By NEIL HARTNELL

TRIBUNE Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS needs “something sexy” and innovative to set it apart from rival jurisdictions, a financial services executive argued yesterday, asserting that it was again coming in “on the tail end” with many recently-unveiled initiatives.

Paul Moss, managing director of Dominion Management Services, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas “needs new legislation, new products” to truly separate it from the pack of financial centres chasing business from wealthy global investors and offer something unique that its competitors do not have.

Speaking to the products and services recently disclosed by Jerome Fitzgerald, minister of economic affairs, he conceded that - while there is interest in the long-promised Bahamas Tax Residency Certificate - this nation is relatively late in launching a product used by investors to confirm they are resident in a certain country and compliant with paying all due taxes there, thus enabling them to avoid higher taxation in other countries.

As for the Bahamas Invest Concierge Unit, which would offer red carpet treatment to wealthy persons and their family offices seeking to re-domicile to this nation by taking them seamlessly through the required approvals process, Mr Moss told this newspaper that “the proof will be in the pudding” given that this, too, has been promised by multiple administrations but never become reality.

“With respect to the Tax Residency Certificate, it’s been something that’s been talked about for a long time, and I have clients contacting me about it consistently,” he said. “I had a client who was asking me about it two-three weeks ago. It’s something that’s been in the planning for a little while now. It has been bandied about. We’ll see what happens.”

Mr Fitzgerald said draft legislation to place the Tax Residency Certificate into law is scheduled to go before Parliament before year-end 2026, the idea having been around since the first Christie administration almost a decade ago. It would certify a resident’s genuine and legitimate physical presence in The Bahamas, confirming that they pay taxes in this nation as their primary residence, and enabling them to avoid higher or double taxation in other countries.

“We will be catching up because other jurisdictions already have it,” Mr Moss said of the Tax Residency Certificate. “We’ll be seeing what the tail end brings to us. It has been on the shelf for many jurisdictions for a long time. It’s like most things; we’re on the tail end, but there is some interest in it. We’ll see.”

Turning to the Invest Concierge Unit, he added that execution and follow through to make sure it delivers what is promised when set up will be key. “This is something they talk about all the time,” Mr Moss said. “This relates to the ease of doing business. Every time they want to get on this trajectory they come with some other bureaucratic twist that takes this away.

“Even though they have this one-stop shop, I’m not sure how it will work based on the past record. Whenever they do it, they have these amendments to the various Acts that support the ease of doing business that create havoc inside the business world. It’s difficult to see how it materialises. The proof is in the pudding for sure.”

Mr Fitzgerald, in unveiling the Investor Concierge Unit, said: “We want to ensure that those who want to come to The Bahamas, to invest in The Bahamas, are given the attention and certainty that they deserve. Looking ahead, we are also preparing to launch the Bahamas Invest Concierge Unit.

“When your client decides to invest in The Bahamas, the Bahamas Invest Concierge Unit will guide them through the entire process - from the first inquiry to the final approval. Applications and approvals will be managed via a single point of contact.

“This concierge service will create an improved experience for investors making a genuine commitment to The Bahamas. This includes those investing in government bonds, which will grant economic permanent residency, as well as those who invest into real estate.”

Mr Moss, though, added that the minister’s announcement of plans to eliminate VAT on trust services, plus the transfer of property between family members and into a trust, is “not even something we should be talking about” as this should have been in place already. Transfers of assets between family members, he added, are not necessarily taxable because the ownership does not change.

The Dominion Management Services chief recalled having to prove this to the Department of Inland Revenue, including providing them with the trust deed, to show no VAT should be incurred. And he said the single, centralised Compliance Authority suggested by Ryan Pinder KC, the former attorney general, had been talked about since The Bahamas was first blacklisted in 2000.

“It’s quite onerous to be dealing with the Securities Commission, dealing with so many other agencies, the Central Bank,” he said. “It may make it less expensive because it’s quite costly to be dealing with all these different agencies at the same time.”

Summing up the likely impact of The Bahamas’ latest financial services reform package, Mr Moss told Tribune Business: “I’m not sure it does much. It does not really go out there and bring business to the country. It’s trying to clear up the red tape and bureaucracy as we know it.

“What matters for us is to really stand on our own, be a strong jurisdiction that makes decisions for itself, and that feeds into the message that this is a jurisdiction people want to be part of. We need new legislation, new products coming in, something sexy to promote. Right now, there’s nothing to promote. I am not sure how it goes. It’s catching up. Everyone knows it’s catching up.”

Mr Fitzgerald, expanding on The Bahamas’ broader financial strategy, said last week: “We want global family offices to better understand the advantages of the Bahamian experience. We will incorporate the family office experience into our Concierge Unit. But we know that to be the jurisdiction of choice, we need to ensure there is certainty for the family to establish their governance framework in The Bahamas. 

“We want to treat the establishment of a substantial family office in The Bahamas as a high-value foreign direct investment project, not another business,” he added.

“We will establish a framework where a family office will have a transparent and certain agreement, where expectations of the family office and the Government are agreed.  A single government-facing agreement where the process of approvals is transparent, expedited and a framework that can be relied upon.  

“Bring the decision-making centre of your family wealth to The Bahamas. Establish real substance here. Employ people here. Use Bahamian professional and financial services. In return, The Bahamas will give you a clear Immigration position, a known tax and Business Licence treatment, a defined regulatory perimeter, exchange control certainty, co-ordinated government approvals and a single point of contact.”