The leaked “Panama
Papers’
In
the wake of leaked documents by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca dubbed
the ‘Panama Papers’ comprising more than 11.5 million files on international
banking and investment data spanning some forty years by countless clients, the
Minister of Financial Services held a press conference this week to address this
matter.
“THE
BAHAMAS IS A COMPLIANT JURISDICTION, OPERATING UNDER INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY
STANDARDS. WE CONTINUE TO ENSURE WE DO
EVERYTHING TO REMAIN COMPLIANT AND TO SUSTAIN OUR REPUTATION AS A PREMIER
FINANCIAL CENTRE. WE CONSISTENTLY DEMONSTRATE OUR COMMITMENT TO INTERNATIONAL
TAX TRANSPARENCY, AS WELL AS THE ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING AND THE COUNTERING OF
FINANCIAL TERRORISM INITIATIVES” said Minister Hope Strachan.
Further,
the Minister defended the integrity and international reputation of the Bahamas’
financial services sector, listed in the leaked documents as the world’s third
largest tax haven jurisdiction.
“IT
MUST BE REITERATED THAT THE BAHAMAS HAS BEEN DEEMED COMPLIANT BY THE
ORGANIZATION OF ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD) GLOBAL FORUM ON
TRANSPARENCY AND EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION FOR TAX PURPOSES. FURTHER, THE BAHAMAS HAS COMMITTED TO THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION/OECD CRS USING A
BILATERAL APPROACH THAT IS FULLY ENDORSED BY THE OECD. WE ARE ALSO FULLY
COMPLIANT WITH THE U.S. FOREIGN ACCOUNT TAX COMPLIANCE ACT” continued the
Minister.
Strachan
also said that the Bahamas government continues to ensure that the country’s
jurisdiction remains “clean” and “reputable.”
Prime Minister
Christie weighs in on leaked ‘Panama papers’
Speaking
with local and international media at the IDB meetings at the Baha Mar
convention center on Thursday, Prime Minister Christie said the following about
the leaked Panama papers with respect to the truth surrounding the business
practices in various countries and how these practices relate to the rule of
law.
“In
everything you do, the truth will come out and so one can’t deny the truth. It
is just that it’s always a challenge when people leak things (and) it’s a challenge
to countries that have laws, and when the laws are breached. Now with respect
to truth, the truth is the most important thing going forward and countries
have to find a way to be able to be comfortable with their relations with other
countries.”
The
Prime Minister defended the integrity of the country’s financial services
sector, the strength of its regulatory regime and international reputation of The
Bahamas, pointing out that jurisdictions that are imposing such high standards
on The Bahamas do not adhere to these same regulatory standards.
“We
feel that what we have established, that we have been in compliance. We are
still in compliance and we have a jurisdiction that is an honest, trustworthy
jurisdiction, but we stress that it is a jurisdiction where we offer facilities
to people that are lawful and permissible. You ask us about anti money
laundering we have passed the strongest legislation. When you ask us about
anti-terrorism legislation, we have the strongest legislation. When you ask us
to be accountable - we have demonstrated (that) we have a transparent and
accountable jurisdiction. All of these things we do and many times we have to
sit and watch jurisdictions that are imposing these standards on us - they don’t
have the same strict adherence to these things that they are asking us to have”
said the nation’s Chief Executive.
Mr.
Christie reiterated the commitment of The Bahamas to introducing new and innovative
products and services and broadening the country’s markets into jurisdictions such
as Latin American.
Suspect patient at
PMH “was not suffering from Ebola infection”
The
conclusive tests from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta,
Georgia are in and have ruled out Ebola as the cause of death of a Bahamian
female who recently died at the Princess Margaret Hospital.
Bahamas
Minister of Health, the Hon. Dr. Michael Perry Gomez delivered the news at a
press conference at the Ministry of Health on Tuesday of this week. He said the
CDC report “confirms through conclusive testing for Ebola” that the female
patient at the Princess Margaret Hospital who passed away on Sunday, March 27,
2016, “was not suffering from Ebola infection.”
Dr.
Gomez continued, “This concretely rules out the possibility of Ebola as the
cause of death in this case. The Ministry of Health is grateful for the
collaboration with our international partners, including the local Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO) Representative along with PAHO Washington team which
facilitated the testing through the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.”
Dr.
Gomez said now that Ebola has been ruled out the hospital’s attention will turn
to determining the cause of death via a post mortem.
“In
other circumstances a post mortem would have already been done, but they could
not proceed with the post mortem until we got these results and the results
just took long for us to get because of other issues that arose,” Dr. Gomez
said.
Those
other issues were the decline of two couriers to transport the sample to the
United States. A third courier however was indentified later in the week.
Bahamas parole
system a step closer to fruition
The 2016 Annual General Meetings (AGM) of the boards of
governors of the Inter-American Development (IDB) and the Inter-American
Investment Corporation commenced
on Thursday morning at the Baha Mar convention
center on Cable Beach. Hundreds of delegates from forty-eight countries were in
town to discuss numbers of issues impacting the region such as climate change,
the economy, the environment and crime and security.
Of particular significance were conclusions to a number
of agreements, grants and loans to facilitate the country’s future national
development.
Specifically the $20 million IDB funded Citizen Security
and Justice initiative became more defined when Bahamas Prime Minister the Rt.
Hon. Perry G. Christie and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President,
Luis Alberto Moreno signed a Parole and Re-entry Technical Cooperation agreement,
along with two other loan operations, including the US$20 million Citizen
Security and Justice Loan.
The Parole and Reentry Technical Cooperation Agreement
is a US$345,907 grant from the IDB to assist the Bahamas in establishing a
policy framework for a new parole and re-entry system for ex-convicts upon
release from the Department of Corrections.
Immediately following this signing ceremony, the Hon.
Dr. Bernard Nottage, Minister of National Security, announced the establishment
of the Parole and Reentry Steering Committee, chaired by former police
commissioner Paul Farquharson. The committee’s co-deputy chairs are former
Anglican Bishop His Grace, Archbishop Drexel Gomez and Superintendent of the
Assemblies of God in The Bahamas, the Rev. Patrick Paul.
The steering committee will work in partnership with the
IDB to gather information on prisoner reentry needs and challenges, design a
parole supervision strategy and create a methodology for evaluating reentry
programs that will become a standard in the region.
The ceremonies were held at the Baha Mar Convention
Center, Room – Blade 1. The official opening ceremonies are scheduled for
Saturday, 9
th
April 2016 at
5:30pm and the general meetings will
conclude
on Sunday.
Gaming Board: Island Luck 3 Ball “not a
public lottery”
Responding
to questions and claims that the Island Luck three ball game amounts to a
lottery, contrary to the Gaming Act 2014, the Gaming Board of The Bahamas
issued a statement late
Wednesday night clarifying this misconception.
“The Government
of The Bahamas advises the public that Island Luck’s Three Ball Game is wholly
consistent with the provisions of the Gaming Act 2014. The Game offered by
Island Luck is not a public lottery, but is instead an innovative aspect of
what exists today” said the statement.
The
statement explained that the Act made provisions for the continuation of the
Numbers Game.
“In
specific, the Gaming Act 2014 (“Act”), which generally requires that all
Bahamians wager via the Internet, carves out an exception which permits the
Numbers Game to be played in an over the counter, cash-based environment”
continued the statement.
According
to the statement, the definition for the Numbers Game incorporated into the Act
was clearly designed to both accommodate the “lotto” products traditionally
offered by Bahamian web shop operators and to “allow Bahamian players future
access to more innovative offerings by licensed Gaming House Operators.”
The Gaming
Board acknowledged that on March 30, 2016 it authorized Island Luck to proceed
with a Three Ball Game, reserving for itself the ability to revisit that
authorization
in 90 days. In doing so the Gaming Board recognized that the
location of the draw at Island Luck’s South West Plaza location, rather than at
a location outside of The Bahamas, did not change the categorization of this
Three Ball offering as the Numbers Game.
Mitchell asks the Speaker for protection of parliamentary privileges
Believing that his constitutionally guaranteed and
ancient parliamentary privileges were breached, the member for Fox Hill penned
a letter to the Speaker of the Bahamas Parliament
on Thursday, essentially laying
out his case for what in his view represented “prima facie breaches of the
privileges of Members of Parliament including this Member of Parliament (Fred
Mitchell), a continuation of what has already been laid over to the Committee
on Privileges” wrote Mr. Mitchell.
The case of Mr. Mitchell is summarized below:
-
Fred Smith Q
C is reported to have threatened Leslie Miller MP with contempt
proceedings if he provides further information to the public with regard
to Save The Bays.
-
The Data
Commissioner issued a statement in which she advised Members of Parliament
to be careful what they are saying with regard to allegations of
unauthorized access to e mails related to Save The Bays. In the Data
Commissioner’s statement she admitted that’s she has no jurisdiction in
the matter, yet proceeded to warn MPs about their conduct in their
capacities as MPs, something which only MPs have the right to decide.
-
Fred Smith Q
C reportedly obtained an injunction from a court of law in general terms
which seeks to restrain everyone and anyone and persons unknown from
repeating information with regard to e mails relating to Save The Bays.
-
Letters have
now been issued by the firm of Harry B. Sands and Co. seeking to demand
from Members of Parliament where they received information with regard to the
Save The Bays emails.
Mitchell dismissed the court injunctions as unenforceable
and warned of the legal actions he will take if served with these documents.
“I will indicate to these parties by lawyer’s letter that
any attempted service by them on me I will consider an unlawful interference in
my right and privilege as a Member of Parliament and will so report the matter
to the police if any attempt is made to serve such documents on me.”
In passing
Prime
Minister Christie told the media
on Thursday that he is scheduled to meet with
important Chinese personalities and high ranking officials next week as the
China Export Import Bank moves to select the new owners of the stalled Baha Mar
project. He also said that in his discussions with the president of the IDB,
Louis Alberto Moreno, they agreed that the full economic impact of Baha Mar on
The Bahamas is yet to be realized and the government of The Bahamas should
spare no resource in ensuring that this mega resort opens. The government has
to date spent as much as six million dollars on the completion of the Baha Mar
convention center in preparation for the 2016 IDB and the IIC boards of
governors Annual General Meetings.
Former
deputy leader of the FNM and member for Blue Hills Sidney Collie and talk show
host Rodney Moncur were nominated for the post of National Chairman of the FNM.
Acting Chairman and former member for Garden Hills Brensil Rolle declined to
offer for the post, telling the media that he wishes to focus all of his energy
on winning the constituency of Garden Hills in 2017.
As
it tuned out, there was no shame in losing to the Villanova Wildcats who won
the 2016 NCAA division one men’s basketball championship
on Monday of this week
after defeating Hield’s Oklahoma Sooners in the Final Four matchup in Houston,
Texas. Buddy Hield won the prestigious James E. Naismith trophy, making him the
consensus top college basketball player in the country.
Attorney
Fred Smith filed a civil suit for libel against Foreign Affairs Minister the
Hon. Fred Mitchell. Mr. Smith’s charge is that Mr. Mitchell implied that Smith
was dishonest and a liar and tarnished his reputation in a statement on the
pending judicial review. Smith is seeking $3 million in aggravated, exemplary
and punitive damages. Mr. Mitchell’s statement appeared in the Tribune on 15th
February 2016.
Stepping
up its public relations and communications on the benefits phase of NHI Bahamas,
the Secretariat released a new 60 second video
on Thursday of this week depicting
how NHI Bahamas’ Primary Care phase, once implemented, will impact the lives of
ordinary, everyday Bahamians. The commercial depicts, through the eyes of a
young girl, the ways in which primary care, once launched, will help the
various people in her life, and put them on a healthier path. The message
clearly is that while this is one family, her family, the same represents all
of our families.
The
Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas formally responded via ZNS news to a notice
of a court injunction they received that was filed by the law firm of Harry B.
Sands Lobosky and Co. on behalf of the Coalition to Save Clifton Bay. The
injunction sought to prohibit the sale and or publication of emails relating or
pertaining to Fred Smith QC, Zack Bacon and directors of Save the Bays. The corporation
said that it will take action against any attempt to prohibit or frustrate its
ability to deliver the news seriously. While it will abide by the rule of law,
it is committed to reporting the news in a manner consistent with international
standards of journalism without fear or favor. The injunction which was served
on other media entities named no respondents.
The
Ministry/Department of Labour has taken to social media to get the word out
about job vacancies in the local market. This week the Bahamas Information
Services released a listing of job vacancies available in the private sector
for suitably qualified Bahamians. As many Bahamians receive their news via the
internet and social media, this is a step in the right direction and readers
are encouraged to stay tuned.
Agriculture
and Marine Resources Minister the Hon. V. Alfred Gray told the press on
Wednesday that construction at BAMSI in North Andros is expected to be
completed by June 2016, in time for the 2016/2017 school year; this does not
include the replacement dormitory that burned down more than one year ago. The
government is still in the planning and design stages for a new and larger
dormitory reported to be co-educational.
The bickering, rowing and warring over Carnival has
begun as Wyclef Jean and Destra Garcia were named as performers in the 2016
carnival event. Wyclef was reportedly set to earn US$70,000 to perform and
Destra is rumored to receive US$30,000 out of the scaled down carnival budget
of $7 million. These selections by the Bahamas National Festival Commission (BNFC)
did not sit well with Isaiah Taylor, front man of the Grammy Award winning super
group Baha Mar. Mr. Taylor said he was insulted by the selection and decried
the huge disparity in performance fees between the foreign and Bahamian entertainers.
Taylor accused the government of paying Bahamian artists “peanuts.”
Island Luck CEO Sebas Sebastian revealed this week that his
gaming organization has taken proactive steps to counter the fallout of
gambling addiction. He said there is a spend ceiling in place for a fixed
period of time that will not change even if consenting patrons have a change of
heart and wish to exceed their ceiling. Also, literature will be made available
to all patrons warning of the dangers of gambling, the threat of addiction and
the need to play games of chance responsibly.
“I
have a concern that there isn’t anyone who would have convinced the public in
being the type of person who could manage the affairs of the country.” This is
the latest salvo from former Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson who believes
that the available choices for chairman of the opposition Free National
Movement (FNM) amounts to slim pickings. The nominees are former Cabinet Minister,
Member of Parliament and FNM deputy leader Sidney Collie and local talk show
host Rodney Moncur. Watson is concerned that more qualified people have not been
nominated for chairman of the FNM.
Acting
Chairman of the FNM Brensil Rolle said he could not say for sure if the FNM
received money from the environmental lobby group Save the Bays, but he did
confirm that the FNM received a donation from the organization’s legal counsel,
Callenders and Co. Both Peter Nygard and Louis Bacon, two warring foreign
residents of Lyford Cay, are on record as saying they made political
contributions to both the PLP and FNM. These comments come amid calls by
several MP’s for campaign finance reform.
The YES campaign on the four constitutional amendment
bills on gender equality is all set to officially launch
on Sunday (10 April
2016) at
3pm at the Harry C. Moore Library of the College of The Bahamas. The
public is invited to attend.
About the author: Elcott Coleby is a Deputy Director at the
Bahamas Information Services. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in
Chemistry (B.Sc) and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). He provides
frequent commentary on public policy and communicates the works of the
government. Address all comments to the following email:
egcoleby44@gmail.com