, stay or suspend the matter if it believes the borrower will be able to pay principal and accrued interest within six months.

As for the ‘power of sale’, the latest version of the Bill allows the court to postpone this for “a reasonable period where a sum equal to at least one half of the principal, and accrued interest, has been paid at a specified time”.

The Homeowners Protection Bill is also designed to give borrowers more ‘freedom of choice’ through an ability to select their own attorney and appraiser from a list provided by - and approved by - the lender. Borrowers will also be able to select their own insurance broker/provider.

Bahamas-based mortgage lenders typically direct borrowers to use certain attorneys and insurance companies, so any efforts to improve ‘freedom of choice’ are likely to be welcomed by consumers.