business@tribunemedia.net
MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2023
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‘Everything is on table’ over VAT health claims By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Ministry of Finance’s top official says “everything is on the table” with VAT-related reforms, which could have raised medical costs for thousands of insured Bahamians, now not proceeding prior to the Budget at end-May. Simon Wilson, the financial secretary, told Tribune Business that the Davis administration was keen to ensure the proposal which would effectively switched the liability for paying VAT on health insurance claims payouts from the insurance companies to patients - “works for everybody”. As a result, it had deferred the planned April 1 implementation, which
• Gov’t aims to make it ‘work for everybody’ • No tax treatment change before Budget • Doctors: ‘Disservice’ if patients go abroad would have prevented insurers such as Colina, Family Guardian and CG Atlantic Medical from treating the VAT on claims payments as an ‘input’ expense and netting it off - or recovering this sum against the 10 percent levy
SIMON WILSON paid by patients on their healthcare The delay will allow the Government to engage in further consultation with impacted industries, including the Medical Association of The Bahamas (MAB) as well as the Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA), and conduct further research on the issue in a bid to develop a revised position
acceptable to all parties in time for when the 20232024 Budget is unveiled in Parliament on May 31. Mr Wilson, speaking after he chaired a meeting with MAB representatives as well as insurers and their regulator, the Insurance Commission of The Bahamas (ICB), on the matter last Wednesday, confirmed that this newspaper’s understanding of the situation was “accurate”. “We said we have to consult with all the parties,” he said of the current position. “What we said to them is everything is on the table. We have to take a good look at it and then move forward. We’ve got to deal with it. It’s something we’ve just got to deal with, and make the best of the situation. We have just
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SBF’s trading arm gave Pointe owner $3.4m ‘gift’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE CHINA Construction America (CCA) owned entity that developed The Pointe in downtown Nassau purportedly received $3.362m in “gifts or charitable contributions” from Sam Bankman-Fried’s private trading arm. Court filings by John Ray, the FTX US executive overseeing 134 entities presently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, have revealed that Newworld One Bay Street received a series of payments between January 14, 2022, and July 29,
SAM BANKMAN-FRIED 2022, ranging from a low of $197,101 to as much as $879,375. Some six payments, all for six-figure sums, were made during that six-anda-half month period by
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‘Up the ante’ on cruise line deals By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER Bahamas National Trust (BNT) chief yesterday said this nation must “up the ante” and leverage its “natural capital” to obtain better deals from the cruise industry, adding: “We give up too easily.” Eric Carey, the Trust’s former executive director, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas needs to emphasise the value it brings and adds to the cruise passenger experience when negotiating with the likes of Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
Speaking after he wrote a letter to the editor, in which he reiterated his “serious misgivings” over Royal Caribbean’s planned $100m Paradise Island beach break destination, he said of the cruise lines: “Obviously they are a very powerful economic group. From my experience, what I’ve heard, they’ve been very tough negotiators and, in the past, when certain Caribbean countries have said we’d like a bit more, the cruise companies have pushed back to the point of threatening to pull out. “It’s going to take sensible negotiations. I think we have to get them to
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Oban’s investors hit by $5m ‘fraud’ • Used by controversial GB project chair to fund lavish lifestyle By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE PRINCIPAL behind the controversial $5.5bn Oban Energies oil refinery deal has agreed to be sanctioned and pay fines after being accused of defrauding investors in the project of some $5.2m. Peter Krieger, Oban Energies’ non-executive chairman, who was its public face and chief promoter, “without admitting or denying” the Securities & Exchange Commission’s (SEC) allegations against him last week consented to the imposition of civil penalties as well as “disgorgement” and associated interest payment sanctions after he misused investor monies to fund his lavish lifestyle. The US federal securities regulator, in a March 13, 2023, lawsuit that raises fresh questions about the level of scrutiny applied by the Bahamian government to Oban and its principals, alleged that Mr Krieger
PETER KRIEGER raised $15m to finance the proposed Grand Bahamabased oil refinery and storage terminal from 23 investors. However, it claimed that more than one-third - some $5.2m - was subsequently “misappropriated” by Mr Krieger for his own personal use, including the purchases of “luxury cars, jewellery and vacations”. The SEC action reveals that, while Mr Krieger seemingly stepped away from the project after Tribune Business and others raised questions about his
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