The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Government must move “with haste” to conduct and publish a full independent audit of the National Investment Fund (NIF) to prevent governance flaws from becoming a failure of accountability, a senior banker argued yesterday.

Gowon Bowe, the Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive, told Tribune Business that the Davis administration and Ministry of Finance “have a duty to give a full accounting and reconciliation” of all transactions involving the Fund, the replacement for a sovereign wealth fund, after the Central Bank governor affirmed the Board supposed to oversee it was never convened.

Speaking after John Rolle confirmed that there was “no interaction” between the Government and the Fund following his August 7, 2025, Board appointment, Mr Bowe said such an audit needs to be “more deliberate and timely” than normal given the Governor’s signal that the governance, Board and oversight functions set out in the NIF Act 2022 have not been implemented as required by law. The Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief said that, while he is “not excusing the lack of a governance structure” for the Fund, it does not necessarily follow that deficiencies here translate into other accountability-type failings or other forms of wrongdoing. However, the former Fiscal Responsibility Council member warned that failure to make prompt disclosure on the Fund’s financial dealings could result in loss of trust and confidence in the Government.

Senator Latrae Rahming, the Prime Minister’s communications director, yesterday said the Government will respond to the governance concerns voiced by Michael Pintard, the Opposition’s leader, in Parliament. He was later unable to confirm that will happen this week, linking it to the outcome of discussions when the full Davis Cabinet meets today.

Mr Pintard, meanwhile, told Tribune Business the Free National Movement (FNM) plans to take its issues with the Government’s handling of the Fund “to the next level” and is presently consulting an attorney he did not name to obtain an opinion “on a variety of matters” before potentially taking “legal action”.

He added that the Opposition will today deliver a letter to the Auditor General, the Government’s own internal financial watchdog, requesting an investigation into the Fund while also seeking to launch a probe through the Public Accounts Committee, which is the only House of Assembly committee it controls.

Mr Pintard described such investigations as being of “fundamental importance” given the amount of public and taxpayer money placed into the Fund, which could have been higher than $900m in total. Michael Halkitis, minister of finance, in the 2026-2027 Budget communication, said the Government had transferred net or “excess borrowing receipts” worth $700m to the Fund during the 2025-2026 fiscal year and not used these proceeds to cover the deficit.

This might explain how The Bahamas’ national debt increased by $1bn during the 2025-2026 Budget period but did not appear to show up in the deficit, which was just $121.2m for the ten months to end-April 2026. However, besides the $700m, the Davis administration also previously placed $265.5m of net proceeds from the $1.067bn foreign currency international bond issue into the Fund during the prior fiscal period.

Tribune Business revelations that most of that $265.5m had been removed from the Fund, leaving just a balance of $200,000 at end-March 2026, sparked the increased scrutiny that ultimately led to Mr Rolle’s revelation that, despite the Board not being convened and a lack of interaction with the Government, the Central Bank has since July 2025 maintained an account in the name of ‘National Investment Fund’ but played no role in transactions.

The NIF Act, though, stipulates that it is the Board’s responsibility alone to “open and maintain” the Fund’s bank and investment accounts, as well as enter into agreements with financial institutions to act as custodian of its assets. Given that the Board has never been convened, the Opposition is charging that all transactions undertaken since July 2025 are unlawful.

Mr Bowe, though, said governance and concerns over whether the Act’s processes have been followed are distinct, and a separate issue, from whether “we have all the information necessary to provide a full accounting”.

He added: “I would say the Governor’s confirmation indicates that procedural matters do not appear to have been adhered to, but it does not mean the accountability is not available.

“My concern, given the furore that has erupted, is they [the Government] have a duty to give a full accounting and reconciliation that these are the funds placed in the Fund, these are the expenditures and remittances taken from the Fund, and we will commit to having an independent audit being performed.”

Mr Bowe said there are often “mixed views” on the mandatory processes and procedures that need to be followed, citing the frequent complaints from Bahamians over the Know Your Customer (KYC) due diligence that has to be conducted on bank account openings. In the Fund’s case, he added that its transactions and assets are overseen by Ministry of Finance officials who should be able to provide the necessary transparency and disclosure.

Amid the governance flaws, and lack of oversight as stipulated in the Act, the Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief said “concerns should arise” only if the Government is able to give a “full accounting” of the Fund’s activities. He said his bank and other private sector entities override their procedures, but this is ultimately acceptable if all monies involved are accounted for.

“The movements in the National Investment Fund requires a reconciliation to give clarity that this is what the Fund opened with, what went into the fund, the distributions and expenditures that went into the Fund, and here is the outstanding balance,” Mr Bowe told Tribune Business.

“This is not a complex issue, this is not a complex procedure, and government should readily be able to provide information and do so with haste, and any inability to do so heightens the procedural missteps. Do those procedural missteps contribute to the lack of accountability so that these are not mutually exclusive?

“The type of funds that were used, the expectation is there are persons in the Public Treasury and Ministry of Finance in a position to give a full accounting and that should be detailed,” Mr Bowe added. “It’s not to excuse the lack of a governance structure.

“Ultimately, the purpose behind the governance structure is to ensure accountability so that when you override or bypass the governance structure, it’s important you ensure the accounting is more deliberate and timely because you are overriding normal control processes.”

The NIF Act mandates that the Board, and neither the Government nor the Ministry of Finance, are “responsible for the overall management of the Fund” and the preparation of its investment strategy, although the Minister of Finance can give directives that must be publicly disclosed on the latter.

The Davis administration has previously said the $263.3m removed from the Fund at end-March 2026 was used to finance the Family Islands airport redevelopment projects, but Dr Duane Sands, the FNM chairman, yesterday voiced suspicions that the timing gave the Government “a war chest” in the run-up to the May 12 general election.

Concerns have also been voiced over whether monies placed into the Fund have been used to settle the Government’s expenses and bills to avoid this showing up in its deficit and blowing the now-revised $32m surplus projection for 2025-2026.

Observers are also challenging whether the placement of borrowing proceeds directly into the Fund, in addition to breaching the Bahamian constitution and laws that stipulate these must go into the Consolidated Fund, are also designed to keep debt from showing up in the annual deficit. Missing the 2025-2026 surplus target by more than 0.5 percent of GDP would force the Davis administration to submit a corrective action plan to Parliament.

Mr Pintard said of the Opposition’s plans yesterday evening: “The intention is to some time tomorrow [today] have letters delivered to the Auditor General again, and there are some critical questions that need to be answered by the Treasurer of the country. We have committed to expediting this matter urgently. We are going to the next level in terms of legal action.:”

The FNM leader said the party has already reached out to a “senior counsel” for a legal opinion “on a variety of matters” related to the Fund and its operations. “It’s an issue of fundamental importance given the magnitude of the funds involved, the revelations over time and silence of the Government on a matter so critical,” he told Tribune Business.

“Of course, know we will also be asking the Public Accounts Committee to take this matter on an urgent basis alongside the matters we are dealing with now. We believe it’s so critical an issue that it ought to be taken up by the Public Accounts Committee - immediately dealing with the National Investment Fund issue.”