The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Reforms to key corporate laws will boost The Bahamas' competitiveness by improving the ease of doing business and providing investors with greater certainty, MPs said yesterday.

Elsworth Johnson, minister for financial services, trade and industry and Immigration, speaking in parliament yesterday said changes to the Companies Act and the International Business Companies Act are designed to create greater flexibility in executing commercial contracts and do away with the need for a new company to have a common seal.

"These amendments are designed to improve the ease of doing business, and to bring clarity to some provisions of existing legislation, bringing certainty in the law for service providers and international partners making use of products and services in the jurisdiction," Mr Johnson said.

The reforms were drafted with help from the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) and the Association of International Banks & Trust Companies (AIBT), he added, in a bid to “ensure that The Bahamas remains the jurisdiction of choice for financial services".

Other Bills brought to Parliament yesterday include legislation that makes "new provisions with respect to the manner of execution of deeds and other instruments for connected matters". Another Bill “clarifies the existing law as it relates to the abolition of the rules against perpetuity as the disposition of interest and property", Mr Johnson said.

He added: “Lastly, the Foundations Amendment Bill amends section four of the Foundations Act to make clear that a foundation under this Act created for a charitable purpose may benefit persons everywhere in the world.

"We are answering the call of industry stakeholders to follow the trends to remain competitive and make it easier to do business in The Bahamas. We all know that certainty is critical when selecting a jurisdiction for international financial services.”

Brent Symonette, the St Anne’s MP and Mr Johnson's immediate ministerial predecessor, said the Bills are “great steps forward” in boosting The Bahamas' ease of doing business. "These compendium of Bills are what is necessary for the financial services industry, so that they can go out and market The Bahamas," he added.

Chester Cooper, the Opposition's finance spokesman, said: “The Companies Act amendments are long overdue, and when I say long overdue, I cannot overstate that. One of the things it is doing is to make it easier to do business by doing away with the mandatory requirement to use a seal.”