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FRIDAY, JULY 2, 2021
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Kanoo chairman: ‘We have nothing to hide’
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Opponents fear ‘door’s left open’ on oil licences
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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BAHAMIAN digital payments provider yesterday hit back at mounting attacks on its business by asserting that all contracts were won “above board”, it’s chairman adding: “I have absolutely nothing to hide”. Nicholas Rees branded the politically-led assault on Kanoo as “inaccurate, reckless and laden with ulterior motives”, and warned they threatened to undermine not just the company but national “world first” initiatives such as the launch
• Payment provider defends contract awards • Blasts attacks as ‘reckless, laden with ulterior motives’ • Says talented Bahamians will question ‘coming home’ of the Central Bank’s Sand Dollar digital currency (see other article on Page 1B). Confirming that Kanoo has also won the bid to provide the “multi-signature digital wallets” to all government departments and agencies, so that they can use the Sand Dollar for payment transactions, Mr Rees said the past two weeks have made him question whether “it was really NICHOLAS REES, centre, with Kanoo co-founders.
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Kanoo: Attacks on us threaten Sand Dollar By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A BAHAMIAN digital payments provider yesterday argued that “reckless” attacks on it were threatening to undermine efforts to make The Bahamas a world leader in Central Bankbacked digital currencies. Nicholas Rees, chairman and co-founder of Kanoo, told Tribune Business that the relentless onslaught suffered by the company over the past two weeks could dent consumer and business confidence in adopting the Sand Dollar for payments transactions. Given that Kanoo has been awarded the contract to provide the “multi-signature Sand Dollar wallet” to all government departments and agencies, so that they can accept payments in digital currency from the
• Warns they will ‘discredit’ vital technology • And will drag Bahamas first ‘through mud’ • Chair: ‘Highly irresponsible’ for jurisdiction Bahamian public, Mr Rees said efforts “to discredit our technology” could deter persons from using this mechanism. “It’s highly reckless to be attacking any payment service provider in this environment given what we’re doing with the Sand Dollar,” he argued to this newspaper. “From a jurisdictional standpoint, it’s highly irresponsible to be making these allegations (see other article on Page 1B). “It’s designed to discredit our technology because of the success we’re having in the marketplace. Our technology has been validated by the Central Bank. We
Bahamas can’t ‘sideline itself’ over tax reforms
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamas cannot afford to “sideline itself” by remaining aloof from international tax reform agreements, a prominent banker argued yesterday. Gowon Bowe, pictured, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive, speaking as The Bahamas became one of 130 countries to back the G20/OECD’s so-called Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), told Tribune Business that it was vital this nation maintain its access to international
markets given its status as a small, open economy. He added that this nation’s goal, as ever, remained reforming the present regressive Bahamian tax structure for its own ends within the BEPS framework so that the economy’s
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Crystal cancels Bimini call over COVID spike By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net CRYSTAL Cruises yesterday cancelled its July 4 inaugural home porting call to Bimini out of “an abundance of caution” as the government imposed a series of restrictions to contain the latest COVID case spike. The cruise line, which is due to begin its Bahamas home porting from Nassau tomorrow, said in an emailed response to Tribune Business inquiries: “Today, we were notified by
the minister of health that there are a number of active COVID-19 cases on the island of Bimini. “The health and safety of our guests and crew is paramount, and out of an abundance of caution we will be cancelling Crystal Serenity’s July 4 call into Bimini that is part of our Luxury Bahamas Escapes itinerary. Instead, the ship will spend the day at sea.” “We are currently contacting our booked guests and travel partners about this itinerary change as well
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were the first to become inter-operable [with the Sand Dollar] and integrated into third party mobile applications. This is a world first that has never been done before. “As a provider we don’t want to be caught up in this political back and forth. We feel it’s damaging to the country. We’re delivering a major financial product that’s important in a global context. We cannot be irresponsible in dragging the Sand Dollar, the Central Bank and payment services providers through the mud in political silly season.” Kanoo, in a separate statement, said it had been
selected by the Ministry of Finance to provide the multi-signature Sand Dollar wallets that will be integrated into the government’s own DigiPay platform, to which other digital payments service providers are already providing card and collection services on the government’s behalf. Asserting that it won the contract “after a fair and transparent Request for Proposal (RFP) procurement process”, where it had to compete against all other authorised Sand Dollar providers such as Sun Cash, Omni and Island Pay,
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
OIL exploration opponents yesterday voiced fears that a Cabinet minister’s statement on outstanding fees “leaves the door open” for licence renewals if these sums are paid. Rashema Ingraham, executive director of Waterkeepers Bahamas, one of two environmental groups behind the ongoing Judicial Review challenge to the former Bahamas Petroleum Company’s (BPC) permits and approvals, told Tribune Business she was “not completely satisfied” with the position identified by Romauld Ferreira, minister of the environment. The minister, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, said on Wednesday that the government would not even consider the renamed Challenger Energy Group’s application to renew its four southern Bahamas exploration licences for a further three years - with an obligation to drill another exploratory well in Bahamian territorial waters - until the outstanding fees were paid. Mr Ferreira asserted that Challenger had not paid its seabed lease fees since 2017, a sum that had reached to over $1.9m as of last year, with another $1m already owed for this year to-date. Ms Ingraham, though, argued that the minister’s statement on the government’s willingness to renew Challenger’s licences was open to interpretation, and could be viewed as saying the application will be considered “if licence fees are brought up-to-date”.
She told this newspaper: “It leaves the door open. Behind the door are issues we are living with every day. We’re living with the fact that The Bahamas is a nation sensitive to climate change, and we’re feeling the effects. “We’re in the position of being a developing and looking for ways to regenerate our economy, not only as oil stocks plummet and fall, but as the rest of the world is moving away from oil or big oil into renewable energy and major financial institutions say they are no longer investing in oil. We’re taking a big risk.” Ms Ingraham added that the government should “use this opportunity to do two good things”, namely protect the tourism and fisheries industries by imposing “a permanent ban on oil drilling in Bahamian waters”. She was backed by Casuarina McKinney-Lambert, the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation’s (BREEF) executive director, who branded Challenger’s licence fee arrears as “a serious red flag questioning their ability or willingness to pay in the event of a disaster”. “We would like to see an accounting of the licence fees that have been paid and what is still outstanding,” she said. “This seems to be very unclear. I understand that the company also has outstanding payments due to the drilling company, Stena, and one of the funding sources in addition to the licence fees owed to The Bahamas.” Tribune Business revealed in January that the Government had refused to accept
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