(RTTNews.com) – Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) reported second-quarter net income of $24.7 million, or $0.11 per share, compared to a net loss of $3.7 million, or $0.02 per share, last year. The company noted that its earnings during the quarter include an impact of $0.05 per share related to the Grandeur fire and a non-cash charge of $0.07 per share accounting correction related to the company’s affinity credit card program.

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The Bahamas Ministry of Financial Services has announced that the Cabinet approved its proposal to go with a Model 1 Intergovernmental Agreement for Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) implementation. Negotiations in this respect are expected to begin immediately.

The provisions under the US Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act commonly known as FATCA became law in March 2010. FATCA targets tax non-compliance by US taxpayers with foreign accounts; effectively, it requires Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) to obtain and report information regarding US customers and beneficial owners to the Internal Revenue Service) (IRS) or suffer 30 percent withholding tax on US sourced income.

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The International Yacht Charter Group is pleased to announce their official 10-year anniversary specializing solely in private fully crewed luxury yacht charters. Ever since the company’s inception just over a decade ago, they’ve remained committed to providing exceptional customer service to each and every client. Make sure to check out the company online to get an understanding of how the staff of yacht specialists with over 30 combined years helps people book their dream vacation.

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Coaches, sponsors and personnel will be able to enjoy 3-days of coaching and vacation during the International Coaches Clinic (ICC) hosted by the Bahamas Basketball Federation, August 1-4, 2013, at the Atlantis Hotel located in the heart of the Bahamas.

The ICC has become one of the largest training camps worldwide. Coaches and personnel come from across the country to attend this annual event. The mission of the ICC is to teach, develop, and expose professional coaches, and personnel, on and off the court, to different techniques and fundamental skills that are important to team success. Emphasis is placed on fundamental development, career development, community involvement, peer networking and professional sports education.

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The Bahamas has signed a Co-operation Memorandum on pre-clearance security with the United States, to facilitate easier travel between the two countries.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell met with Victoria Reeder, deputy assistant administrator for the Transportation Security Administration’s Office of Global Strategies to sign the agreement. Also present was Charge d’ Affaires of the United States Embassy in The Bahamas John Dinkelman and Minister of Transport and Aviation Glenys Hanna-Martin.
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The construction industry in The Bahamas is continuing to reap the benefits of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), while tourism is seeing slow but steady growth according to the Central Bank of The Bahamas which released its monthly economic report for June yesterday.

In its Monthly Economic and Financial Developments bulletin, the Central Bank of the Bahamas noted that ongoing FDI projects, such as the Cable Beach mega-resort Baha Mar, as well as public infrastructure programmes were supporting the domestic construction sector.

And according to the Central Bank, tourist arrivals for the first four months of the year grew by 2.7 per cent to 2.3 million visitors. Visitors to New Providence increased by 9.6 per cent to 1.3 million, with the majority of these coming by sea.

To read the full report, download it here.

Anita Johnson Patty says the Resorts World International SuperFast ferry to Bimini has created “so much buzz” in the Florida tourism market and she expects the twice daily cruise between Miami and Bimini to transform the Family Island.
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The Nassau and Paradise Island Promotion Board has been targeting the functions and conference market with presentations tailored to event planners.
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Financial Secretary John Rolle explains VAT implementation in the auditorium of the Harry C. Moore Library. (BIS Photo/Gena Gibbs)

The Ministry of Financial Services hosted a presentation about upcoming changes to the current tax regime this week, with Financial Secretary John Rolle telling attendees that legislation to implement value added tax (VAT) will be introduced later this year.

Rolle spoke at a seminar held in the College of the Bahamas’ Harry C Moore Library Auditorium on Tuesday and outlined the government’s plans in regards to significant tax reform.

He said the role of government was to oversee the business community as it collects taxes from consumers and pays those collections back to the government in the form of credit installments.

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22/07/13 – The Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) has signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with counterpart securities regulators in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA). The European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) negotiated on behalf of EU and EEA members. These bi-lateral agreements will allow Bahamas-based fund managers to continue to market or perform fund management activities for alternative investment funds (AIFs) in EU and EEA markets, under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). The MOUs set standards for co-operation and cross-border supervision, making the supervision of alternative funds more consistent globally and strengthening investor protection.

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