The Tribune

HIGGS & JOHNSON last Wednesday hosted its annual client seminar under the theme ‘Bankruptcy, Inheritance & Taxes’.

Welcome remarks were given by Dr Earl A. Cash, partner and chair of the firm’s private client and wealth management group.

Michael Halkitis, minister of state for finance, in his opening remarks said the Bahamas would be entering a new era once Value-Added Tax (VAT) was introduced, but emphasised that the Government would also focus on better collection of existing taxes.

The first session, ‘Insolvency: A Tale of Two Islands,’ was co-presented by partner, Tara Cooper-Burnside (Bahamas), and senior associate John Harris (Cayman Islands).

This joint presentation reviewed both the Bahamian and Caymanian statutes on international insolvency and recognition of foreign proceedings. The speakers explained the development of English common law as it relates to insolvency matters and gave relevant case law examples.

Bahamian Associate, Alexandra Hall, spoke on the topic ‘VAT: Facts for Financial Services.’ She highlighted the impact of VAT in the financial services area and discussed the likely challenges to be faced by the sector.

Gennette Faust, associate at Greenberg, Traurig, spoke on the topic ‘Practical FATCA’. She elaborated on the practical aspects of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and discussed the FATCA classification of non-US trusts and their underlying companies.

Ms Faust focused on issues facing practitioners making such classifications and the compliance options that exist once an entity has been classified.

The seminar concluded with an interactive segment called ‘Family Feud: Disputes Over the Last Will & Testament of Henry Higgins-Johnson.’ Ava Rodland, associate in the Bahamas office, was the moderator for this session.

Attendees were asked to review the will and a number of questions raised by the moderator individually. An interactive session followed with the moderator, who analysed the difficulties presented by the will and provided suggested answers to the questions. Erica Culmer-Curry, of KPMG, was awarded a prize for answering most of the questions correctly.