The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A top QC yesterday applauded the Government’s promised ‘user-friendly’ Immigration policy as potentially “a significant game changer” for the Bahamian economy, but warned that this nation now had to “walk the talk”.

Brian Moree, senior partner at McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes, said that while the Prime Minister’s policy statement would have “a significant impact” on the Bahamas’ attraction for high net worth investors if followed through on, it needed to be broadened to cover work permits for individuals with specialist skills.

The financial services industry, he added, was now likely to adopt “a wait and see” approach to see if the Government made good on its revised policy pledges.

Recalling his chairmanship of the Financial Services Consultative Forum under the first Christie administration, which produced an Immigration position paper that the Government failed to advance, Mr Moree said the issue could either “grow or retard” the sector depending on the approach the Bahamas adopted.

But, praising Mr Christie and Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services, for their public statements on developing a modern Immigration policy, the well-known QC urged them to follow through with specifics and timelines that could be relied upon.

“I think that many people in the financial services industry firmly believe that large amounts of capital will follow the physical presence of wealthy individuals, and a policy that is specifically designed to attract that type of person to the Bahamas is a very positive step,” Mr Moree told Tribune Business.

“It would be one that could have a significant impact on the future viability of the financial services industry here in the Bahamas, and its development as a major financial centre.

“I think that if the policy is properly developed and effectively implemented, it could be a significant game changer and provide a major impetus for changing the current paradigm, and to attract new and innovative products to be developed that would specifically target the ultra high net worth individual.”

The Government’s ultimate Immigration policy reform goal, as announced by Messrs Christie and Pinder, goes beyond attracting mere residents and second home owners.

It seeks to attract high net worth individuals to follow their assets to the Bahamas, becoming customers of its financial services industry and, ultimately, enticing these people to potentially invest in this nation’s domestic economy. Two shining examples of what this policy is meant to achieve are Joe Lewis (Albany) and the Izmirlian family (Baha Mar).

Mr Moree, though, urged the Government to broaden its modernisation drive beyond purely focusing on high net worth individuals.

“I would encourage the Government to apply that same type of innovative thinking to the issuance of work permits for multinational companies conducting business in and from the Bahamas,” he told Tribune Business.

“It is, in my view, very important that we not only address reform on the side of attracting wealthy people to live in the Bahamas, and bring their money with them, but if it is going to have the kind of impact it could potentially have on the industry, it must also reflect a modern and progressive policy on work permits.”

Mr Moree quickly reiterated that work permit policy had to achieve a “sensible balance” between the “legitimate expectations” of Bahamians in the financial services industry, and their prospects for advancement, and the need to attract expatriates with specialist skills that will grow the sector and increase its competitiveness.

Calling on the Government to back up its words with actions, Mr Moree said the financial services industry was likely to take its promises cautiously until that happened.

“While I think the industry would embrace a new, modern Immigration policy that would be used as a tool of development for the Bahamas, it is going to wait and see if it is executed, and we are walking the talk,” Mr Moree told Tribune Business.

“If that were to happen, I think we’ll see an injection of activity and interest in this jurisdiction. We’ve got to wait and see if they can take it through to the finish line, which would be refreshing and positive stuff.”

Mr Moree acknowledged that “you could go back a long time” when it came to the need for Immigration policy reform relating to the financial services industry, suggesting the issue went back at least 15-20 years.

Recalling the work done by the Financial Services Consultative Forum, which consulted with both industry and government agencies before it produced its report, Mr Moree said: “It was readily apparent that Immigration policy was a major issue that had the impact of either promoting the further development of the financial industry or retarding it.”

The senior McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes partner said it was “essential” that the Government’s revised policy set out “reasonable time periods” for approving and assessing applications, provided all relevant documents were received.

While the Government had to retain the power to approve or reject such applications, Mr Moree called for the revised policy to be published on the Immigration and Government department websites.

“If it is going to work, it has to provide a level of specificity which persons are going to be able to rely upon when making a decision,” he told Tribune Business.

“It’s really important that the policy be very specific in its terms, and not just a general statement that lists objectives, but provides detailed step-by-step procedures and reasonable turnaround periods for applications to be adjudged on.”