Well_mudda I guess the brilliant parliamentarians didn't take Corporate Law 101 in college because they forgot to give the BEC customers any "valuable consideration" for paying off the debts of someone they have no relationship with...in the case the SPV (lol, it ain even BEC). Dis a bunch a foolishness.

Like you said why would a subclass of Bahamians who consume electricity take on in their individual capacities $650 million repayment? What are they getting for "consideration"? Interest income? No. A debt position in BEC? No. An equity position in BEC? No? Electricity? No...they are paying for that separately from the "new line item on the bill".

I would be shocked if the courts agree with a break down in basic corporate law.

Law 101...even though it exist..... and Bank of the Bahamas is there despite it took in illegal funds from then criminal entities....it then took funds from then criminal illegal numbers houses not yet approved...it operated without tier 1 and 2 ratios...it got funding govt SPV 100M million for assets valued some 22.5M...all the time competed against international banks following the rules with shares on BISX..majority owned agency by Govt.It had govt bbuy the Rights shares and some former PM critized this...it got Canadian Marlette Report and never published Report even though it was govt funds paying for it....it got McKinsey Report and never published it....it got hundred millions more funds pumped into it ....NIB funds sitting in BoB who authorized knowing ?..Govt Reports?...AND even there are some 3,000 private shareholders with politicians as likely BoB shareholders in Parliament....many egregious wrongs never investigations. Next we can talk about Clico BoD using.employees pensions etcetcetc..Just seems all money will be finding places to go with or without Law 101....

A simple lawsuit by one customer asking the court stay the bond repayment port of his bill on the grounds that he did not agree to lend BEC any monies should make the entire house of cards fall apart.

Parliament can commit the Bahamas to repay a debt but parliament can’t force an individual to incur a specific debt that individual didn’t agree to assume.

When customers open a BEC account they only agree to buy electricity, not debt. At the very least BEC should have all customers sign or notified that the terms of their electricity supply contract has changed and they are debtors to these new foreign masters.

First you start with light, then water, the. Post office then national insurance where do we stop when we directly saddle individual Bahamians with specifics debts.

There is zero precedent globally for such a bond.

Normally Bahamian sovereign debt is 2 to 3 times over subscribed, because they only have indications for 90% means that foreigner a lil afraid a BEC dem. Where are the up to date audited accounts? Where is the prospectus? Where is the road show for Bahamian investors? Where is the moody rating? Where are the exact projects for the funds raised? Where is the BEC tract record of collections ... lol, if Dey can’t turn off da lights of ppl on the protection list how can you collect bond interest from dem.

I ain know who Dey tryin to fool wit dis set a nonsense.

I assume opposition lawyers are just waiting for BEC to put the line item in a bill before bringing the litigation on behalf of one customer.

If one get set aside den ain nobody ga pay.

FNM need to stop harassing da people’s dem.

Remember there is a law suit in place with one item challenging as to whether the present Board of Directors is actually ratified and has the authority to make decisions. This will be very impactful to a bond process which includes review/approval by the SEC amongst the already concerning events that have occurred with altering the original MOU with Shell NA.

My guess is they cannot get the financials signed off on. Who in their right mind would want now to be involved in this...as these Director's may be personally liable. You really think Bannister will protect them, man he will be the first to cast blame and throw them all under the bus.

I can't help but shake my head as the Guardian is running a story that has Moxey noting a delay with the bond due to the Coronavirus...all over the place with their public management on this....

Good point Bahamianby choice. You can't sign off the audited financial statements because BEC is not a "going concern". It requires a Letter of Comfort" from the Bahamian Government to state that it will support the utility for 12 months after the financial statements have been issued.

The issue of "going concern" or a qualified financial statement for BEC did not arise in the past because the company was fully financed by the government.

With the rate bond the issue is cloudy at best and mismanagement of the the firms finances at worse.

In order for Investors to invest in the bond. BEC must be issued an unqualified audit report by the auditors. This can't happen without the guarantee. If the letter of comfort is signed then the bond issue is a nonsense. Why would any investor buy a bond that is not a Bahamas government bond? The letter of comfort only lasts for 12 months? Who will guarantee the bond payments after 12 months?

Exactly! Who will guarantee...

That guy Geoff Andrews, related to Peter Andrews of Bahamas Waste Management, must have given the government a shiite load of bad advice that now has BPL's board members facing the risk of very material lawsuits against them. And you can be rest assured BPL's insurers and the government will not indemnify the board members because they will be deemed to have failed to exercise prudential business judgement on the basis of readily known and easily available information in the public domain. Frankly put, the legal peril of BPL's directors will not be removed nothwithstanding whatever legal advice and legal opinions they may foolishly choose to rely on.

Well_mudda, I think at the end of the day they will have to withdraw the Electricity Rate Reduction Bond Offering because the legal department of most institutional US investors will be unable approve the issue.

With the collapse of the stock market why would anyone take on BEC risk? A company that is badly run, never made a profit, has a challenged board, corruption in the past, in a banana republic....imagine having to deal with these guys on a business transaction and have them sitting across the table from you. You would be shaking your heads.

Besides no one is investing in fossil fuels except the Bahamas these days. Look at whats happening in Guyana ... BPC is next.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/worl…

off topic but this NY times story is amazing. It is **precisely** what Rachel Maddow laid out as a **pattern* of oil industry in developing economies. low job creation, focus turned from innovation with focus switched oil oil and more oil. govt officials grappling to control the millions in additional funds. It's amazing to see it happen again in real time. We will be no better.

From NY Times story:

"*Some in Guyana worry that the government’s preoccupation with oil is **already displacing resources from the country’s traditional industries** — sugar, rice, bauxite and gold — which are the country’s largest sources of employment. In the last few years, the **government has shut down four unprofitable sugar plants, leading to the loss of 7,000 jobs. The main bauxite mine, run by Russia’s Rusal, is also cutting jobs and exports***

“***They have stopped paying attention to the other sectors,**” said Bharrat Jagdeo, leader of the opposition.*

*A new economy catering to oil is rapidly taking shape. Around the capital, Georgetown, abandoned sugar fields.. *

*But **while the offshore oil fields will shower Guyana with billions of dollars in the coming years, they provide FEW DIRECT JOBS**. And like everything else in the country, the fate of the displaced agricultural and mining workers has become a partisan battle.*

*The opposition People’s Progressive Party, backed primarily by the descendants of indentured Indian laborers brought by the British, has promised to use the oil revenues to reopen and modernize the bankrupt sugar refining plants, reflecting their traditional strength in the rural areas.*

*But **neither party has provided any concrete investment figures or outlined any initial projects***

***“The profits from our petroleum industry will provide you, and you and you with a good life,” President David Granger, a 74-year-old retired Army Brigadier who is running for re-election, told tens of thousands of supporters on Saturday.***

***HE DIDN'T PROVIDE ANY DETAILS, INSTEAD TREATED HIS JUBILANT SUPPORTERS TO COLORFUL LIVE PERFORMANCES OF REGGAE AND CHUTNEY, Guyana’s national music style, mixing Caribbean calypso with Bollywood themes.***

Isn't one of the newly minted "QC's" a sitting Board Member..note to self to avoid his legal advice..

Thanks to the commenters here.
We need more push back to the governments hair brained schemes.
The knowledge base and critical thinking skills needed, are not existent in the leadership we have in place. Your comments here illustrate this clearly.
The discussion on this bond issue alone could have been completely avoided had we run BEC/BPL in a business-like manner in the past. Devoid of the petty political interference, corruption run amuck, and abject ignorance of business protocols.
Is this the story of our lives?
We are now left with an albatross, hung around the necks of our descendants, of which we can be assured will never be resolved.
What is being asked for here is a short term political / financial solution to a long term management problem. There is nothing in the works, either in theory or in practical terms that suggests we will not have similar, perhaps unrelated problems in a few short years due to the lack of honesty, integrity and intelligence needed to benefit the Bahamian people as a whole.