The Broad Street Journal-Nov. 21, 2012 edition

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The Broad Street Journal • November 21, 2012 1

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Good prospects for Barbados as ADR centre

Barbados’ prospects as an international ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) centre are “very promising,” according to Dr. Trevor Carmichael, QC, of Chancery Chambers, one of the country’s top law firms. “We have many of the attributes which make us a favourable locus,” he told his audience at International Business Week 2012, held recently at Dr. Trevor Carmichael the Barbados Hilton. “Forget our smiling faces and hot beaches,”

he said. “There is much more in the advertorial.”

Apart from the boost to the island’s business sector, he said, the move would also co-incide with the Barbados court’s desire to see ADR play a much more prominent part in resolving local cases.

Since 2009, Barbados has had a “modern international commercial arbitration statute,” based on the model provided by UNCIT-

Against the odds

RAL, the United Nations Commission on Trade Law Secretariat. Barbados was also party to the New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, opened for signature in 1959 and signed

by Barbados in 1993.

The latter gave people working in arbitration a “tremendous amount of comfort,” because there are a lot of places that See ADR CENTRE, Page 2

“We need to re-think the role of the state, in effect, in subsidising the daily lives of the population.” Page 4

Outlook

Connie Smith looks at how the international business sector helped develop Barbados. Page 5

A light at the end of the tunnel

How the CCJ, in upholding an appeal by Marjorie Knox, sent a shot across the bow of the legal profession in Barbados. Page 5

An offer they can’t refuse?

By Patrick Hoyos

S

Scotiabank Caribbean East’s Managing Director Sean Albert with his wife Marsha.

See ALBERT, page 6 Photo courtesy Scotiabank

Limegrove welcoming more branded stores Limegrove Lifestyle Centre has moved into an “exciting phase” for its visionary and lead developer Paul Altman, with its final building nearing completion and over a dozen new brand name retailers setting up shop.

“We’re putting up our last building now, for Burberry and Hugo Boss, then we have a full range of new stores coming in. We’ve had about three or four leave

A sobering 46th

Feature

The story of Sean Albert’s rise to the top of his profession ean Albert’s inspiring rise from financial hardship to reach the top of one of the Caribbean’s most respected financial institutions taught him the value of mentorship from inside the workplace. As a result, one of his first initiatives as managing director of Scotiabank Caribbean East has been to spearhead a new Emerging Leaders programme. He spoke to The Journal about achieving success despite setbacks, and how, at the personal level, he is trying to give something back to his community.

What is unusual for a person in such a commanding position in the regional financial sector is that he is, first, just forty-one, and second, a Caribbean man, both by birth and working experience.

Most interestingly, his rise to the level he has so far achieved in his career came against the odds.

In the late 1980s in Trinidad, Sean Albert

Editorial

and now about 15 coming in,” he told The Journal.

Some of the new stores are being brought in by companies which already have stores in the upscale mall. “That, to me, is a sign of (Limegrove’s) strength,” says the developer, who launched Limegrove four years ago on a greenfield site.

For example, “The Armani people, who See LIMEGROVE, page 3

The clock has started ticking on Republic Bank’s offer to purchase the remaining shares in its local subsidiary, Republic Bank (Barbados) Ltd., formerly the Barbados National Bank.

According to a release from the Barbados Stock Exchange, the offer at Bds$5 per share opened on Tuesday, November 6, and will close on Tuesday, December 4, 2012.

The BSE said that Republic Bank had announced on Tuesday its receipt of regulatory approval - from the Government, the Central Bank of Barbados and the Financial Services Commission - to make the offer.

Republic Bank currently holds 65.14% of the shares of the former BNB, while the Barbados Government owns roughly 18%, the National Insurance Board 10% and other shareholders about seven percent. At $5 per share, selling their shares would earn government $75-$80 million and the NIS $45-$50 million respectively Two years ago, Republic had offered $5.50 per share.

But, although Republic’s Barbados subsidiary has remained profitable despite the recession, it still knocked fifty cents off its share price offer, placing more pressure on the cash-strapped Barbados government to make a decision that might become controversial with elections looming.

NIS chairman Dr. Justin Robinson said last week that the NIS, which is still generating a cash surplus every month, would prefer to trade its shares for stock in Republic’s parent company. •

2 The Broad Street Journal • November 21, 2012

News Street Briefs

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Cherry TreeTrust Inc. makes its first loan

meetings

Doyle to address BCCI • Learn how going against the grain may be the successful formula for your business when Paul Doyle discusses the topic “Engendering the Spirit of Entrepreneurship” at the BCCI’s luncheon on Wednesday, 28 November 2012 at Hilton Barbados at midday. To register, call 434-4750, or email the Chamber at bcci@bdscham.com. insurance

C.O.B Financial Services to sell Guardian insurance

The Cherry Tree Trust, a new charitable organisation facilitating entrepreneurship in Barbados launched earlier this year, recently announced its first loan, to BizOffice Systems Solutions Inc. The trust aims to provide financing to small and micro business “which might not fit the standard loan criteria for financial institutions, but could still be viable,” according to a press statement. The trust also proposes to work with its clients to provide mentorship support. It is led by Charles Pink, former CEO CIBC/First Caribbean International Bank and its directors are Ella Hoyos, Peter Hall and Renee Kowlessar. In the photo, from left: Carl Lewis, the mentor; his ‘mentee’, the trust’s first successful loan applicant, Lionel Dawson, managing director of BizOffice Systems Solutions Inc; and the trust’s co-managers, Paula-Ann Moore and Ade Ogun. Photo courtesy The Cherry Tree Trust

• Guardian Life of the Caribbean and C.O.B. Financial Services Inc. will launch a new life insurance agency, on Wednesday, November 21 at the Hilton Barbados.

Guardian Life has been operating in Barbados since 2005, providing life and international business health insurance as well as group and individual pension plans. It has now entered into an agency arrangement with COB Financial Services to sell Its insurance products and services.

COB Financial Services is a subsidiary of the City of Bridgetown Credit Union, and, besides selling insurance, provides real estate services. The agency team will be led by General Manager Rudy Grant.

RETAIL

NISE to hold forum on religious “engagement” • The National Initiative on Service Excellence will hold a discussion on increasing the levels of engagement at work, in the church and the community.

The discussion on “Perspectives on Congregational Engagement” will take place on Wednesday, November 28th, 2012 in the Sir Hugh Springer Auditorium at Solidarity House from 9.00am – 11.30am.

Over 100 of the island’s church and faith leaders are expected to be in attendance.

According to NISE press release, the idea came out of its original workplace survey of people at work: “In 2011, we measured the levels of employee engagement in Barbados and discovered that just 30% of Barbadian workers are ‘actively engaged’, which means they work with a passion, are innovative, and drive their organisation forward.

“Regrettably, we discovered that this same phenomenon manifested itself in the church.”

To confirm your participation at this forum, kindly contact Melissa Young, Corporate Communications Specialist at 426-4186 or by email at myoung@nisebarbados.org.•

At your service

We welcome your press releases and notices. Please email them to bsjbarbados@gmail.com

Carmichael: Promote Barbados as ADR centre ADR CENTRE, from Page 1

hadn’t, and was very important to any country seeking to host international arbitrations.

“And we can host those,” he said, because Barbados had the skilled staff and retired individuals who were experts in the field. “In any international arbitration setting you bring in people as well,” he said.

Mediation and arbitration were both extensively used in tax disputes, he said. And although the EU directive on mediation stated that revenue, customs and administrative matters were excluded from mediation, through the OECD there was an “express provision” that the parties involved could file a mutual agreement to overcome such restrictions. That was “vey important to recognise,” he pointed out.

In the UK, domestic tax regulation also allowed for mediation as a general principle. A 2007 UK act governing tribunals made “specific provision” for mediation, he said. Even Britain’s tax collection, HMRC, had “specifically stated” that it wanted to consider the use of mediation in suitable cases, as it did not see ADR as “inconsistent” with its efforts to achieve settlements in litigation.

Dr. Carmichael said that one of the most dramatic moves to facilitate arbitration took place in Italy this past June, when the Italian revenue authorities “clarified” procedures to be used in me-

The statue of Blast of Storm, one of the country’s legendary racehorses, watches over winner’s circle at the historic Garrison. Photo by the BSJ diation. This circular “clarified transfer pricing disputes” and sets a two-year time limit for resolution.

(According to the Tax Justice Network website, “Transfer pricing happens whenever two related companies – that is, a parent company and a subsidiary, or two subsidiaries controlled by a common parent – trade with each other.” While it is not “in itself, illegal or necessarily abusive,” says the orgsanisation, “What is illegal or abusive is transfer mispricing...which includes trade between unrelated or apparently unrelated parties - an example is reinvoicing.”)

Because of the huge cost to taxpayers of extended disputes, putting a time limit on Italian transfer pricing dispute a was a major change and a “great day in the life of ADR,” said Dr. Carmichael.

In the United States, he said, trust arbitration has become more accepted and has even gained statutory recognition. “It is now recognised in the U.S. that mandatory arbitration is not only achievable but should take place,” he told his audience. Starting in Florida in 2007, similar legislation on trust arbitration has been passed in Arizona.

In the area of cultural heritage, the gains and losses in disputes can be “significant,” Dr. Carmichael said, “es-

pecially since the past, which is embedded in the work of art, will very often affect the ownership of that art and the price involved.”

Recently, he noted, the International Conference of Museums, and the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) had set up a not-for-profit art and cultural heritage mediation service.

These were but a few grief examples of how ADR was coming more to the forefront in legal circles, Dr. Carmichael said. He saw it as an opportunity for Barbados to promote itself more as a centre for cultural heritage mediation.

Noting that “Bridgetown and its Garrison” had recently been named as a World Heritage Site by Unesco, Dr. Carmichael said, “if we have that inscription, why don’t we use it, popularise and commercialise it?”

He said that in 1838 Barbados was ahead of many other jurisdictions of the day in having courts of arbitration and reconciliation in every parish. “I suggest to you that in 2012 and beyond, we too have the capacity to match our international colleagues, and to provide and ADR product which is unique, embodies all those elements which I suggested earlier and is as truly competitive as it was in 1838.” •

The Broad Street Journal • November 21, 2012 3

News

LIMEGROVE, from page 1

have Vilebrequin, they are bringing three new stores - Hugo Boss, Sun Deck and Crocs. The people who brought Ralph Lauren and then Michael Kors (have) some connection with the people who are bringing Burberry, so there are overlaps. Upstairs, we have some new stores that are going to change the face of the first-level shopping experience.” A new store, Home Furnishings, opened in mid-November along with the second cinema, while Trinidadian fashion designer Anya Ayoung-Chee, winner of a recent edition of Project Runway, is expected to open a clothing store soon.

H

ow has Limegrove fared, opening during one of the worst recessions in history? “When we built this project, we were coming up and the market was moving away from us,” he noted. He said that he was glad to hear that the island might be getting increased airlift from Britain in the coming tourist sea-

The Ralph Lauren store at Limegrove. Inset: Real Estate Developer Paul Altman.

son, and he wanted to see more done to increase the number of seats from Brazil beyond the currently weekly flight.

Turning to real estate, Mr. Altman said the market had been affected seriously by the downturn in the economy.

He said the banks were risk-averse and therefore the local market “is still alive, but it is not where it was.” Similarly,

tourism

B’dos, St. Lucia, BARBAdOS Antigua team up INSIdeR for Thanksgiving discount sale Three Caribbean nations have joined forces to offer an unprecedented Black Friday through Cyber Monday deal that they hope will attract a large audience of US travelers, according to PRNewswire.

The tourism boards and hotel associations of Barbados, St. Lucia and Antigua are offering 20% off virtually any hotel or resort when booked through their official websites.

This is said to be the first time that Caribbean nations were working together in a unified promotion to attract visitors.

The sale will launch on the morning of Black Friday and consumers will have until midnight Monday night to get 20% off any participating hotel or resort in all three countries when booked on the official Destination Marketing Organization or Hotel Association website.

The discount is available for any participating hotel on stays through December 15th, 2013, without any blackout dates.

Consumers can book on the following sites: •Barbados: www.bookbarbadosnow.com or www.visitbarbados.org • St.Lucia: www.bookstlucianow. com or www.stlucianow.com • Antigua: www.bookantiguanow. com •

LISTINGS FOR • Shopping • Dining & Entertainment • Health & Medical • Professional Services • Art Galleries & Museums • Events & Attractions • Hotel & Conference Services • Transport & Tours

1 Basic listing

Dear colleagues, I’d like to introduce you to our new publication currently being worked on. It’s called Barbados Insider and be published early in the new year.

This new brochure-sized “what’s on” guide, will feature listings for attractions, restaurants, nightclubs, health and medical services, shops, boutiques and stores, museums and galleries, vehicle hire and tours.

It will also provide information on major events each quarter, and showcase the people and establishments in our hospitality and service sectors.

Per Col. Inch

$75.00 plus VAT

1 Logo

$100.00 plus VAT

Full Page

$1,200.00 plus VAT

50-word profile

$100.00 plus VAT

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$600.00 plus VAT

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per extra word 1 Photo

Size of publication: 9”H x 4”W No. of columns per page: 2.

16 col. inches per page

1 pg: 8”H x 3.25”W; 1/2 pg: 4”H x 3.25”W; 1/4 pg: 2” H x 3.25” W; 1/8 pg: 1” H x 3.25” W Dining & Entertainment

Shopping

ry brings luxu Limegrove t as co west lifestyle to

ornas, glass and wood , Ch. home decor item aton Mall INALS INC. Mon-Sat. Sher etown. ments. Open CRUISE TERM Mall 34, Bridg BRIDGETOWN ates the duty-free 1196. Also at 437T Ch. oper n Port, and The company T 431-0870. at the Bridgetow shopping area a cruise ship is in port. r neve ch@ whe is open 0386 groa HARRISON’S er bags and h, CEO, tel: 431ry goods, leath Geoffrey Roac om Duty free luxu make-up and accessories, iseterminals.c s, bridgetowncru shoes, fragrance Open Mon-Sat. www. . crystal and china com. Nicholas House, RD wide ean. a CAVE SHEPHE aribb mers dutyfreec 5500. Also at offers custo etown T 431Cave Shepherd from perfumes Broad St., Bridg s and choices, T 431-5566. ear, books, variety of taste Centre, Ch. Ch. to clothing, footw om; Broad Shearton and jewellery hepherd.c aves ww.c EHOUSE . Also at and luggage.w JEWELER’S WAR ity jewellery at n. T 227-2121 s qual Street, Bridgetow and West Coast Mall, St. Broad St, This store offer Ch. s. Open Mon-Sat. Worthing, Ch. wholesale price 1326. Also at Cave Shepr locations.

430James, and othe 2338.

Bridgetown. T St. James, T 422, L Mall EMERALDS INT’ , diamonds herd, West COLOMBIAN ralds featuring eme and Fine jewellery ture nal jewellery LILIPLUM es. Internatio games and furni and gemston nemeralds. store for toys, mbia arket .colo Upm clothing www as maternity d St., watch brands. for kids, as well bags for moms. Open -Sat. No. 24 Broa com. Open Mon 1307. Also at Vista Mall, baby changing André wood St.The Grille and Cane 227outside T , com; n. at the Bridgetow ; Sunset Crest www.liliplum.

Ch., T 426-7257 ) and 9 other Mon-Sat. 1575.Barbados Hilton.

Worthing, Ch. Thomas. T 424- ______________ -3120 (open daily ___ St. James T419

By Nichole Murray _________ locations.

the throw from just a stone’s ches of the Cabea le Centre coast, VE Lifesty st styl- wonderful LIMEGRO ’s platinum oreed as the mo and ribbean Sea stm erg We em al has dine, dy Lane, Roy to shop, es Hill. resi- San ish place Hill, and Ap nd visitors and land, Sugar vides a ble lime for all egrove pro bados. ether dents of Bar Barbados’ first Lim onial charm tog , col g, soof itin is exc Limegrove , tre, ible for lifestyle cen le- with irresist nce use erie ed Ho mix of d exp the heart s, and phisticate located in es and inners, visitor ers ten acr 85,000 home ow idents. town, cov st Indian res in Barbados roximately We app indes clu also led , il space. It Unparalle ean region sq. ft. of reta ve Residences, a the Caribb Gro cludes The completed, will and ove incorporates bal en Limegr al and glo lt which wh rtments, ge of loc bui mix of apa ran a ed ting s. tur set fea nhouse s in a s and tow to retailer three distinctly difpenthouse is home ing und The Centre rld’s leading aro rds includ nt courtya rants, delis, the wo tau Grove fere many of an , while The po- boutiques, res nds bra il rmet foods, reta tem es, bars, gou as, a spa and finest in con caf the rs em offe gallery, cin ge of special ean living.

Hole- art rary Caribb n, and a ran g historic salo izin ital ury Rev lux ces. • sited in the event spa town and St James, l belt of residentia located Page 6 is ideally • May 2012 • Limegrove The Barbados INSIDER

and visitors who want to enjoy the best the island has to offer in food, drink, entertainment, culture, health services and shopping.

For more information, please call me at 230-5687.

Pat Hoyos

GET A FREE LISTING!

You can chooose to enhance your free listing with a logo, 50-word profile or photo for $I00 each plus VAT. See sample below: Sunbury Great HouSe

You can add a logo for Bds$100 plus VAT.

5,000 copies of the brochuresized magazine will be distributed free every quarter in over 200 locations, aimed at both locals

FREE

il

We welcome your press releases and notices. Please email them to bsjbarbados@gmail.com

Introducing INSIDER

INSIDER LISTING & AD RATES

ship reta of the flag store is one Louis Vuitton ove Lifestyle Centre.

The iconic new Limegr outlets at the

At your service

price reductions have occurred in the offshore market, but because of the rapid escalation in real estate values over the past five or ten years, people who wished to sell could do so at discounted prices and “still realise their investment.”

However, he said, this affected the “new build,” which has to come in and

compete with the lower resale market.

Are real estate prices likely to recover anytime soon? “I think it’s going to take time to get to where it was. I don’t think that anyone could predict (differently) in this kind of climate.”

He noted that London, which he had just visited, was “thriving as a city.”

But for the rest of England, “when I talk to people about real estate, there is a general feeling of slowdown.”

As for Europe, he added, it was worse. “Greece and Spain - the countries have huge inventories of product sitting there that you can buy for - I wouldn’t like to say ten cents on the dollar - but certainly for half price.” In Barbados, he said he would put a rough estimate of the decline in real estate prices overall at around 30%.

However, “land still seems to be fetching its price, if you’re thinking of buying ‘raw’ land,” said Mr. Altman, “but that’s different. Land is still seen as the gold dust for Barbadians. What everyone aspires to is owning their piece of the rock, as we always say.” •

The

dré was trained at the luxuri-

Barbados INSIDER AL ous Verre by Ramsay at the INTERNATION ller, offerDIAMONDS st duty free jewe llery Hilton, Dubai Creek where he The world’s large THE and jewe ed timepieces GRILLE RESTAURANT gained expertise ing handcraft iconic designin the craft most d’s worl the can be considere Mon- d a quaint of Sous from some of Vide. His palate and in Barados. Open 8 s store ral restauran ers has seve .comt . No. with n for his variety of ondsbarbados 2400. Also a Country inspiratio Sat. www.diam Club T 430- featuring phoSTYLE CENTRE mall.

OVE LIFE Bridgetown,theme, T dishes EGR St., Ch. d and rious LIM menus Ch. Broa luxu were both ds, Lwr. and most rt, Dover Wooof Barbados tography h Reso ados’ newestdevelope ’ most Barb at Turtle beac tyle Centre, T d . by the healthier . Open daily Limegrove LifesWest Indies www.limegrove.com cricket cooking methods in the 418-1331; and famous locations.

East several other T 432-0840. est, trendiest 271-8230 and players.

Barbados newexposure es Limegrove is and the nation. It hous to internadesti Although indoors, ping ds Coast shop tional experienc ry branes Westthe under the DISCOVERIESlarge ue fittings and accesd’s leading luxu Laur s uniq windowsas gifts of the worl h en, open Ralpof watchful Discoveries offer eye e, as well and some Gordon Vuitton and hom Ramle e Louis er, grov onab like Carti registries. retailers. Lime sories for a fashi ium localsay’s staff. rations and gift alongside prem Entertainand baskets, deco wood, St Thomas. T in Art, Beauty,“We thing Cane a lot of offers the best some do for Open Mon-Sat. Film and Food ment, Fashion, grilling in Barbados 421-6412. everyone! and especially at the es and ewar DWELLINGS hous s, Grille, but they focus s accessorie gifts, gift Dwellings offer home. Corporate on searing and Sous furniture for your e shopping. www.dwellonlin Vide.” registries and . Canewood, flamed om. Open daily create the feel of ingsbarbados.c grill If you are not cooking .

5900 438T anas.open deck where aromas St. Thom

Chef André fires up The Hilton’s Grille

reach the nostrils

champions

yourself,

Sous

BOUTIQUE and the vi- Vide is a process LERY of cooking ET MAKEUP GETSsual body care DIAMOND GAL ofmak Demi ANOone e-up andChef ls, Italian De Partie,MILat temperat Tahitian pear ure under GetSet offers brand. Open s timepieces, André ding the e.l.f. stones. gentlyT working 431-5440 Swisvacuum Brazilian gem of -Sat. products, incluNurse , African andat lengths Village, Ch. Ch. Mon time, Peronneand the etown. Open -Sat.meat seafood on the gold Mon Bridg e, Hous sometime s days, retaining Nicholas grill whet the appetite be- 429-2900. • Tcolours, juices and textures S & THINGS GIFT 7 ted candles, e scen , Pag fore • guests 2 llery even jewe take a bite.DER •ofMay the201 meat whilst adding the Sterling silver bados INSI

Young Celebrity The Bar Chef An- potency of flavour without The Barbados INSIDER • May 2012 • Page 10

Step into history as you view this detail-rich, fully furnished old plantation home, complete with garments, appliances and everyday items of a bygone era. Admission: $20. St. Philip, T 423-6270. Open 9:30 - 4:30 daily (exc.

Christmas Day).

Come Feast in the east!! Sunbury House is serving up a daily buffet of mouth-watering bajan dishes on weekdays at bds$40.00, while on Sundays, enjoy a 3-course Plantation buffet feast for just $60, both prices incl. Vat & service charge.

Sunbury also offers breakfast, à la carte lunch menu and afternoon teas. reservations, call 423-6270 or email sunbury@caribsurf.com.

The Barbados INSIDER • May 2012 • Page

11

overcooking it. guests. He interacts and gathChef André took up the ers some much appreciated Insider challenge and recomfeedback. mended the choice meal he “As recently as last week I would recommend for the took a photo with Canadian first time customer. guests who referred to me “I would recommend you as a celebrity as soon as they have the Surf and Turf which learned that I was trained features an 8oz Lobster and under Gordon Ramsay. AlBeef Petit Filion Steak. If you though I explained that Ramare not a seafood lover, you say did not train me himself, it should have the Lamb Rack was the environment.” or Cajun Chicken with a lot of The Grille is attached to spice. Here you can get good the Careenage bar, which is quality certified Angus beef opened at 5pm to 11pm. The steak, our main brand! Guests Grille is opened at 6:30 and always love it; they know their the kitchen is closed soon afgrades of meat.” ter 10pm. Visit them and ask Every night when he fin- to meet the young Celebrity ishes, Andre loves to greet his Chef André Nurse. •

SOUTH COAST

APSARA Indian and Thai. Dine in a the beautiful cliffside house that was formerly the home of Josef’s Restaurant. Open Mon-Sat, D; www. apsarabarbados.com. St.Lawrence Gap, Ch. Ch. T 435-5454.

• Free Basic listing includes Name of Establishment, brief description, website and street addresses, opening times, and telephone number.

• You can also add a paid-for profile, up to $50 words for Bds$100 plus VAT, with extra words for $2.00 per word plus VAT.

• And you can add a photo for Bds$100 plus VAT.

Mall, Ch. Ch. CARIB BEACH BAR Caribbean. Located on Worthing Beach, one of the most popular on the south coast. Live music some nights. Open daily, L & D. T 435-8542.

CHAMPERS RESTAURANT BUBBA’S SPORTS BAR Set in a traditional Bajan home, Eclectic. Bubba’s complements Champers offers fine dining on its ten large-screen satellite TVs two floors with beach and ocean with generous-sized burgers, fries, views. Mon-Sat, L & D; Sun, D;www. wings, and steak. Open daily, L & D, champersbarbados.com. Skeete’s plus Sunday breakfast buffet. www. Hill, Rockley, Ch. Ch; T 434-3463. bubbassportsbar.net. Rockley, Ch. Ch; T 435-6217.

CHEFETTE Barbados’ largest restaurant CAFE SOL MEXICAN GRILL chain, best known for its broasted Mexican. For some, the cocktails chicken and rotis, also serves pizza here are even spicier than the food. at most stores. Seven have kids’ Open daily, D; www.cafesolbarbaplaygrounds. Open daily, B, L & D. dos.com. St. Lawrence Main Rd., Ch. Rockley and Warrens stores also Ch; T 420-7655. Also at Quayside have BBQ Barn restaurants and The Barbados INSIDER • May 2012 • Page

11

Boarded Hall House, Boarded Hall, St. George, Barbados

M: 230-5687

bsjbarbados@gmail.com

4 The Broad Street Journal • November 21, 2012

Opinion

Editorial

A sobering 46th NOVEMBER 30, 2012 will be the 46th anniversary of the birth of the nation of Barbados. Twenty-one years after the end of World War II, and led by a then premier who had himself fought with distinction in that conflict, the summer of negotiations with the British Government in London had brought forth the blueprint for yet another emerging nation in the world.

Many were fearful. Some said Errol Barrow would lead us down the path that led to dictatorship.

Others believed that a little colony, still highly dependent on sugar and a very young tourist industry for its foreign exchange, would not last long in the tumultuous arena of global trade, but would sink into the abyss of inflation, devaluation and social fragmentation.

With the Vietnam War escalating, youth in the Western world in revolt against their elders, Martin Luther King leading the fight for civil rights in the United States, and the influence - not all of it positive - of the music and media revolutions, who in the world cared?

Who really cared, apart from ourselves, whether yet another former colony, pretty as it might be out there poised between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, made it or not?

Yet, with the powerful leadership of Mr. Barrow and the cooperation of the entire government, including the loyal opposition, and the strong determination of its people to succeed, Barbados made it.

It did not just make it economically, but became a shining example of overall good management in education, health, social services, and later on, growth in local and international business.

Today, we are slipping. The world has changed. There has been an intense recession. Competition for

tourists and foreign investment is tougher than ever. The economic model on which Barbados has developed for its first four decades is unlikely to take us into renewed prosperity over the coming ones.

We need to re-think the role of the state, in effect, in subsidising the daily lives of the population. This is now at the forefront of our minds, as our borrowing has surpassed our gross national product, that is, the total value of everything we produce each year.

That high debt-to-GDP ratio makes financing for the programmes we have come to know and depend on far more difficult than ever before, and we must face up to the fact that a new social compact is required. We must make sure that we protect the poor and the elderly, but the purpose of independence at this critical time in our history should not be only military fanfare and celebratory parties. It should encourage us to think about whether we have the maturity and discipline to create this new dispensation, under which those who can pay their fair share do, in thanks for all their nation did for their parents and grandparents.

It will not be easy, but if we show the patience, forbearance and determination of those who ensured that Barbados survived and prospered after that first Independence Day, we can do it. Together. As one people, one nation. •

Statue of Errol Barrow in Independence Square, Bridgetown. Photo by the BSJ

The Broad Street Journal Established 1993

Editor: Patrick R. Hoyos Published twice per month by Hoyos Publishing Inc. Address: Boarded Hall, St. George, Barbados Tel: 230-5687 Email: bsjbarbados@gmail.com © 2012 Hoyos Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.

Cost-U-Less begins hiring process Construction continues at the Highway 2A site of Cost-U-Less, the operator of mid-size warehouse membership stores mainly in the South Pacific and the northern Caribbean. Cost-U-Less, which is a subsidiary of the Northwest Co. of Canada, held a job fair at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre recently (Nov. 12-14) to fill just over a hundred positions in its new Barbados store, which is scheduled to open in the new year. Resumés, cover letters and references may also be emailed to nwcirecruit@ northwest.ca, according to the company’s Facebook page. Photo by the BSJ Bizadvice

Put agreements in writing

By Diana Douglin

Barbados like many other parts of the world can boast of having a budding small business sector.

Ever so often great business ideas are born in the nontraditional boardroom such as the rum shop, cricket stand and the family barbershop.

It is an excellent idea to pool resources in order to enhance competitiveness when entering into the market and starting a new business. However, when embarking on any business venture, entrepreneurs must remember that after the business idea, budget and other preliminary concepts have been agreed upon in principle, reducing these to a written agreement can save partners from future costly litigation and expense.

There seems to be a common misconception among businessmen that requiring minutes to be kept of planning meetings; and written agreements governing the conduct of potential partners, indicates a lack of trust. Statistics reveal that most small businesses will fail in the first five years, and those that do not fail will not reach profitability for a further five years. It is extremely important therefore that the partners have the same goals and are able to manage their intrinsically different personalities and expectations through the written agreement.

When considering written agreements, the potential businessman should always observe the five rules that should govern any good business deal: • Transparency- a clear understanding of the business and its intended conduct and dealings; • Fairness- identification of total capital needed to be injected, profit sharing and payout amounts and other fair dealings; • Authority- who will perform the different tasks of the business and what the responsibility and powers entail; • Accountability- who will be held responsible for any outcome or shortfall resulting from the conduct of partners;

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• Ejection or exit strategy- the process of removing oneself or removing any partner who breaches the agreement and his or her liability thereafter.

Partnerships founded on these five principles seldom reach the law courts for settlement of disputes.

The significant number of disputes between partners that do reach the law courts however, generally have these similarities: misappropriation of funds, unfair profit-sharing practices and most common: internal power struggles. It goes without saying that these damaging effects on the business often results in its collapse.

Prior to entering into a partnership, it is therefore important to have discussions with your potential partner about all aspects of the pending relationship including the following: work ethics; financial goals; roles and responsibilities; personal and professional goals; compensation; debts; exit plan.

Developed countries have been channeling significant levels of resources into further diversification of their economies.

One such channel is by way of encouragement and incentives to small business development as a way of creating employment. As Caribbean countries move towards a single market and economy, and the global recession approaching its sixth year, Caribbean governments continue to realize the importance of the small business sector and commit to aid in its expansion. Given that many small business and partnerships falter or fail before achieving a constant upward stream of revenue and the extreme difficulty for the small businessman to restart after initial failure, more needs to be done with respect to alternative dispute resolution and regulating credit rating agencies by the Government.

It is clear, however, that the way forward for the Caribbean entrepreneur is to embrace the practices that can protect him and over which he has control. A written agreement between partners could be that single most important document that makes the difference. • Diana Douglin is an attorney-at-law.

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The Broad Street Journal • November 21, 2012 5

Outlook

international business

International business: We’ve only just begun

T

he formal start of the international business sector can be traced back to 1965 with the enactment of the IBC Act. However, it was not until the mid-80’s that IBCs took off. The development between 1986 and now has been undeniably huge. In very simple terms, if we think about what Barbados had then versus what we have today and what accounts for these changes, what do we come up with? Well, my submission is that the international business sector has contributed to the exponential development of the soBy Connie cial and economic Smith fabric of Barbados.

Before it, there was no business district of Warrens; nothing currently there existed in 1986, not even the Shell service station nor the roundabout.

ITC/Simpson Motors was actually on the other side of the Globe Cinema roundabout at the top of Roebuck Street. Chelston Park didn’t exist, the growth of all of the retail banks, fund managers, investment managers are all post-1986 phenomena. What we know of as Sheraton Centre today was a huge Intel chip manufacturing centre, Intel being just one of the major players who took advantage of the incentivised environment and really brought it to life in the early days of the sector. Now the sector has expanded to encompass many more service companies than manufacturers, all comprising a thriving international business sector that has spurred rapid growth in Barbados’ physical and technological infrastructure.

The significantly increased affluence of the middle class speaks to the opportunities for the attorneys, accountants, investment managers, corporate secretaries and the like being churned out by UWI and other international tertiary institutions to find good jobs and other avenues for gainful and challenging employment. We are even now finding that Barbados-educated, trained and experienced individuals are being headhunted by other international financial centers. The increased number of international flights, the rising number of cosmopolitan restaurants, the number of cars, has increased by many factors in spite of their cost.

The list goes on and on and will be understood by anyone who was around 30 or so years ago when the narrow roads through Warrens were bracketed by cane fields on either side!

i

n 2010 the international business sector accounted for over 59% of the total corporation tax revenues of this country. In 2011, Invest Barbados conducted a study to identify the sector’s contribution, and information from a number of sources was researched, including the Inland Revenue Department, the Central Bank, the International Business Unit in the Ministry of International Business and International Transport, and international business entities themselves.

The study was presented earlier this year, and although the data still understates the sector’s contribution in two areas – the RBC taxation and spend has not yet been included, and entertainment and hotel spend paid for by visiting directors and principals of

None of this existed in 1986: Warrens owes its development to the rise of the offshore sector in Barbados. Photo by the BSJ international business entities (and therefore not appearing in the local company’s financials), the data shows that for every $1 of corporate tax revenue collected in 2010 ($186 million) from the sector, a further $3.72 ($692 million) had been spent in the

By now we should be the jewel in the crown of international financial centers. economy.

Given all of the foregoing, it strikes me that Barbados has certainly enjoyed a level of success from international business. We need to be, by now, creating greater efficiencies, facilitating more similar business opportunities much more quickly, and should have grown our reputation to be the jewel in the crown of international financial centers.

However in contrast, some users of these

facilities, seem only able to comment mostly negatively about our competitiveness.

This is borne out in the World Economic Forum’s 2012 competitive report. They cited poor work ethic in national labour force, access to financing and inefficient government bureaucracy as the top three problematic factors to doing business in Barbados.

Should we rest on our laurels because we have in fact achieved this modicum of success, but think nothing of our future and the possibilities for future generations of Barbadians?

I am sure that you will conclude that the success of this sector is vital to Barbados’ success: the quality jobs, the individual and national development and growth opportunities, the expansion of our large middle class - that is the big picture and the opportunity that I see for my children and their children.

The little picture is that there are a number of things that we desperately need to focus on to ensure that this wonderful op-

portunity happens. We recognise that there are a number of things to be done. We appreciate that efforts are being made to remedy the very long and ever-increasing list of challenges. But because of the vibrant picture I have just painted, it is clear that we must execute with agility on this list. In May, stakeholders in the international business community, both private and public sector, collaborated on a consultation which was intended to inform Barbados’ strategic plan on international business. I understand that the refreshing of the strategic plan is currently underway and an action plan will be issued.

We must be held accountable for the deliverables in this Action Plan, if our children are indeed to enjoy the vibrant picture and life that I know that they can in Barbados.

Can we all just close our eyes for a fleeting second and imagine what it could potentially mean for Barbados?

Connie Smith is managing director of Tricor Caribbean Ltd. . This article was excepted from a recent presentation for International Business Week 2012.•

6 The Broad Street Journal • November 21, 2012

Executive Profile ALBERT, from page 1

was a 16-year-old full-time university student who was living on his own. He also had a full-time job as a teller at Citibank, and the demands of both full-time endeavours were taking their toll. “I was not doing very well,” he recalls.

He had been attracted to banking because he had heard it paid well and gave employees a company car and later a company house as they climbed the ladder, and that seemed like a more attractive lifestyle than the one his parents - mother a teacher, father a security guard - had been able to afford.

Life had contained its share of challenges for Sean, and his decision to seek his own independence a few years earlier than most people had to do with his parents splitting up.

But his dream of a more flashy lifestyle had to be put on hold as he had to quit his job in order to finish university. He realised he would not get an honors degree unless he focussed solely on his studies.

Between leaving the bank and completing his undergraduate degree, he says, “There was a time - about three or four months when I don’t remember how I lived,” he recalled. “I taught aerobics, I worked at KFC sweeping up around the place, making sure everything was clean - people don’t know this, and it’s not something I talk about a lot.”

Today, by coincidence, the view through one of the windows of the office of the managing director of Scotiabank Caribbean East is of the Warrens branch and head office of KFC in Barbados.

The new holder of that post laughs when a reporter notes the irony.

When he applied to rejoin Citibank after graduating, no job was available. He enrolled in an M.Sc. degree programme and applied to tutor because “that was the only job I could get - you got paid for tutoring,” he recalls.

Shortly before leaving Citibank, Sean had met his future wife, Marsha, who also worked there, and he credits her with supporting him during the period.

He got through the tough financial times because, he says, “One of the things I am good at is driving myself really hard, but in an efficient way, and not for long.”

One of Sean’s favourite quotes comes from Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho, who once famously wrote that “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” He adds, with a touch of Caribbean pragmatism, “Probably not when you want it, but it will come, if you keep after it.”

W

ith his second degree in hand, Sean found employment as a policy analyst in the T&T ministry of finance. But he wanted to go back to Citibank, and fate seemed to step in to help.

The merchant bank Ansa Fleming came to Trinidad to recruit people, and Sean applied and got an interview with the CEO, Adam Hodgkins. At the time, he says, young Trinidadians with MBAs from overseas universities and good local connections were getting the jobs over those with UWI degrees, so his applications had not met with success. But the Fleming CEO picked up the phone and called the CEO of Citibank and got him an interview, recalls Sean, “and I ended up back at Citibank with the company car.”

His new job title was Relationship Manager and his portfolio mainly comprised international companies in T&T’s emerging energy sector. They had mainly bonding and foreign exchange needs along with cash management and some lending. “They were

them.

“So can I give you a big, lofty, over-arching, philosophical vision statement? I can’t.

It’s simply us achieving the objectives we said we were going to achieve, in a sustainable way, year-in, year-out.”

S

Sean and Marsha Albert with their kids Zion and Micah. Photo courtesy Scotiabank

One of Sean’s favourite quotes comes from Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho, who once famously wrote that “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” a tough bunch to service because they were very liquid,” he recalls. During those years he says he “learnt a hell of a lot.”

Then in the mid- to late 1990s came Royal Bank of Canada’s regional expansion.

“I got a call from them, and they said they were paying bigger bonuses, so I moved to Royal Bank.”

At Royal, Sean was soon offered a post in Jamaica. Whereas at Citibank he did corporate banking, at Royal he went over to the DCM, or Debt-Capital Market - bond issuances, derivatives, helping governments raise money through bonds rather than loans, and “helping institutions with exposures use derivatives to manage that risk.”

He says this area was the new “sexy” part of banking, where large transactions ultimately meant better pay. He was enjoying his time with Royal Bank in Jamaica, when one day Scotiabank called. “I was hired out of Toronto but placed in the Bahamas,” he notes.

By that time, Sean and Marsha, his partner since those first Citibank days, had wed and were enjoying being parents of their first child, Zion. Marsha had left her Citibank job to go to Jamaica with Sean.

Asked by a reporter about the relatively short time spent with each bank, leaving for better offers each time, and whether it was only about the money, he says, frankly, “It was then; it isn’t now.”

He explains: “You want to buy an apartment or something. You want to start putting away money for your son to go to university. That is where your head is then in your late twenties; at least that’s where mine was.”

At that time in Jamaica, Michael Lee Chin, the Jamaican business mogul, had bought National Commercial Bank (NCB), and once again, an offer came to Sean.

“I said, no, I am not going to work for another bank. I am happy at Scotiabank.

Michael and I then met and I said the only way I would leave is if I was going to do the entrepreneurial thing, because I had worked for companies all my life, so here was a chance to be an entrepreneur.”

So a year and a half after joining Royal Bank in Jamaica, Sean took the plunge.

“We started a financial group in Trinidad. That was a really great experience but a tough time. I learned a tremendous amount.”

Sean and Marsha had been married in 1998 and had gone to Canada. It was after returning from Canada that they decided to apply for permanent residency in Quebec, and had been successful after visiting the Canadian embassy in Mexico for an interview in French.

The time had come to move on from the T&T venture. Marsha said they should go to live in Canada. “We picked up, went to Canada, I went to (Scotia) bank to see some old friends, and was fortunate to get another interview. There was a need in Mergers & Acquisitions, and since then there’s been no looking back.”

T

hat was just seven years ago. The first five years were spent in Canada in Mergers & Acquisitions, after which Sean was transferred to Trinidad & Tobago for a little over a year, then to Barbados to take up his current post as managing director for Scotiabank’s Caribbean East business.

“This job is so diverse, there is so much to do,” he says. “First of all, there are over 900 employees working at 23 branches in nine countries, under four different regulators.

They all come together in one P&L (profit and loss statement) and one balance sheet.”

His first six months on the job has felt like “three-and-a-half years,” he says, but he loves the complexity and diversity of his new assignment. Challenges occur when least expected, making it hard to stick to a planned day.

Sean believes that “A person at the head of an organisation also has the latitude to influence the culture of an organisation according to their own style.”

And the area he is “passionate” about is performance management. “That is the key to everything throughout a big organisation.” It is supposed to be fairly easy to measure, he notes, “because everybody has a balanced scorecard; you have your goals and you’re supposed to achieve them.”

Sean says, however, that he believes in letting managers manage. At Scotiabank, he says, “We know what we are good at, and we stick to that. So from a product perspective - our retail banking, our corporate and commercial, we have people who know this business inside out, fabulous people. You let them manage - you don’t micro-manage

ean’s first initiative is focussed on mentorship from within the organisation. “We’ve created the Emerging Leaders programme to create a path for those people who have the right ambition, who have the hunger, initiative and purpose, who are willing to just put their everything into it. I can’t tell you how joyful that is to me.”

He describes it as more structured than a mentorship programme, as successful applicants will be attached to the executive team. The programme will complement the existing Employee Development Plan (the EDP) at Scotia. Candidates will be put through a process to help them attain the training and experience they need to advance to a level at the bank which they have chosen.

“Times are challenging, but there is so much room to create in terms of redefining a culture,” he says. “You know, we talk about assets and liabilities and capital, but through all of that is really people. I get my ‘high’ from two things; one, as people have helped me optimise in my life, helping people optimise in their lives.”

He recalls meeting a young man working at Scotia’s Broad Street branch soon after he got to Barbados. “He came up and shook my hand and said, ‘Mr. Albert, keep the seat warm, because one day I want to sit in that seat.’”

He finds that attitude inspiring because he believes the Caribbean should be training banking people to the level that they can work anywhere in the world. “We, as the Caribbean, and Scotiabank, should be exporting people, to Singapore, to Asia, to China, to Brazil, Mexico, Canada - that is something I really, really want us to be able to do. However, the culture of the past has been one of ‘Well, this person needs five more years to mature - not taking chances on people (in a structured way).”

Sean says he does not expect to be in his new job more than five years, in keeping with the bank’s policy of a time limit on top postings.

However, he says, his family - Zion is now twelve, and his sister, Micah, is five “love Barbados. From a psychological security state of mind, this place is unbelievable.

We’re not in a hurry to go anywhere.”

He and Marsha are enjoying watching their kids grow up. “I can’t put words to explain how quickly we have settled into Barbados,” he says. •

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The Broad Street Journal • November 21, 2012 7

Feature justice

A light at the end of the tunnel Calling a case against her “a waste of time and money,” the CCJ sets a precedent for others to follow

By Patrick Hoyos “We trust that what has been stated here would serve as a useful guide to judges who are called upon to quantify the amount in which security for costs should properly be ordered.”

- Mr. Justice Saunders, CCJ Appeal No. 8 of 2011, page 26.

Y

ear in, year out for Madge Knox, the news from the court was always bad.Apart from losing several other Kingsland-related legal battles, her claim to have a special right over other family shareholders in Kingsland Estates Ltd. to buy them out was defeated not only in the courts in Barbados but also at the Privy Council.

That was seven summers ago. Mrs. Knox’ case, coincidentally, was actually the last to be heard by the Privy Council before Barbados switched to the Caribbean Court of Justice.

It may have been providential. This past summer the latter delivered a ruling in Mrs. Knox’ favour that may prove a victory not only for her, but for all who want to have their day in court and their appeals heard without finding themselves faced with massive courtordered costs, not only should they lose but sometimes just to get their appeals heard.

As Justice Wit JCCJ wrote in the judgement: “We have decided that Mrs Knox does not have to pay any security for costs after all. In other words, the parties are back to square one and the appeal can now finally be heard. What a waste of time and what a waste of money; it is a thought that easily comes up. Of course, today’s judgment will hopefully provide guidance for future cases and that is important enough.

But still…” (CCJ Appeal No. 8 of 2011, page 27) The CCJ’s ruling is a shot across the bow of the Barbados legal system, a warning that may forever alter the cost of doing business with the court system.

Two years ago, on June 29, 2010, Kingsland Estates Ltd., which owns 1,000 acres of former plantation and now prime real estate land in Barbados, and is now majority-owned and controlled by Classic Investments Ltd., declared a dividend, and the amount earned by Mrs. Knox’ one-seventh stake

came to almost three quarters of a million Barbados dollars after tax.

June 29 was a Tuesday; by that Friday ( July 2), the estate of the company’s late chairman Eric “Erie” Deane, along with Classic and Kingsland, the only remaining shareholders with “subsisting interests as garnishors” in the dividend awarded to Mrs. Knox, “commenced garnishee proceedings” against her.

Worrell J. heard the proceedings and a month later ordered nearly $700,000, part of it with interest at 8%, to be paid to the garnishors out of Mrs. Knox’ dividend.

Mrs. Knox was allowed to appeal the garnishment order, which she did right away, but counsel for other side asked the court to make Mrs. Knox pay “security for costs” totalling a quarter of a million Barbados dollars before the appeal could be heard. As Mrs. Knox’ counsel did not respond, the respondents took the matter to court and in December that year a single judge in chambers, Goodridge J.A. (Ag.) ruled that security would have to be paid into court totalling $175,000 within 21 days. The appeal against garnishing the dividend would not be heard until those conditions were met.

Mrs. Knox appealed to the Full Court of Appeal against the ruling of the single judge, and the application was heard the following February (2011) and dismissed in July.

The Full Court of Appeal said that “the learned acting Justice of Appeal correctly applied the principles relevant to an application for security of costs on appeal in exercising her discretion.” But it allowed her to appeal the matter to the CCJ, which she did last November.

The CCJ heard the matter while in Barbados earlier this year and issued its ruling in July. In a shot across the bow, it “set aside” the order of the Court of Appeal for security for costs which had been originally made by the single justice.

D

elivering the judgment of the court, Nelson JCCJ noted that awarding security of costs was “discretionary” on the part of the judge, and that the “exercise of discretion” in this case was “erroneous in law” because it took into account “irrelevant considerations” and failed to do so for relevant ones. (Page 18)

Noting that the matter at hand was but the “latest installment in a long-running internecine battle between the Knox and

Marjorie Knox. Photo courtesy the Knox family Deane families over the Kingsland Estate and control of Kingsland Estates Ltd.,” the court criticised both the single justice of appeal and the full court for not stating the “special circumstances” which were deemed to have justified the award.

Instead, they should have “taken into account the lack of a skeleton bill of costs” which would have been based on a “realistic estimate,” but instead allowed in an “unsubstantiated or wholly erroneous estimate” which the CCJ said was “in excess of the maximum permitted costs” for such matters (page 19).

They had also not provided a written assessment as to why it was just to order the security for costs “in all the circumstances against the Appellant/Defendant, whether foreign or impecunious or both, who was brought into court and wished to continue her defence by way of appeal.”

Mrs. Knox would therefore be allowed to have her appeal against the original garnishment ordered by Worrell J. without paying an extra penny into court, far less the $175,000 ordered by the single justice and the full court of appeal, ordered the CCJ. The respondents were ordered to pay costs in both the present appeal at the CCJ and the proceeding in the Court of Appeal on the issue of security of costs.

In so doing, the Caribbean Court of Appeal set a precedent for not only Madge Knox but all future litigants on the losing side who wish to appeal their cases. And all they did was order that already existing new rules adopted by the same Barbados courts for calculating such costs be followed.

As if that was not damning enough, the CCJ’s Mr. Justice Saunders felt it necessary to weigh in, adding his comments to the main ruling by Nelson JCCJ. It had to do with the amount of “security” payment ordered, that $175,000. “The amount was so excessive that in any event it would not have been permitted to stand,” he

wrote, adding that the Barbados court had “merely accepted the figures put forward by counsel with no material provided to support or justify those figures.” (Page 20) He said the Barbados courts were now operating under The (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2008, of which Part 65 provided “in a comprehensive manner the way in which any costs awarded by the court are to be quantified.”

The new rules, he said, had been brought in to speed up the delivery of justice, because “litigation costs were too high,” and “litigants felt alienated from the process.”

The goal of the new rules was to produce “less expensive justice,” he added, but it was taking far too long for the also necessary “profound” “cultural shift” required among all who work in the court system.

Under new rules, the amounts awarded in the Privy Council case would have been dramatically reduced, noted Saunders JCCJ. In the substantive Privy Council case, he said, instead of a total of three quarters of a million dollars, the final figure awarded would have been less than a hundred thousand dollars, including accrued interest.

In the appeal before the court, the judge noted, the security for costs should have been set at $5,575 instead of $175,000. And while the court could have ordered the costs to be assessed and awarded a higher amount than $5,575, said the judge, “it is wholly inconceivable that the same could yield costs of the magnitude that were ordered in these proceedings.”

The process “lacked transparency,” and the amount would seem to have been “arbitrarily” selected, said Saunders JCCJ. Since Mrs. Knox entered the Barbados court system nearly twenty years ago challenging decisions taken by Kingsland’s board of directors she has lost almost every case. To fund her legal campaigns, according to the CCJ, “On May 14, 2002 Mrs Knox executed a charge in favour of Peter

8 The Broad Street Journal • November 21, 2012

Feature

Andrew Allard, her financial backer in the Kingsland litigation locally and overseas. Under new rules, the That charge has since been upstamped to amounts awarded in the cover Bds$33,696,267.52 as at December Privy Council case would 3, 2009.”

In 2002, Madge Knox placed her shares have been dramatically in a trust set up in Barbados, and five years reduced, noted Saunders later set up another trust, this time in Florida, which, according to the CCJ, “pur- JCCJ. ported to revoke the Barbados Trust.” Mrs. Knox’ Florida Trust has pledge all of her amount of shares owned by Mrs. Knox shares as continuing security for the debts 28,570 common shares - as collateral for a incurred by the Knox litigation to Mr. Al- loan of $10.5 million from then First Calard. ribbean International Bank.

In December 2005, a few months after In an email, Madge’s son, John Knox, the summer judgement of the Privy Coun- told the writer that if then-First Caribbean cil, Classic Investments provided the same in 2005 lend Hoyoscould Publishing Inc. Classic MEDIA$10 KITmillion us-

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ing only the same number of shares held by Mr. Knox as collateral, he felt it was fair to assume that stake was worth more than the amount lent. He therefore took the view that the bank was lending 10% of what it felt was the true value of the shares.

This would put a $100 million value on Madge Knox’ stake and a $700 million valuation on the entire Kingsland Estates shares, which Classic Investments purchased for less than $20 million seven years ago (except for Mrs. Knox’ one-seventh stake).

Is Kingsland worth that much? Says John Knox, “The sanity check is to relate the $700 million to the 1,000 acres” owned

by Kingsland. It works out, he says, to

“about $16.00 per square foot.”

Residential land in the areas over which Kingsland is spread currently sells at over $20.00 per square foot.

According to the CCJ, “There are five other actions in the courts of Barbados in which the courts have made orders for costs against Mrs. Knox in connection with Kingsland Estates.” With perhaps millions of dollars in costs pending, Mrs. Knox, her family, legal counsel and financial backers will surely be hoping that the message sent by the CCJ on calculating these costs will be heard loud and clear. • Author’s note: An edited version of this article first appeared in the Sunday Sun.

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Business

2011 Ed

ition

The Broad Street Journal • November 21, 2012 9

Tech Briefs

Samsung seeks info on Apple-HTC Deal Samsung is moving legally in order gain access to the documents related to the recent Apple-HTC licensing deal, hoping that the HTC deal covers some of the patents involved in its own litigation with Apple. Apple and HTC recently ended their worldwide legal battles with a 10-year patent licensing agreement. According to Reuters, Samsung asked a U.S. judge on Nov. 16 to force Apple to turn over a copy of the HTC agreement, arguing that the HTC deal covers some of the patents involved in its own litigation with Apple, including those related to the so-called “user-experience” like touchscreen functionality and design. The agreement may undermine Apple’s claim that Samsung’s patent infringement can’t be resolved with license payments, according to the filing.

Judge Approves FTC’s $22.5-million Fine on Google U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on Nov. 16 approved a US$22.5-million fine against Google, a few hours after a hearing arguments. The fine was part of a deal Google reached with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) three months ago to settle charges that it bypassed privacy settings on Apple’s Safari browser to track users’ online activity and show them personalized ads.

Google made nearly $38 billion in revenue last year so the $22.5 million fine is a drop in the bucket for the search engine giant.

Nokia challenges Apple with ‘Here’ maps service Finnish phone giant Nokia has rebranded its maps service as ‘Here’ in the hope that app developers on Android and iOS will use its software.

Nokia claimed it would “redefine [the] digital map landscape” with a new partnership with Mozilla and an acquisition of 3D capture company, earthmine.

Nokia has also already submitted an app to Apple, which is still struggling to get over its recent maps problems in the

latest release of iOS6. It hopes to take advantage of Apple’s cancelling its deal with Google’s maps.

Based on open web standard HTML5, Nokia said the app will include offline capabilities, voiceguided walk navigation, and public transport directions. The application is scheduled to be available for free download from Apple’s App Store in the next few weeks.

Sony to take aim at iPhone, Galaxy S3 In an interview with Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) published Nov. 15, Sony Mobile sales and marketing head Dennis Van Schie said his company was planning to announce a “flagship model that can [compete] with Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S3.” The company’s sales and marketing head said the device would likely be on display at the Consumer Electronics

Show in January. Van Schie confirmed tweets. It’s an acknowledgement by that it will be running Android, and was Twitter that, more than ever, the richest also “watching closely” the develop- communications are visual. ment of Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform.

Facebook and Yahoo seeking partnership?

Twitter users should now see a set of ‘top’ photos above related search results. The microblogging service rolled out a series of new features on Nov. 15 that together make it more instantly visual and take it even further past 140 characters. With a flurry of new features unveiled, Twitter appears to be aiming more than ever at mimicking some of the most visual elements of Instagram and Facebook.

Twitter wants users to see more information than ever before, and far more than just the 140 characters of actual

The Sunday Telegraph reports that Yahoo and Facebook have been talking about the two companies working together on a search engine. Mayer and Sandberg are former colleagues at Google and understand what search can do to super-charge a business.

Mayer is looking for ways to revive Yahoo’s products and engineering focus since she took the CEO job in July.

Mark Zuckerberg has been dropping hints about search over the last few months: “We do a billion queries a day and we aren’t even trying. Mostly trying to find people or brand pages or apps.

There is a big opportunity in search, evolving to giving a set of answers to a specific question and Facebook is uniquely positioned to do that. For example, ‘Which of my friends or friends of friends work in a company I might like to work at?’ At some point we will do it.” •