By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Immigration Department was yesterday accused of “systematically driving business from this country”, as the Government moved swiftly to contain any negative fallout from Tuesday’s detention of a top UBS (Bahamas) executive.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, Superwash’s president, yesterday described as “outrageous” the apprehension, and temporary Detention Centre stay, of Emmanuel Fiaux, the East Bay Street bank’s executive director.

The businessman, a prominent critic of the Immigration Department and the Government’s seemingly hardline work permit stance, said the incident involving Mr Fiaux threatened to damage the Bahamas’ efforts to attract new foreign direct investment (FDI) and businesses to its shores at a time when they were most needed.

Mr D’Aguilar’s comments came as Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services, revealed to Tribune Business that he visited UBS (Bahamas) at Tuesday lunchtime to personally apologise to Mr Fiaux for his treatment at Immigration’s hands.

Tacitly admitting that the resulting publicity threatened to have negative consequences for the Bahamas, Mr Pinder said both Prime Minister Perry Christie, and deputy prime minister Philip Davis, had moved “swiftly” to minimise any repercussions.

They, together with Mr Pinder, met the financial services industry’s principal working groups - the Association of International Banks and Trust Companies (AIBT) and Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) - on both Tuesday and yesterday, resulting in the two bodies releasing a joint statement on Immigration issues.

“Certainly, when there’s negative publicity, it’s never favoured by the Government of the Bahamas, and it’s never favoured when you’re trying to advance the economic development of the country and have a major international business presence,” Mr Pinder added.

“It’s a highly unfortunate incident that occurred. During a lunch break at Cabinet, I went to UBS and offered a personal apology to Mr Fiaux.”

Mr Pinder said that, together with the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, the Government was able to reaffirm its commitment to the financial services industry during its meetings with the BFSB and AIBT.

The Christie administration also promised to co-operate, and work with, the private sector to grow the Bahamian financial services industry.

And, Mr Pinder confirmed, the Government also pledged “to take a look at opportunities for policy reforms within Immigration to advance the industry while preserving the right for Bahamian participation within it. We have a commitment to that”.

The Financial Services Minister added: “The Prime Minister elected, at his level, to emphasise the close relationship between his government and the financial services industry.

“We never like negative publicity, but the Prime Minister reacted very swiftly to reassure the industry at the highest level, and reaffirm the Government’s commitment to working with the financial services industry to advance it.”

While many are likely to view the Government’s rapid response as commendable, whether it will be enough to contain any damage resulting from the Fiaux incident remains to be seen.

Mr D’Aguilar, the former Bahamas Chamber of Commerce president, said the Immigration Department appeared to be developing “a trend” for heavy handedness when it came to dealing with skilled, high-end expatriate workers.

Mr Fiaux’s detention comes within a year of Immigration officials entering Atlantis’s premises to detain the resort’s sea lion trainer, and haul her away in front of numerous tourists.

“It’s another clear example of an Immigration Department that’s completely out of control,” Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business. “This is the second time his has happened and is becoming a trend.

“Mr Mitchell needs to get his people under control. They need to learn how to deal with people properly. It’s outrageous. They’re basically scaring everyone off.

“These guys [Immigration] need to realise we’re in a recession, and we need to attract business to our country. I’m sure Ryan Pinder and Khaalis Rolle [minister of state for investments] are rolling their eyes and saying: ‘What are these people doing?’”

Mr D’Aguilar pointed out that Mr Fiaux’s work permit was likely to have cost his UBS employers at least $10-$15,000, and he called for the Immigration Department to employ more common sense when conducting roadblock checks.

He suggested that the banker would likely have been wearing a suit and tie, and driving a high-end vehicle - clear indications he was in the Bahamas legally.

Mr D’Aguilar called for Fred Mitchell, minister of foreign affairs and immigration, who has responsibility for the Department, to publicly apologise to Mr Fiaux.

“It’s like a police state,” the Superwash chief told Tribune Business. “I’m sure they’ll go on about the fact he [Mr Fiaux] should have had his documents on him, but no one carries their driver’s licence with them all the time.

“Fred Mitchell should do the right thing and apologise. But he’ll probably do the silly thing and say he should have had his permit on him.”

Mr D’Aguilar said that as a high-salaried worker, Mr Fiaux’s presence - and spending in the Bahamas - was helping to create Bahamian jobs.

And his detention by Immigration represented a potential obstacle to attracting more high net worth individuals to these shores.

“The Immigration Department is systematically driving business from this country. Operate with sense,” he told Tribune Business.

“It’s just ridiculous. I’m sure he’s a major decision maker at the bank, and they’ll downsize because of this stupidity. They’re just driving people from this country.

“When this man goes on the social circuit and discusses it, it will come out that the Bahamas is not a friendly place to do business. These people provide good, high paying jobs, and are the type of people we want to attract to this country.”