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MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2025
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Gov’t intervenes in Old Bahama Bay’s management row
Bahamas targets world beating depositor safety
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Government has intervened in the escalating dispute over Old Bahama Bay by demanding that the parties involved in retaking the hotel’s management “cease and desist” until they obtain the necessary permits. Phylicia Woods-Hanna, director of investments, in a March 21, 2025, letter asserted that Kingwood International Resorts and its affiliates will “violate” Bahamian law if they assume management of both the Grand Bahama resort and former Ginn sur mer project given that the Government has twice rejected the company’s application to conduct business in this nation. In a letter copied to both Prime Minister Philip Davis KC and Chester Cooper,
deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investments and aviation, she said the Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA) had been informed that Kingwood or another of its affiliates in the Reunion Cay Group of Companies “has assumed management of the properties formerly known as ‘Ginn sur mer’”. “We note that the NEC (National Economic Council) has not granted permission to the company to conduct business operations in The Bahamas,” Mrs Woods-Hanna wrote in a letter seen by Tribune Business. “Previously, the Authority has issued two refusal letters dated May 5 and December 6, 2022. “In light of the foregoing, please be advised that the company (Kingwood/Reunion Cay) is in violation of the laws and regulations of the Bahamas Investment
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AROUND 580,000 Bahamian bank accounts, representing 96 percent of the total, were fully protected against their institution’s possible collapse as at year-end 2024, the Central Bank’s governor has revealed. John Rolle, in written answers to Tribune Business questions, confirmed that the banking sector regulator is seeking to increase the size of the Deposit Insurance Fund beyond global standards to give Bahamians extra security and comfort even though it will take another “two to three years” to reach its $130m target size. Revealing that the Fund was some $29.5m shy of this goal at year-end 2024, standing at $101.5m, he added that it was already well within international benchmarks standing at 3.6 percent of insured deposit values after enjoying an average 11 percent growth rate over the previous five years. “The DIC (Deposit Insurance Corporation) will take at least another two to three years to reach its new
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the size of the fund will also increase to maintain its ratio to insurable deposits.” The Deposit Insurance Fund was established in the late 1990s JOHN ROLLE following the collapse of Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas), which left many small local - as well as large - depositors exposed to life-changing financial losses because they were unable to recover their deposits. The Fund now fully insures all deposits up to a maximum $50,000, thus protecting most individuals and families from financial hardship should a bank fail. “As at the end of 2024, the size of the Deposit Insurance Fund was $101.5m (3.6 percent of insured deposits’ values),” Mr Rolle said. “There were approximately $2.8bn of insured deposits within 18 member institutions. In this regard,
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Global aviation body warns Bahamas on retroactive fees By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net GLOBAL aviation’s trade body has warned it is “imperative” that Bahamian and other airlines not be penalised by triple-digit retroactive fee hikes as a result of “errors” by local regulators. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 340 airlines and 80 percent of global aviation traffic, told the Bahamas Air Navigation Services Authority (BANSA) that seeking to retroactively impose its new fee regime to cover the period May 2021 to end-July 2024 will create an
“unexpected” and “significant” financial burden that threatens to undermine airlift growth for this nation. Peter Cerda, IATA’s regional vice-president, in a March 28, 2025, letter to Lenn King, BANSA’s director, asserted that the regulator is effectively making airlines that service The Bahamas pay the price for its mistakes as it attempts to “recover losses” incurred during that three-year period as a result of flawed air navigation services charges. The letter, which was sent to all airlines and has been obtained by Tribune Business, adds that “a limited number of operators
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New power plants tap investors for $132.5m By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A SUCCESSFUL renewable energy bidder yesterday unveiled plans to raise a total $132.5m from Bahamian investors to finance the development of new power plants on Abaco and Eleuthera. EA Energy, unveiling dual equity and debt capital offerings that will launch tomorrow, said it aims to raise $100m in bond financing as well as solicit $32.5m in equity capital that will give Bahamian investors a collective 25 percent ownership interest in the solar and liquefied natural gas
(LNG) driven power provider. The offerings are due to close on April 16, 2025, after some 15 days. The company’s separate equity and debt private placement documents, which have been released for Bahamian capital markets scrutiny, suggest that the two power plant projects will be de-risked via the signing of a 25-year power purchase agreement with Bahamas Power & Light (BPL). The latter will be required to purchase a minimal amount from EA Energy and compensate it at “the contract price” if it misses this threshold.
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