The Bahamas Investor

...equal footing internationally, according to Minister of Financial Services Ryan Pinder, who said the government is pushing ahead with its bid for accession through ongoing negotations with various members countries. The Minister spoke of trade as “a powerful avenue for economic diversification” and said that Bahamian businesses would feel the trickle-down effects of becoming a WTO member. Addressing the National Conclave of Chambers of Commerce in......

...will “aggressively” explore growth centers over the next few months, says Ryan Pinder , the minister with Cabinet responsibilities for the industry. His comments came during day one of Bahamas Financial Services Board’s (BFSB) 10th International Business Finance Summit (IBFS) held at Bimini Bay Resort February 1-3. The meeting opened with the minister unveiling his 10-year strategy to revamp and re-invigorate the Bahamian business services indust......

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...gic programme. He also praised the IDB for recognizing the need for such reform and for providing the necessary financial and technical support to ensure the programme’s launch and effective management. Sumner pledged that the chamber will not highlight government inefficiencies without considering and offering solutions to problems. “The transformation must begin within the public sector itself. We must consider the current state of the public se......

...go to the Cayman Islands, for example, 85 per cent of professionals in the financial services sector are expats, here 95 per cent of the workforce is Bahamian.” Crosbie-Jones joined the company in 1994 and, along with fellow executive directors Bruno Roberts and Charlene Y Storr, has worked hard to maintain close personal relationships with the company’s clients. “This business is all about developing and maintaining strong relationships with peop......

...firmed by 5.5%, reflecting increases in over half of the hotel properties. For the performance over the first two months of the year, hotel receipts decreased by 4.1%, as the contraction in the average occupancy rate, by 2.8 percentage points to 61.7%, eclipsed the 4.5% rise in the average daily room rate to $246.10. Consumer price movements for February featured average price gains for both gasoline and diesel, by 4.9% and 1.6% over the previous......

...h in the dominant sea traffic subsided to 10.7% from 16.2%. Provisional performance data from a sample of hotels in New Providence and Paradise Island for the review month, placed total room revenues up by 3.0% in May over the previous year. This outturn reflected a 5.7 percentage point gain in the average occupancy rate to 66.8%, which overshadowed a 6.1% decline in the average daily room rate to $206.53. Similar trends were evidenced over the fi......

...the banking sector with companies such as Ansbacher and SG Hambros. “[The financial services industry] was a progressive, dynamic environment. I found my niche and the rest, as they say, is history,” says Cooper. It was while working at SG Hambros, that Cooper was offered a two-year secondment to work in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. He enthuses about the opportunities available in working abroad and is keen to see more Bahamians from the business sec......

...memorable gaming experience. Cantor Gaming® is an affiliate of the global financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, which has over 65 years experience and unparalleled expertise of highly secure, real-time financial transaction processing, management, and execution. Known globally for superior financial technology and real-time and secure execution of financial transactions, Cantor’s clients include the world’s leading banks and trading firms. C......

...erations. On both trips the CEO met with policy makers, key persons in the financial services sector and the local UBS team. UBS established its presence in Nassau more than 40 years ago and employs 156 persons. In a 2011 Euromoney survey, UBS’s Bahamian operations ranked top in the Investment Products and Trust Services categories. In an exclusive interview with The Bahamas Investor, Zeltner discusses steps UBS has taken to not only grow its mark......

...nts. New accounts include any opened after the effective date of an FFI’s (foreign financial institution) agreement with the IRS (generally July 1, 2013). Withholding requirements: The proposed withholding requirements are scheduled to be gradually phased in over several years starting with US-sourced income payments beginning on January 1, 2014. This includes payments that are considered Fixed or Determinable, Annual, or Periodic (FDAP), such as......

...ing Institutes is a biennial event that brings together officials from the financial sector and personnel from financial training institutes worldwide,” explains BIFS executive director Kim Bodie. “We are expecting around 300 delegates from all over the world, including the Middle East, Europe, Canada, China, India, the US, the Caribbean region and Africa. Over the years, the conference has attracted delegates from more than 50 countries worldwide......

...clients and engage with them on a personal level. The personal touch Most financial services providers require that their long-standing clients come to their offices at least once to meet their wealth manager face to face. Making this connection is key to the success of the provider/client relationship according to Gian Fadri Pinösch, managing director and chief executive officer of Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild Ltd. “It is crucial [to meet......

...n economy on an even keel and ensure the country’s reputation as a leading financial services jurisdiction. Bank supervision is a major responsibility, given the preponderance of global banking institutions with a presence in the country. Governor Craigg and her team supervise and regulate the banks to ensure that the financial services sector remains robust. It is their job to maintain an environment that continues to attract high-quality institu......

...people with money to invest here, whether in real estate, manufacturing or financial services. At the moment, visa applications from China are handled by the British Embassy, leading to a delay that can be as long as eight weeks, but I have suggested a simple way to get around this, which is currently being considered by the Ministry of Tourism and the Foreign Ministry. The Bahamas could issue automatic visas to Chinese nationals who are at the sa......