Due to the number of International Business Companies relocating to Panama or the Cayman Islands, legislators are set to take another look at the relevant Act when Parliament next meets, Minister of Financial Services and Investments told bankers Monday.
Mrs Maynard-Gibson said also that the government-appointed Financial Services Consultative Forum is expected to submit its report on the IBC Amendment Act in time for the parliamentary debate.
She told the Bahamas Institute of Financial Services that the 33-member Forum, headed by attorney Brian Moree has further promised this month, to circulate several other measures throughout the sector for revision and recommendations.
The intent is to have the following tabled in Parliament in June:
* Protected Cell Bill
* Foundations Bill
* Perpetuities Bill
* Purpose Trust Bill
* Amendments to the Financial and Corporate Providers Act
With BIFS week focusing on ‘Repositioning Financial Services οΎ– Attracting Quality Business’, Mrs Maynard-Gibson reminded the group that Bahamians must endure the painful transition to once again becoming “world class”.
“We must re-tool, re-train, and re-invent our products and ourselves. We must be competitive both in price and services. We must recapture the charm and diligent work ethic for which we were once known,” she said.
Recommendations for the streamlining of the Know Your Customer Regime and for a process by which the Memorandum of Understanding may more efficiently operate, are also expected.
Additionally, a Domestic Insurance Bill will be tabled in Parliament, noted the minister, as she thanked those involved in finalising the Bill.
Also forthcoming is legislation for the expansion of international private banking, international employee stock option and pension plans, capital market transactions, expansion of cross-border transactions by multinationals, structures for management of personal and political risk, aircraft registry, and an arbitration centre.
Mrs Maynard-Gibson said that the goal of the Progressive Liberal Party Government is to promote The Bahamas as a “blue chip, well- regulated and cooperative” financial centre.
“It would not be second best,” she affirmed. “We would sit at the table as a responsible participant in the financial services industry, recognizing that The Bahamas has a place alongside London, New York, Switzerland, Singapore, etc.”
The Financial Services industry contributes between about 20 per cent of the Gross Domestic product (GDP) and creates a wealth of high-income generating jobs. More than 13,000 Bahamians are employed in this sector, which provides an estimated $360 million payroll annually. The sector also yields more than $12 million annually in tax revenue.
Mrs. Maynard-Gibson said that the IBC business in Delaware, Panama and the British Virgin Islands continues to flourish and provide a significant source of revenue. Additionally, the Investment Fund business is flourishing in the Caymans and Dublin, and the Captive Insurance Company business in Bermuda, Cayman, Vermont and Barbados is also experiencing growth, she said.
According to Mrs Maynard-Gibson, too many yachts cruising and calling The Bahamas their “home” are registered in Cayman.
“We all acknowledge the evidence that we are not currently as competitive as we ought to and can be,” she told the bankers.
Nevertheless, she said, The Bahamas’ unique advantages continue because of its: strategic location, tax neutrality, strong respect for privacy, stable democracy, government facilitatiion of business, well-educated and professionally-skilled workforce, independence judicial system, and sound fiscal environment.
It is for this reason, she said, that greater attention is being placed on the country’s financial services by international organisations and trading blocs such as the World Trade Organisation, the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Hence, she said, the way forward is to:
* Re-tool the private sector
* Acquire tax-planning expertise
* Develop securities expertise
* Continue to aggressively address the fear of crime, and,
* Instal reliable, affordable communication.
By Lindsay Thompson, The Nassau Guardian
