“About 93 per cent of the victims of white collar crimes–fraud, money laundering, electronic crimes, Ponzi schemes–never get their money back,” says John S Bain, managing director of John S Bain Chartered Forensic Accountants, a firm specializing in forensic and investigative reporting, fraud investigations, asset recovery, insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings.

A Ponzi scheme pays returns to old investors from money injected by new ones, rather than from any actual profit earned. Essentially, it takes from Peter to pay Paul. Consequently, the scheme’s investment fund lasts only as long as the flow of new money can sustain the high rates of return paid out to existing investors. When the numbers of new investors dwindle, the scheme collapses, just as Bernard Madoff’s $65-billion investment fund did in December 2008.
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The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce (BCC) and the Bahamas Employers Confederation (BECon) have joined forces to create a new body charged with raising standards and identifying new business opportunities in the private sector.

The new Bahamas Chamber of Commerce Employers Confederation (BCCEC) is designed to deliver more services and provide greater value for member businesses. It will encompass ten divisions including Business Development, Education and Training, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) and Trade and Commerce, among others.

“We went through a process to crystalize where we needed to be with both entities and we realised if we did not merge, we would not get the value we wanted,” explained BCC president Khaalis Rolle who is also the BCCEC’s first chairman.

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Pointing to a stagnant housing market, lagging employment and the need for a weaker dollar, Micheal Kearns, regional director, Americas, of global asset management company Permal says that problems facing the US and world economy now may last for many years to come.

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International credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has maintained The Bahamas’ credit rating of BBB+, with the same stable outlook.

Credit Analyst Olga Kalinina has said that major fiscal issues are being addressed, and the tourism and other investment projects provide good prospects for maintaining a stable outlook. For more on this story visit the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) website.

Thirteen outstanding business students at The College of The Bahamas (COB) are set to attend a conference addressing pivotal issues facing the banking and trust industry.

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The Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) in collaboration with the country’s top law firms has updated and rebranded its booklet on legislation in the jurisdiction. Titled The Bahamas Advantage – Your Wealth and Asset Management Gateway of The Americas Since 1930, the booklet contains fact sheets on legislation relating to the financial services sector and conducting international business from the island nation.

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The National Accounts Section of the Department of Statistics has announced the release of the 2010 preliminary estimates along with the historically revised estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) for the period 1997 to 2009.

The 2010 preliminary results are based on early estimates from major data sources such as The Central Bank of The Bahamas, Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, and the Foreign Trade Section of the Department of Statistics, among others. They are also based on indicators that normally mimic movements of particular industries, including hotel room rates, megawatt sales, building permits, chargeable telephone minutes, and the consumer price index.

The 2010 GDP figures are preliminary and as more data becomes available, the figures will be revised in keeping with international practices and procedures.

According to these early results, the GDP in current prices for 2010 had a negative growth of 1.35 per cent, as compared to 2009 that had a negative growth of 5.26 per cent. However, when measuring the real growth that occurred in the economy, (which is growth unencumbered by inflation) the Bahamian economy had a positive growth of 0.95 per cent in constant prices.

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Florida’s highest ranked medical school the International Medicine Institute of the University of Miami, has signed a knowledge and technology transfer agreement with Colina Insurance Ltd enabling Bahamian physicians to train in the United States and use cutting-edge technology to improve patient care.

“This is a landmark initiative by Colina,” said the group’s executive vice chairman Emanuel Alexiou. “We recognize knowledge transfer as one of the most important steps in the evolution of medicine and healthcare. We hope that this partnership will breathe new life into the local healthcare environment.

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One of Nassau’s key air providers, JetBlue Airways, has announced it will add another flight to its services to The Bahamas.

The US carrier will now fly three times a day between Fort Lauderdale and Nassau. JetBlue also operates routes from Nassau to New York, Boston and Orlando.

In announcing the new flights, Scott Laurence, JetBlue’s vice president of network planning, said: “This additional flight would not be possible without the steadfast support of the Nassau and Paradise Island Promotion Board. We’re very happy with the tremendous support we’ve received from customers in both South Florida and The Bahamas.”

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View or download the Monthly Economic and Financial Developments report for March.