The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

CITY Markets principal, Mark Finlayson, yesterday slammed a lawsuit alleging that "all or most of the funds" in the supermarket chain's staff pension plan had been disposed of, telling Tribune Business: "I have never done anything contrary to the laws of the Trust".

A February 22, 2012, writ and statement of claim, filed on behalf of City Markets employees Victoria Allen, Charles Forbes, Emily Adderley, Karia Cooper, Nancy Evans, Andrew Major, Malissa Saunders, Mavie Grant, Idella Grant and Anishka Bartlett, has alleged that "all or most of the funds" in the City Markets staff pension plan, the Bahamas Supermarkets Profit Sharing Retirement Plan, had been disposed of.

It was further alleged that Bahamas Supermarkets ensured that Mr Finlayson, principal of 78 per cent City Markets' majority shareholder, Trans-Island Traders, and Philip Kemp, the supermarket's former chief financial officer, were appointed as pension fund trustees so that the fund was operated for the company's benefit, not that of its employee beneficiaries.

Responding yesterday, Mr Finlayson noted that Freeport-based attorney, James Thompson, had field an action in relation to a Bahamas Supermarkets matter that also included an action against the pension fund.

Mr Finlayson said: "One is a company and the other is a trust; those are two separate entities altogether. No matter what happens to Bahamas Supermarkets, the employee retirement fund is alive, it is well and it can do quite well without Bahamas Supermarkets being alive."

He added: "For the lawyers to just jump up and throw these accusations out is personally offensive to me, because I have acted honestly. I have never done anything contrary to the rules of the Trust.

"I expect for them to apologise to me for the way they have conducted themselves thus far. I would have thought the responsible thing to do would have been for them to contact me to find out what the overall status of the Trust would have been. They have not done that to date. They never made any contact with me to say they wanted to see what the status of the Trust was.

"I think that [the writ] was more of a publicity stunt rather than an serious attempt to find out what was going on in the Trust. I welcome any beneficiary to come and bring their legal representative, and I would be more than willing to bring them up to date on the status of the Trust."

Mr Finlayson said there was no basis for the lawsuit against himself or Mr Kemp. He said: "There is no basis for any kind of lawsuit against me or Philip Kemp as trustees. I will not say that there is no basis against former trustees, and I will leave it at that."

He added that he felt he had found the right person to acquire the former City Markets head office building on the East-West Highway. Mr Finlayson said: "There is a gentleman, one of the wholesalers, who is very serious about buying the building. He spent a lot of money doing his due diligence on the building. I think we may have a good prospect of a sale with him given all that he has done, and I expect an offer from him soon."