The domestic economic environment during 2011 has to be viewed in the context of a weaker than expected recovery in the global economy and less positive performance indicators for the US, according to The Central Bank of The Bahamas.

However, initial indications are that the gradual improvement in the domestic economy was upheld through the latter half of the year, supported mainly by ongoing construction sector projects and more modest gains in the tourism sector.

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July
The massive infrastructure redevelopment project at Lynden Pindling International Airport took centre stage in the Fall-Winter issue of The Bahamas Investor magazine. The July-December edition also included an Island Living supplement and Legal Directory.

Capgemini and Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management also released the 2011 World Wealth Report in July. Key findings saw high-net-worth individuals increase by 8.3 per cent and financial wealth growing to $42.7 trillion.

Working in collaboration with a technology subsidiary of the Singapore government, The Bahamas government launched a new, improved website (www.bahamas.gov.bs) this month, offering a new user interface with enhanced services for investors and the local community.

US airline operator Vision Airlines agreed to run services between several US cities and Grand Bahama. The budget flights started in November.

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Replicating the thrill of fast-paced business outside the confines of the boardroom is easy in The Bahamas, according to the Lifestyle feature in the January-July issue of The Bahamas Investor magazine.

For the growing breed of young, adventurous high-net-worth Individuals (HNWIs), the islands are an ideal setting for kitesurfing, shark diving, big game fishing and many other extreme sports offering an adrenalin rush unmatched by the stock market.

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A leading light in the Bahamas financial services community, Antoinette Russell was the first woman and the first Bahamian to achieve the position of trust centre head and local managing director at Credit Suisse Trust Ltd.

Growing up in Nassau, Russell worked hard to get the requisite qualifications to achieve success in the sector, obtaining a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and later the Trust and Estate Planning (TEP) and Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers (BACO) designations.

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April
By the March 2011 deadline, The Bahamas had met all the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) compliance stipulations, with the signing of the requisite amount of tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs). In April, the jurisdiction also proved competent in the first round of Peer Reviews.

In response to the dynamic global economic environment, the government amended the National Investment Policy in this month, raising the minimum dollar requirement for foreign direct investment (FDI) in a commercial undertaking and removing the restriction prohibiting international investment in restaurants and/or entertainment facilities.

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Speaking during a question and answer session with The Bahamas Investor magazine, Viana Gardiner, acting director of investments at the Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA), said she expects continued growth of foreign direct investment (FDI).

“In 2008, we had a decline [in FDI], with the [approved] figure that year being $1.2 billion. In 2009, it dipped to $928 million. However, in 2010, it was back on the rise at $1.2 billion.”

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Tavistock Group has announced that H Hunter “Terry” White III and his family have acquired Lynum Investment Group Ltd’s shares in the New Providence Development Co Ltd (NPDCo).

Since 1998, the diversified Bahamian land development company has been jointly owned and operated by the White family and Lynum Investment Group, an affiliate of Tavistock Group, which is a private investment company.

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January
The beginning of 2011 saw the publication of The Bahamas Investor January-July issue featuring the Bank of The Bahamas and marked the launch of a range of new features on the website. The News & Press section provided a platform for news updates, profiles, excerpts from interviews and coverage of industry events and conferences.

The top stories in January included the release of further details regarding the new US tax compliance regulations contained within The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the opening of The College of The Bahamas’ (COB) new $10-million Northern Bahamas Campus (NBC) in east Grand Bahama.

The month also saw the Employers Confederation (BECon) and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce (BCOC) consolidated to form one organization.

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Dec. 17/11 (Reuters) – Eike Batista sits atop one of the world’s most expansive industrial conglomerates, ranging from oil and mining to recreation and beauty care. Already the richest person in Brazil, he wants to be the richest in the world.

His country has not seen industrial ambition on this scale since the 19th century, when a banker called Irineu Evangelista de Sousa built the first railroad, helped put steamships on the Amazon and linked South America to Europe with an undersea telegraph.

Since then, Brazil has evolved from a slaveholding backwater addicted to foreign capital into an emerging global power. And yet in skeptical capital markets, Brazil is still trying to prove itself.

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This is an excerpt from Reuters as it appeared on December 27, 2011. For updates or to read the current version of this post in its entirety, please click here.

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