Top Bahamian investment bankers have joined the chorus calling for enhanced protection for minority shareholders after a financial expert said he received “shabby treatment” from Galleria Cinemas.
Owen Bethel, who heads the Montaque Group, urged companies with minority investors to maintain positive relationships with all shareholders. Bethel says that all equity holders should have access to data on their investment’s performance.
Kenwood Kerr from Providence Advisors agreed. Kerr said that “to maintain the integrity of the market” there needed to be “adequate disclosure and reporting requirements”, so that public and private company investors knew every detail on their investments.
Their calls come after retired accountant, Bill Hogg, complained in a 12-page letter to Attorney General John Delaney about the alleged “shabby treatment” he and his wife received from Chris Mortimer and Galleria Cinemas. Hogg said he and his wife denied access to any audited financial statements on how the company was performing, despite requests for such information for nearly a decade.
Hogg’s wife had invested in Galleria’s two Private Placement Memorandums (PPMs) in the mid-1990s.
Financial experts say tighter regulations should apply to all private companies who solicit investors via Private Placement Memorandums (PPMs), especially when it comes to the provision of audited financial statements.
The sentiments expressed by Bethel and Kerr are likely to increase the pressure on the Government to further tighten protection for minority investors in the new Securities Industry Act and accompanying regulations, which are set to be debated by Parliament this week.
