The Tribune

By Annelia Nixon

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

The Attorney General yesterday agreed that The Bahamas must find a “fair balance” between skilled expatriate labour and locals after Bahamian attendees at a Securities Commission seminar complained they “are being driven out of the financial services industry”.

Ryan Pinder KC addressed concerns over the number of work permits being issued during a question and answer sessio at the Securities Commission’s international priorities and initiatives 2025 conference.

He responded after one attendee asserted that many Bahamian professionals have either turned to different industries or taken their talents outside of the country due to the number of work permits being issued to non-Bahamians in the financial services industry.

Asking what Mr Pinder is doing to address the issue, they said: “More of us, Mr AG, are being driven out of financial services. And when I say us, Bahamians, Bahamian professionals. We do have the expertise, went off to school...

“But somehow there are record numbers of work permits being issued in our business, and then we are forced to, I guess, find work in other industries. This is evident…

“How would you, or what are you doing, to help to balance this outflow, I mean exodus, of Bahamian financial services professionals - either to other countries or to other industries. Because what we're seeing is not the healthiest when it comes to sustainability of Bahamian financial professionals.”

Mr Pinder, in response, said there needs to be a “fair balance”, adding that cross-border institutions in The Bahamas must be promoted as well and that some smaller Bahamian firms sometimes benefit from it.

“That issue requires also a fair balance, right,” Mr Pinder said. “Because, to your point, you know, we want to foster Bahamian participation and Bahamian ownership within the financial services industry. That's important, and that's vital. We also want to foster and grow cross-border institutions in the country as well. 

“And, frankly, if you have a healthy constituency of cross-border financial services institutions, they look for support services from smaller institutions like yours... and, frankly, we all know that you are a benefactor of that. Right now... And so you need that healthy balance to be an international financial centre, because the first word in IFC (international financial centre) is International. That's important.

“I think when you look at at the the approach of the regulators in this fashion, because ultimately, the regulators also have to approve senior executives in regulated entities, and certainly in a lot of entities - certainly, I think, in most, if not all, certainly most of the medium and smaller size entities that may have an international element to it,” Mr Pinder said.

“I know the regulators… insist on opportunities for Bahamian CEOs, and certainly, I think the compliance sector of the industry, which we have probably mastered as a jurisdiction, from a domestic expertise point of view, better than any other jurisdiction that I could think of, is almost entirely a Bahamian component within the industry. And so I hear you... and I hear your concern on that. But I also understand that you do need a balanced approach, and you can't just shut the spigot off.”

Mr Pinder added that a meeting was held on Wednesday night with discussions focused on fostering Bahamian growth especially within non-Bahamian entities.

“Can we be a little bit more, you know, pay attention to the issue, and a little bit more scrutinising? Sure,” Mr Pinder said. “I'm sure we can be, right, and I'm sure we should be. But I also think that there's a balance element in there that you don't want to completely dissuade international participation within the industry domestically.

“In The Bahamas, there's a lot of spillover effects, both within the industry and without. And do we always get the balance correct? No. I mean, I don't think any administration can claim that they get the balance correct. But we certainly work hard, and we work in conjunction with the regulators. 

“In fact, there was a rather high-level meeting that occurred just last night where an element of what you were speaking about was ventilated at the highest levels in the country, with respect to the financial services industry and how can we as policymakers, as well as regulators, take an approach that fosters more Bahamian growth and Bahamian opportunities at the highest levels of these institutions,” Mr Pinder added.

“And how do we convince these institutions that, when you do this, when you're changing executive leadership or you're bringing on new executive leadership, that there is a legitimate, fair shake for Bahamian executives to participate in that, especially when it's a non-Bahamian entity. And so I can assure you that, at the very, very highest levels in the Government and on the regulatory side of it, that conversation was had really no earlier than last night.”