When MP Allyson Maynard Gibson was appointed head of the new Ministry of Financial Services and Investments, she arrived at her post armed with a vision and a plan.
Her vision is to see The Bahamas become a premier investment destination within the next 10 years that rivals London, New York and Singapore.
Her plan is a five-year joint initiative that relies heavily on input from industry professionals.
"The thrust of all of this really is to make The Bahamas, in the same way that we are a complete tourist destination, a complete financial services destination and ultimately a complete destination. When you think of London, New York or Singapore, and Zurich as well... you know that when you go there you will find certain things and certain standards and services, whether it's in tourism or anything else," says Maynard Gibson.
According to government statistics, those four centres and others in Switzerland currently service 80 per cent of the world's offshore business. The Bahamas is among the Top 5 centres with the remaining 20 per cent of the business - a statistic Maynard Gibson is determined to see change.
"I look at Singapore Inc and I think Bahamas Inc," she says.
Five-year plan
"One of the first things that I did in May (2002) when I had the privilege of being appointed to the ministry, was to immediately get involved with the sector and talk about where we wanted to be over the next five years and also in the longer term," says Maynard Gibson. "I wanted to strike a very, very close private-public sector partnership."
In late 2002 government announced the creation of the Financial Services Consultative Forum (FSCF), a 33-member body that will provide input on future legislation, issues and initiatives that affect the industry.
Brian Moree, senior partner at McKinney, Bancroft and Hughes, is chairman of the FSCF. Its sub-committees will deal specifically with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) initiatives, the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the US, the Bahamas International Stock Exchange (BISX) and new financial legislation.
"I think the new government has demonstrated both by their rhetoric and by their conduct that they are very committed to a meaningful process of dialogue between the public and private sector and they have taken some steps to institutionalize that consultative process, which I think is commendable," says Moree.
"There is no question that as we plot our own future in this financial services industry, that level of communication and consultation is going to have to get greater and not less if we are going to survive the challenges (presented by the OECD initiatives).
I believe the government understands that." Among his concerns are product development and creating new legislation or revising old laws governing such areas as external and domestic insurance, protected cell companies, mutual funds, e-commerce and international business companies (IBCs).
"Both in the private sector and in the government I think there has to be an increased commitment to greater efficiency, where we become more nimble on our feet, where we can in a thoughtful and considered manner move more quickly to address the needs of the industry," says Moree.
Nobody is more aware of this than Maynard Gibson, who has outlined plans to make The Bahamas a "blue chip" financial centre.
Full service
These include an airline registry to rival The Bahamas' extensive ship registry (the third-largest in the world), building a niche for the jurisdiction as an arbitration centre, and a hybrid mutual fund called a Smart Fund.
The Bahamas already has an airline registry, explains Maynard Gibson, "but we really want to pursue it as assiduously as we pursued the ship registry." She has invited private sector input on how it should be structured to facilitate its success and to distinguish The Bahamas from other such services.
"It would operate pretty much like a ship registry - on our ship registry we have tankers registered, we have tourist cruise ships registered. There are a myriad of opportunities. An aircraft registry would also be used to facilitate financing or purchase of aircraft."
Maynard Gibson believes The Bahamas also has all the right ingredients to become a leading arbitration centre, where businesses and corporations could settle disputes.
"All around the world the cost of litigation has not been controlled. Also, speedy access to the courts is somewhat challenging," she says.
Certainly it's not a new idea - the UK has Alternative Dispute Resolution, and in the US mediation is often preferred over costly litigation as a method of resolving disputes.
So why The Bahamas? "We have a depth of legal talent here (more than 600 attorneys) and the ability to set up an arbitration centre in a destination such as this where people, frankly, don't mind coming," says Maynard Gibson. "It's just a logical place to do it. And so again, we are asking the private sector to assist with how they think it can be best done in terms of amendments to our Arbitration Act. We are already signatory to certain international treaties that govern arbitration. So we just take a few more steps to evolve into a centre. All of this is a part of rounding us off as a leading full-service centre."
E-government
Government is also embracing e-commerce as well as e-government to make the investment process more streamlined.
"If we are to be what I think we can be, it is essential that e-commerce be a part of that. That is absolutely a significant part of the way forward," says Maynard Gibson. "It is part of the reason we are looking at the privatization of BaTelCo (the public telephone corporation), because reliable communications are essential for any financial service centre. Specifically on e-commerce, you will have heard the Prime Minister speak about our focus on e-government, which has to be an integral part of the whole thing so that it can be seen we are very serious about this."
Government has already computerized the Companies Registry, allowing company names to be reserved, companies formed, annual returns filed and payments made over the Internet.
Gathering strength
While these are challenging times for the government and the financial services industry, Maynard Gibson is confident that both are up to the job of ensuring the continued success and growth of the sector.
"I think that at a time like this, when the world economy is being challenged, these are times when people need to look within - and Bahamians historically do look within - and refocus and emerge even stronger. That is my hope over the next 10 years."
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