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SCOTIABANK: GROUP INSURANCE POLICY GROWS EVERY YEAR

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor Scotiabank (Bahamas) says its group homeowners insurance programme is growing in size every year due to the "stress" in its $1.498 billion loan portfolio, as it pledged to resolve any concerns the industry regulat

SCOTIABANK: GROUP INSURANCE POLICY GROWS EVERY YEAR

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor Scotiabank (Bahamas) says its group homeowners insurance programme is growing in size every year due to the "stress" in its $1.498 billion loan portfolio, as it pledged to resolve any concerns the industry regulat

SCOTIABANK: GROUP INSURANCE POLICY GROWS EVERY YEAR

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor Scotiabank (Bahamas) says its group homeowners insurance programme is growing in size every year due to the "stress" in its $1.498 billion loan portfolio, as it pledged to resolve any concerns the industry regulat

SCOTIABANK: GROUP INSURANCE POLICY GROWS EVERY YEAR

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor Scotiabank (Bahamas) says its group homeowners insurance programme is growing in size every year due to the "stress" in its $1.498 billion loan portfolio, as it pledged to resolve any concerns the industry regulat

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Telecom provider pledges ‘unheard of’ service levels

A newly-launched telecommunications provider yesterday promised “unheard of” service quality levels for the Bahamian market, as it will incur financial penalties for failing to meet customer expectations.

‘Lots of muscle’ required for $142m toxic BOB pile

The Bank of The Bahamas bail-out vehicle must now employ “lots of muscle” to recover its remaining “toxic” loan collateral valued at $142m, its chairman revealed yesterday.

DEVELOPER MOVES TO AVOID EARLY 'MISS' AT EX-GINN PROJECT

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The Canadian-based developer for the former $4.9 billion Ginn project's real estate component yesterday said it would suffer "a very severe blow" if it did not get the next phase right, having shifted the developm

DEVELOPER MOVES TO AVOID EARLY 'MISS' AT EX-GINN PROJECT

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The Canadian-based developer for the former $4.9 billion Ginn project's real estate component yesterday said it would suffer "a very severe blow" if it did not get the next phase right, having shifted the developm

DEVELOPER MOVES TO AVOID EARLY 'MISS' AT EX-GINN PROJECT

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The Canadian-based developer for the former $4.9 billion Ginn project's real estate component yesterday said it would suffer "a very severe blow" if it did not get the next phase right, having shifted the developm

Bank payment charges need ‘legitimate redress’

THE Central Bank yesterday appeared to concede that fees for payment services were too high and “require legitimate redress”, a view shared by 78 per cent of Bahamians.

Freeport investment law blasted as ‘anti-business’

Freeport’s new tax incentives law was yesterday branded an “abomination” and “anti-business” by an FNM Senator, who argued that it will undermine both the city’s founding agreement and economic growth.

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Atlantis’s 4.5% Xmas rate rise beats hotel norm

Atlantis has seen a “quite substantial” 4.5 per cent year-over-year increase in average daily room rates (ADRs) for the upcoming peak Christmas/New Year season, a growth rate exceeding industry norms.

Bahamians urged: Show ‘more ‘outrage’ over financial crimes

BAHAMIANS were yesterday urged to show “more outrage” over financial crime and poor business practices, a prominent cleric arguing that these had become “entrenched in our culture”.

Development Bank fund ‘sinking’: Covers 1/3 of $46m bonds

* Just 28.4% of loans ‘performing’ * Accumulated losses over $60m * Solvency deficiency at $31.31m

THE Bahamas Development Bank’s (BDB) ‘sinking fund’ covered just one-third of its $46 million outstanding bond debt at year-end 2016, with only 28.4 per cent of its loans ‘performing’. The BDB’s 2016 financial statements, tabled in the House of Assembly in Wednesday by the Prime Minister, reveal the parlous state of another state-owned enterprise (SOE) that has racked up more than $60 million in losses for the Bahamian taxpayer during its 43-year existence.

SMALL BUSINESS BILL DISCUSSION TARGET BEFORE 2012 ELECTION

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor A government minister says he is "reasonably certain" that broad consultation with stakeholders on the much-awaited Small and Medium-Sized Business (SME) Development Bill can be held prior to the general election,

S&P: Gov’ts fiscal, economic reforms ‘will take time’ to work

* 1.5% average growth forecast lower than IMF’s * Grand Lucayan closure takes out 7% of rooms * Debt to rise through 2020 to 52% of GDP

THE Government’s fiscal and economic reforms will take time to “pay dividends”, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) warned yesterday, as it took a more ‘bearish’ view of the Bahamas’ growth prospects. The rating agency, in its latest Bahamas country assessment, expressed confidence that the Minnis administration’s fiscal reforms will “arrest the deterioration” in the Government’s deficit and the national debt.

Ex-Hard Rock franchisee queries transfer to ex-MP

Hard Rock Cafe's former Nassau franchisee has questioned why the business was so readily handed to its Bahamian landlord, when a decade earlier he had been "forced" to pay $1 million to end their partnership.

Port's 25% growth hides missed trade potential

Freeport is failing to attract “a wider range” of businesses and become a true logistics/distribution hub, despite the Container Port outstripping all Caribbean rivals with 25 per cent cargo throughput growth.

Banks to ‘double’ VAT recovery.... to just 10%

The Bahamian banking industry is hopeful it might be able to recover ‘double’ the amount of Value-Added Tax (VAT) inputs than previously thought, as one institution yesterday revealed its total tax burden will increase by $6-$7 million in two years.

Mortgage finance 'biggest hurdle' to housing recovery

Mortgage financing access remains "the biggest hurdle" to reviving the domestic real estate market, causing up to three deals for the same property to fall through.