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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2025
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Bishop’s family wins on title over 3,205 Rum Cay acres * Court delivers 90th birthday present for Bishop Thompson * Ruling viewed as ‘cleaning up’ decades of land speculation * Judge: Challengers took too long to initiate adverse claims
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A
n Anglican Bishop and his family have fought off multiple challenges to their ownership of 3,205 Rum Cay acres in a Supreme Court ruling billed as “cleaning up” much of the land speculation that has bedeviled the island for decades. Bishop Gilbert Arthur Thompson, who has just celebrated his 90th birthday, and his family’s company, Mondevco Ltd, have seen the Certificates of Title affirming their ownership of ten separate Rum Cay land parcels upheld by Justice Simone Fitzcharles in a September 23, 2025, verdict. And, in doing so, she rejected two “adverse claims” to ownership of
THOMPSON the same land that appear to be linked to persons and corporate entities known to have been long involved in Rum Cay real estate transactions where property titles were viewed as dubious or questionable. Gilbert A. Thompson, the Bishop’s son and an
attorney who represented his family in the Supreme Court battle alongside Dwyan Rodgers of Meridian Law Chambers, told Tribune Business that the verdict - if there is no appeal - will “clean up a lot of the problems that have been created” by the years-long orgy of land speculation impacting Rum Cay. Asserting that the affirmed title certificates give the family ownership of around “one-third” of Rum Cay, he confirmed that the Bishop is a director and shareholder in Mondevco Ltd. “There were two adverse claimants,” Gilbert
A. Thompson told this newspaper. “It took almost two years for the ruling to come out, and it came out in favor of Mondevco Ltd.” The family is now waiting to see whether either of its challengers will appeal the Supreme Court verdict, and has yet to determine what it will use the Rum Cay holdings for if their ownership stands. “The good thing is this cleans up a lot of the problems that have been created,” he added. “This is essentially putting them to bed. All that stuff that was going on with Effie Knowles, that will now be null and void.”
Many of those involved in the Rum Cay land speculation orgy have claimed their roots of title ownership derive from the estate of the late Effie Knowles, a Bahamian who pursed a legal career in Florida and died in the 1980s after purportedly becoming an associate of the former US president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Her name was again invoked by one of the rival claimants during the challenge to Bishop Thompson and his family, with Phillip McKenzie KC, the Davis & Co attorney and partner, asserting that his client through the Effie Knowles
estate held “superior title” to a 232.68-acre portion of another 745.202-acre tract claimed by Mondevco Ltd. The outcome has to be determined at a separate hearing but, if it goes in the latter’s favor, could result in the Anglican bishop and his relatives owning just shy of 4,000 Rum Cay acres at 3,951. Justice Fitzcharles’ judgment revealed that the 232.68-acre tract claimed by Mr McKenzie’s client, Atlantic Coast Development, was allegedly conveyed to it by another corporate entity, Newport
VERDICT - See Page B5
EU OFFICIAL DENIES Bank failure reform impact TOP ‘UNFAIR PRACTICES’ for depositors and creditors TOWARDS BAHAMAS By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net PROPOSED legal reforms will give Bahamian depositors “preferential treatment” while providing the Central Bank with “discretion to depart” from equal treatment of “similarly-ranked creditors” following a bank failure. Stacey Benjamin, the Central Bank’s top legal counsel, told yesterday’s financial services industry briefing on the recently-unveiled legislative amendments package that the changes - if passed into law - would rank Bahamian depositors and their funds ahead of other “senior unsecured creditors” in any payout and recovery following an
institution’s liquidation. She also explained that the proposed “discretion” in creditor treatment, which would be a departure from long-standing international and local norms, will only be exercised if the Central Bank feels it is necessary to “prevent contagion” in the Bahamian financial system or maximize the “value” of a failed/collapsed institution and its assets. “The proposed amendments also seek to ensure depositors receive preferential treatment and a mechanism to protect public funds during resolution,” Ms Benjamin said. “Depositor preference and flexibility in creditor treatment.” Reform of the Banks and Trust Companies Regulation Act in 2020 had incorporated provisions
“for shareholder and creditor safeguards” should any of the Central Bank’s licensees fail, “and to allow for greater flexibility in developing resolution options in line with international standards”. However, with the latest proposed changes, Ms Benjamin added: “These amendments will introduce provisions that will give the Central Bank discretion to depart from the pari passu (equal) treatment of similarly-ranked creditors either to prevent contagion in the financial system or to maximize the bank’s value. “The proposed amendments also introduce depositor preferences that will place depositor funds in a more senior position than other unsecured creditor claims. That will
require an independent valuation of assets and liabilities to inform the Central Bank’s resolution actions”. Ms Benjamin told financial services executives that proposed changes to the Protection of Depositors Act are designed to prevent ‘bank runs’, where depositors suddenly withdraw funds en masse for a particular institution because they perceive it is about to fail or collapse - an event that can turn belief into reality. She explained that the reforms will give the Deposit Insurance Corporation, which fully insures all deposits up to a maximum of $50,000 at its member institutions, access “to a dedicated
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GOVERNOR: ‘THERE’S WORK TO BE CREDIT UNIONS PUSH BACK DONE’ ON CONSUMER CONCERNS OVER VAT EXEMPTION END By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Central Bank’s governor yesterday asserted that its proposed reform package will “empower the regulator to address more holistically” Bahamian consumer concerns around bank fees, financial inclusion and access and payment services. John Rolle, addressing a consultation with financial services executives on the planned changes to key industry legislation such as the Central Bank of The Bahamas Act and Banks and Trust Companies Regulation Act, conceded that “there’s work that needs to happen in this space” to resolve long-standing consumer grievances over
how banks treat them. “The reform proposals also add clarity and the mandate that the Central Bank needs to have in pursuing issues such as access and inclusion to financial firms and services in the domestic banking and payment space, especially at a transactional level,” the Governor said. “These are expected to, once fully fleshed out, to empower the Central Bank to begin to address more holistically, for example, consumer protection matters as they relate further to fee-setting and other [factors] relating to products and services that are used for payment. “The products and services we are talking about
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By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN credit unions yesterday pushed back on planned legal reforms that will eliminate the current VAT exemption they enjoy as the Central Bank’s Governor defended the move on the grounds of fairness. John Rolle said that while all businesses are exempt from taxation on their profits, more clarity is needed in legislation regarding how credit unions pay VAT on their purchases. He added that there remain certain government taxes that may not apply to credit union operations, but that when these entities procure goods and services from the same suppliers as the general public, VAT
becomes more relevant. “In the case of the Value Added Tax, it’s really dealing with the instances in which they are encountering that in their inputs to the operation, and making certain that there’s clarity in terms of how that is administered,” said Mr Rolle. “I think there’s still some aspects of government taxes where, in transactions specific to the operations of credit unions, that the taxes are still not applicable. So those cases do not go away. It’s more reference to Value Added Tax in the context where these entities are procuring goods and services from the same providers as the general public.”A representative of a credit union said it currently only pays VAT on investment properties and
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By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net THE European Union’s (EU) Bahamas representative yesterday asserted that the 27-nation bloc “has never imposed any sanctions or unfair practices” on this nation and other Caribbean states amid criticism of its regulatory initiatives targeted at international financial centers. Dr Erja Askola, EU ambassador to Jamaica, Belize and The Bahamas, responded directly to complaints by Senator Barry Griffin, executive chairman of the Bahamas Trade Commission, that initiatives such as ‘substance reporting’ and the subsequent
‘blacklisting’ of this nation and others for purported non-compliance was anticompetitive and designed to drive rivals out of the financial services business. Speaking on a panel during Diplomat Week, Mr Griffin highlighted the negative impact that regulatory and trade restrictions - particularly in financial services - have on small nations such as The Bahamas. He argued that while these restrictions are often framed as efforts to address compliance gaps, they actually expose deep structural inequities in global governance. Mr Griffin said that while small countries may struggle to fight back through
COMPLAIN - See Page B4