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TUESDAY, JULY 15, 2025
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Deltec: We fight on for $20m despite asset freeze defeat By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN bank yesterday pledged it will not be deterred from pursuing $20m “unlawfully withheld” by a payments provider despite a Florida court rejecting its bid to freeze these assets. Deltec Bank & Trust, in a statement responding to Tribune Business inquiries, asserted it “will move forward as planned” with its $35m damages claim
• South Florida court rejects injunction bid • Bank undeterred: $35m claim ‘goes ahead’ • But interest challenged over Britannia sale
against Ibanera and Michael Carbonara, the latter’s principal, even though the south Florida federal court last week found it had failed to produce sufficient evidence to justify imposing an injunction and temporary restraining order over the disputed assets. Ellen D’Angelo, a US magistrate judge, in a July 9, 2025, verdict ruled that Deltec “has not demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits” of its claim against Ibanera, nor shown that it faces “a substantial
threat of irreparable injury” if the $20m said to belong to the bank and its clients is not frozen. As a result, she found it had not met “the burden of persuasion” required for an injunction. The judge also accepted Ibanera and Carbonara’s evidence that they “have neither stolen nor used the funds for their own purposes”. She appeared to be reassured by the Ibanera chief’s witness testimony that the $20m has been placed “into crypto
Minister: ‘I did everything right’ on $267m hospital’s financing
“95 percent done”. Dr Michael Darville, minister of health and wellness, told Tribune Business he “did everything the right way” and “in the best interests of the Bahamian people in terms of interest rate and time to get it done” in securing financing for New Providence’s second hospital - a project the Government views
as critical to better serving the public’s healthcare needs. Speaking after the UK High Commission revealed that an alternative offer to finance the new hospital, involving UK Export Finance, the British government’s trade credits guarantee arm, was made
DPM: ‘We’re going to bring back downtown nightlife’
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Deputy Prime Minister yesterday said the Government is “courting investors” for proposed hotel sites in downtown Nassau and Cable Beach as it strives to revive Bay Street nightlife. Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, told reporters at the CANTO communications conference that the Davis administration is working to “bring back the spirit of downtown nightlife” through new hotels, residences and overnight cruise ship stops. While declining to release specifics about the two new hotel projects he alluded to in his 2025-2026 Budget contribution, Mr Cooper said the Government has identified sites downtown and one on Cable Beach for new developments. He said the Government recognises that “a lot is riding on our shoulders” but is committed to building a tourism product that is sustainable. “I won’t speak to the specifics, except I will say that LPIA (Lynden Pindling International Airport) has issued an RFP (request for proposal) for a new hotel at LPIA; we’re positive about that,” Mr Cooper said. “We’ve identified a few sites in downtown and one in Cable Beach where we are courting investors.
CABLE Bahamas yesterday renewed its call for a competitive “level playing field” with satellite communications providers that is “fair, sustainable and balanced” for both consumers and the economy. The BISX-listed communications provider, in a statement responding to Tribune Business’s report on the company’s own warning that it may “be forced to exit the market and/or file for bankruptcy” if regulators fail to ensure it can compete on equal terms with Elon Musk’s Starlink and others, said the decision to launch a second round of consultation on satellite regulation shows its concerns are “valid”. The group, which also includes the Aliv mobile
COMPETITION - See Page B6
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net DR MICHAEL DARVILLE
to the Davis administration earlier this year, he revealed that accepting it would have sent a project at least two-and-a-half years in the making “back to the drawing board”. Dr Darville, telling this newspaper that it was almost impossible to accept the UK offer because the
Cable urging ‘sustainable and balanced’ satellite competition
currency for safekeeping” until the dispute is resolved. And, in opposing Deltec’s bid for an asset freeze, Ibanera also argued that it had no standing to seek injunctive relief because it had earlier this year closed the sale of its private client banking and fiduciary business to fellow Bahamian institution, Britannia Bank & Trust. As a result, the payments provider challenged whether Deltec has any interest in the $20m - either for its own interest, or that of its clients. Deltec, in its statement to Tribune Business, pledged to continue battling Ibanera and its principal in the south Florida court despite the asset freeze reversal. Pointing out that the judge did not determine the merits of its case, the Bahamian bank and trust provider asserted that the payments provider “must account” for why it continues to hold funds it has no right to.
FREEZE - See Page B4
East Bay St. hotel opponents voicing ‘done deal’ suspicions
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
• US was first and showed ‘no appetite’ A CABINET minister yesterday revealed • UK emerged when US government-backed deal is ‘95% done’ institutions showed “no appetite” to finance the new $267m hospital while • Funding ‘in best the UK offer emerged when the China deal was interest of Bahamians’
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financing negotiations with China were so far advanced, also reiterated that the Government had first approached the US Export-Import Bank, the American government institution that underwrites trade and export funding, for the hospital monies but it, too, showed little interest in aiding the project.
HOSPITAL - See Page B5
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
CHESTER COOPER “We’re on a massive push to do some spectacular things downtown for the downtown revitalisation. We are encouraging cruise ships to stay longer, and eventually overnight, to bring back that spirit of downtown nightlife, and encouraging residences and hotels downtown. “I think as a combination of all of these things, we are seeking to build a product and an economy that’s sustainable, that will last and stand the test of time. And it’s not just one thing or two things that we can do, but all of these things have to work together collectively to ensure the strength and sustainability, ultimately the diversity of our offering,” Mr Cooper added. “And no amount of noise in the market about what we we’re doing is going to distract us. We recognise that a lot is riding on our shoulders, and team tourism is committed to the task.” Mr Cooper said although air arrivals are “down slightly” from last
INVESTORS - See Page B6
OPPONENTS of a proposed East Bay Street condo hotel and marina yesterday voiced suspicions it was “a done deal” after the project received its conditional go-ahead despite their protests. Neighbours of the Grantanna Holdings development, which is to be located at a site two properties west of the Nassau Yacht Club, told Tribune Business the project is akin to “putting ten pounds of potatoes in a five-pound bag” with the land simply too small to contain all the proposed amenities. And, given that the project is set to feature 12-unit condo hotel plus 42-slip marina, along with a clubhouse and 100-seat restaurant, they voiced concerns over a likely significant increase in traffic and parking congestion despite the developer’s plans including an on-site parking garage.
The Town Planning Committee decided to give the go-ahead for the Grantanna Holdings project just five days after the June 26, 2025, public consultation when it met on July 1. However, it has attached a number of conditions to the preliminary site plan approval that must be fulfilled by the developer, whose principal is Lorne Basden, president and director of Basden Elevator Services. These include a plan, and visuals, of screens it is supposed to erect on its eastern and western boundaries to shield the privacy of the developer’s residential neighbours. The developer must also provide copies of all relevant approvals for land reclamation; a copy of its seabed lease; and obtain a certificate of environmental clearance (CEC) from the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) before beginning construction work at the site.
APPROVAL - See Page B6