IDB executive says economic woes are ‘self-inflicted’
MOST of the Bahamas’ economic woes are “self inflicted”, according to an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) executive yesterday.
Just 15% of insolvent broker’s assets located
An insolvent Bahamian broker/dealer’s liquidators have recovered just 15 per cent of its identified assets, while clawing back minimal sums from its former principal and overdrawn clients.
Banks: Homeowner Bill to change ‘risk profile’ of mortgages
Home loan costs and accessibility could largely depend on how the courts interpret the proposed Homeowners Protection Bill, the Clearing Banks Association’s (CBA) chairman warned yesterday.
Baha Mar’s foreign creditors to get ‘3-4 cents on dollar’ offer
Baha Mar’s remaining foreign creditors will likely receive an offer this week to pay them “three-four cents on the dollar”, the claims committee’s chairman revealed yesterday.
Unions demand employers held to ‘same standards’
Labour leaders yesterday demanded that employers be held to the “same standard” over their calls for trade unions to be struck off if they are insolvent or fail to file their annual returns.
29% qualification rate over Mortgage Relief
A Cabinet Minister yesterday said 29 per cent of troubled borrowers contacted to-date had completed the requirements to enter the Government’s Mortgage Relief Plan, although he emphasised that this - and other legal changes - were “not a panacea” for the Bahamas’ housing crisis.
Sky Bahamas chief wants Bahamasair ‘burden’ lifted
A LEADING Bahamian airline executive said yesterday that Bahamasair should be used as the tool to help build the country’s tourism industry, arguing that a lack of accountability and political interference has prohibited this and made the airline a “burden on the backs of the Bahamian people”.
Carnival bands ask for $1m subvention
The leader for Junkanoo Carnival’s bands said yesterday they were seeking “at least” a $1 million subsidy from the Government to stage this year’s parade, adding that the event could be bigger than Trinidad’s Carnival in five years “if we do it right”.
$10m bond deepens Gov’t BOB bail-out
The “full-scale” taxpayer bail-out of Bank of the Bahamas has deepened, with the Government taking up its entire $10 million bond issue amid a 51.3 per cent increase in half-year losses.
Homeowners Bill could be ‘disaster’ for the economy
THE unintended effects of the Government’s Homeowners Protection Bill could be “disastrous for the entire economy”, the FNM’s deputy leader warned yesterday, cutting off mortgage credit and undermining all industries dependent on the housing market.
No BOB investor buy-out unless all made ‘whole’
THE 3,000 minority shareholders in Bank of the Bahamas will not accept any Government buy-out offer unless it makes them “whole”, a former FNM chairman said yesterday.
Moss slams ‘deception’ of Homeowners Bill
THE United Democratic Party’s (UDP) leader yesterday described legislation designed to protect delinquent Bahamian mortgage borrowers as “a deception” and a “farce”, and accused the Government of breaking its consultation promises.
Put 20% water heat savings in the tank
ONE of my clients recently told me he takes cold showers most of the year. He is from the islands, and that makes him used to it, he said. But with winter here, he called me to his home to check out water heating options. The one thing foremost on his mind? Tankless water heating.
Aliv to ‘re-double’ efforts on mobile number portability
THE Bahamas’ new mobile operator has pledged to “redouble efforts” to introduce number portability as rapidly as possible, after yesterday’s planned launch was pushed back to March 2017.
‘Survival of financial services not an option’
A prominent QC yesterday backed calls for the Bahamas to switch to a ‘low tax’ business model, warning: “The survival of financial services is not an option.”
