business@tribunemedia.net
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2023
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Wynn agrees to ‘quashing’ first penthouse approvals By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
t 4VCNJUT GSFTI CJE GPS (PPENBO T #BZ HP BIFBE THE DEVELOPER of a 14-storey Goodman’s Bay penthouse complex has t A&YQFEJUFE IFBSJOH PSEFSFE restarted its bid for planning permission after agreeing that GPS TUPSFZ QSPKFDU the initial approvals granted to the project should be t $PODFSO DPOTVMUBUJPO “quashed”. The Wynn Group, which QSPDFTT OPU DPSSFDUMZ EPOF has already completed the adjacent Residences at GoldWynn development, is urging the Town Planning Committee to abide by an Appeals Board order requiring the former to hear its site plan approval application “as expeditiously as possible” in return for not opposing the overturn of its initial permits. The developer had to wait more than a year for the appeal hearing outcome, which has likely cost the multi-million dollar development both time and money, and its attorneys have urged the Committee to “schedule a
public hearing as soon as possible” and ensure it complies with the process laid out in the Planning and Subdivision Act and its accompanying rules and regulations. Well-placed Tribune Business sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, yesterday confirmed that Wynn had “consented” to the quashing of its earlier approval - provided its site plan application was quickly heard again - on the basis that the legal requirements for public consultation may not have been properly complied with by the planning authorities. The initial “preliminary support of application approval”, which had been granted to Wynn for the second phase of its Goodman’s Bay development on July 12, 2022, was appealed by Eric Hoffer, who is understood to be the penthouse complex’s immediate neighbour to the east.
PENTHOUSES AT GOLDWYNN RENDERING
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AG brands The Bahamas’ insolvency regime ‘a joke’ By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net THE ATTORNEY General yesterday branded The Bahamas’ corporate insolvency regime as “a joke” and pledged to reform outdated laws and regulations that continue to undermine the financial services industry’s competitiveness.
Ryan Pinder KC renewed his promise to make The Bahamas “a near shore Delaware” through overhauling the bankruptcy and insolvency regulatory framework, which has not been upgraded for decades. He told the Nassau Conference that clients have been leaving The Bahamas due to the outdated regime. He said: “Our insolvency regime is a joke. It instils no confidence in sophisticated
structuring of companies on a commercial basis in The Bahamas. In fact, it was created in the early 1900s. Let’s be real. We need to lead from the front and be innovative. Companies are moving. We know that. “We are analysing the companies regime, the insolvency and bankruptcy regime, and related legislation, and to prepare recommendations for the
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RYAN PINDER KC
Corporate income tax for Bahamas ‘mammoth task’ By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net A LEADING Bermuda accountant yesterday warned The Bahamas that implementing a corporate income tax regime is a “mammoth task” that should not be underestimated. Olivia Espley-Ault, a senior manager in EY Bermuda’s tax practice, told a Nassau Conference panel discussion on corporate income tax and The Bahamas’ tax structure that - should this nation opt for such a reform - it must introduce a system that is simple to verify and enforce
for both firms (taxpayers) and the tax authorities. She noted that corporate income tax legislation can be updated to carve out a more elaborate regime once The Bahamas becomes more accustomed to the tax, and said: “I think it is something that should never be underestimated. “I’m not underplaying. It’s going to be a mammoth task to go from no corporate income tax to a well-administered, verified and enforced corporate income tax. But if The Bahamas is to choose a system that is a little bit simpler to follow, both for the taxpayer and for the tax
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Regulator: Financial crime gaps up to 60% of licensee weakness By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net THE SECURITIES Commission’s top executive yesterday revealed that anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing non-compliance accounts for between 40-60 percent of licensee deficiencies. Christina Rolle, the regulator’s executive director, told the Nassau Conference that it will next year start imposing fines on licensees if examinations reveal weaknesses and infractions in this area. She said: “Antimoney laundering and counter terror financing probably occupies about 40 percent to 60 percent of the
deficiencies that we see in a licensee. “Some of the things that licensees have to prepare for is that we will, in 2024, continue to focus on antimoney laundering and counter terror financing. We also will be looking to add to our examination process programmes that go deeper into the products that our licensees are offering. “One thing that we have been patient with so far, and all of the regulators have in terms of anti-money laundering and counter terror financing features, is coming out of the examinations licensees should expect to in 2024 begin to
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‘Lucrative prospects’: ArawakX refutes $2.4m insolvency woes t $IBJS XBSOT PG ANBSLFUT EBNBHF JG XPVOE VQ t "OE SFKFDUT BMMFHBUJPO PG ADSJNJOBM JOGSBDUJPOT t $MPTVSF XPVME CF AVOMBXGVM EJTQSPQPSUJPOBUF By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE BAHAMAS’ first-ever crowd-funding platform is asserting it has “lucrative prospects” rather than a $2.4m solvency deficiency as it bids to defeat the Securities Commission’s bid to wind-up its operations. D’Arcy Rahming D’ARCY senior, ArawakX’s chairRAHMING SNR man and chief executive, alleged in a September 27, 2023, affidavit that the capital markets regulator’s attempt to enforce its closure via the Supreme Court would be “an unreasonable, unlawful and disproportionate result” that will “damage the markets built” by the platform for the equity financing of small and mediumsized businesses by Bahamians. Seeking to make the case for why ArawakX should not be subjected to a winding-up Order, he also vehemently refuted the Securities Commission’s allegations that it had committed “governance irregularities, regulatory breaches and possible criminal infractions”. And, blasting assertions that the crowdfunding platform is also $2m in debt, Mr Rahming countered that there was no evidence “of a single complaint from a member of the public, client or investor” over its operations and pledged that it would abide by any plan agreed with the Securities Commission to increase its equity capital. “For the avoidance of doubt, the respondent rejects that it is insolvent in the sum of at least $2.4m,” the ArawakX chief said, seeking to rebut the Securities Commission’s most damaging concerns. “The respondent is not the subject of any financial claims or demands as at the date hereof. The respondent also denies that it has committed breaches under the ‘Securities Industries Act that warrant criminal penalties’.
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